I landed my first teaching job by asking a teacher! As most Katie & Kimble readers know, I used to be a teacher, and I still write books and materials for kids. But you may wonder how I found my first teaching job.Well, it was pretty simple. If you'd like a job teaching, ask a teacher! That's exactly what I did. I was in the graduate program at the University of Northern Iowa, so I asked my adviser/teacher, Dr. Carolyn Shields, if there were any English teaching jobs around. Dr. Shields pointed me to a school that was called Hawkeye Tech at the time, and she gave me the name of the woman who ran the program. I called the director and asked her if she needed a teacher, and before I knew it, I was teaching there several evenings a week.
This method worked for me a second time several years later. I called the director of an English program in the town I was living in. She didn't have any openings, but she said to me, "In two days, I'm going to see the director of a program that's hiring. I'll take along your resume." She did, I got the job, and I stayed with that school for 5 years.
Personal contact can really pay off!
This post is part of the Teaching Jobs Portal: “How to land a Teacher Job.” What was your journey like to become a teacher? If you’d like to share your experience with other aspiring teachers please see this post for more information.
Linda Thieman is a former teacher and the author of the Mom's Choice Awards®-winning Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story series for ages 7-10.
