Whether you are a recent graduate or a teacher moving to another state, you can benefit from advice to help in finding teaching jobs. The best advice is to make sure that the area of education you choose to work in is the right one for you. It is also important that you have the competency in the grade level of content area so that you know the subject well and can teach it to students. There are several different areas of teaching you can choose within the public school system such as pre-school, Grades K -3., elementary grades, middle school and high school. You might perfect to teach older students or adults, in which case you should look for jobs in higher education.
All of the states actively recruit new teachers. The first place you should look when finding teaching jobs is the website of each state department of education. Here you may also find areas in which the school districts of the state are experiencing critical shortages of qualified teachers. If you are qualified to teach in one of these areas, then you are pretty well assured of obtaining a teaching position, provided, of course, that you have the qualifications. To be a teacher in any state, you must hold a Bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited university, a diploma from a teacher training program and pass the appropriate exams to be certified in that state.
School districts usually hold job fairs at universities in the spring of each year. This is another way of finding teaching jobs. You can visit the kiosk or booth of each school district at the fair to find information about the district, its schools and what incentives it offers teachers. Many districts are now providing signing bonuses for new teachers if you can fill some of the positions for which they are having difficulty filling with highly qualified teachers.
Registering online with a service that will display your resume and teaching credentials is also a helpful way of finding teaching jobs. Quite often school districts use such services to find teachers from all over the country and offer them teaching positions. When you are not sure what positions a school district will be trying to fill for the upcoming school year, you can submit a general application form in which you ask that your name be considered for any teaching positions for which you are qualified. As a rule, though, school districts like to see applications for specific job postings.
School districts throughout the country also post their job openings on their websites. If you have particular school district in mind where you would like to obtain a teaching position, you can check the website on a regular basis. This aids in finding teaching jobs because you will see the ad as soon as it is posted and apply for it by the deadline for submission of applications. Get to know the personnel in the school district so that when they see your name on an application, they will already be familiar with you and shortlist your name and schedule you for an interview.
