April 26th and 27th, I attended the Collier County Teacher Recruitment Fair. I had never been to one of these before, so I had no clue what to expect. I knew from the e-mails sent to us and from registration that there would be an orientation at the beginning, then I would have five interviews throughout the day and at the end there would be a contracts meeting. I wasn't completely sure what all that meant.
So I go...and like I always do, I got there early, parked, and went in. There were already a few people there so I signed in, got my schedule (which was the one I had created per instruction), and waited for orientation. It wasn't long before orientation started and they herded us down to an outside area to bake in the sun while they talked to us about the future of education in Florida and what it meant for us: no job protection, 50% of our evaluations as teachers would be based on student performance, no job security, no tenure, fewer benefits, no pay for higher degrees, and a slue of other things that made teachings sound completely undesirable. So I call this the slaughter part of the day...you know...after they herded us down here.
Next we waited for the meat market: our interviews. We went into huge room (like a ballroom), where tables were lined 6-7 rows deep and alll the way across, maybe the length of 20-25 tables. At each table there were four representatives from each school. Across from each one of them was a chair for an interviewee.
My first interview was mind boggling. Not because of the actual interview, but because of the setup. You couldn't hear yourself think in that room. You sat down at the table, with three other interviewees and interviewed with one person, while the others interviewed with the other people. The loudness of the room was deafening. You only had about 20 minutes to interview, so no time to show portfolios or anything like that, which was fine for me, because I didn't bring one. Before you knew it, your interview was over and then came the hoping part.
At the end of each interview, they either gave you nothing, meaning they weren't interested in you, or they gave you a yellow piece of paper meaning they were interested in you but didn't have a place in their school for you, or they gave you a green piece of paper that means they want you and you are to go to the "contract room" and sign a contract. You had no time to think about the offer because once you stood up, the offer was rescinded. Then they walked you, almost held your hand, to the interview room, where you signed a "contract," giving you no time to call your husband/wife/significant other and discuss the potential position. Also, they've only interviewed the first person (with the earliest time slot for an interview) and offered them a job even though there could be potentially a better candidate in the crowd.
So at the end of day 1, I had one potential job offer (potential because it was a .8 position, and they couldn't "legally" offer me the position until they found the other .2 to make it a full 1). But day 1 was elementary, so I had my hopes up for day 2.
Day 2: I didn't think it could get worse than day one, but boy was I wrong. Same process. I also learned from day one that you could pick up more interviews, so I manages to up my five interviews to 11! Which meant i interviewed with all nine high schools in Collier county as well as two middle schools. For my first interview, they told me they had a Science position open, but no German, English, or Art. Another potential candidate who I met went in and interviewed with the same school, directly after me was told that they only had an English position open. See a problem? We were being lied to! This happened over and over again all day long. After about the third interview, it was just a little depressing. I was tired of hearing, "Oh my goodness, you're such a wonderful candidate, with such a diverse background and great experiences. We would LOVE to have you in our school...but we just don't have a position for you right now."
By interviews 4-7 it was laughable. I knew exactly what to expect. One interviewer asked me how my day was going and i asked if they REALLY wanted to know...and of course they said, why yes! So i laid it on them, haha. Probably not the best thing to do, but, come on. You can't advertise 400-550 jobs and then not hire ANYONE! By interviews 8-11, I was just angry. What was the point of me being there, why did all these people form Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, etc. waste their time and money to come down to Naples, FL to be insulted? And that's exactly what it was...insulting.
At the end of day two I had three "we like you but don't have place for you" yellow pieces of paper. So, everyone with this "golden ticket" as we affectionately named it, got to go and meet with the principles one last time. Not sure why, because we had already done this all day long. But, after going around and shaking everyone's hand and telling them that I knew they didn't have a position for me, but it was nice to meet them and learn about their school, one school (that previously told me they had no positions open) called me over and offered me a high school English position. I kind of smirked, accepted the position, and was taken to the contract room.
I guess it was a "good" experience and definitely eye-opening, but something I would prefer not to have to go through again. And pending the June 1st outcome of the FL legislation, I will or will not have a job near-ish to where Ed works.
Oh and let's talk about this potential job offer...
The Ugly:
- I've heard different views of the students. A principle told me that they come from loving, caring families, are very nice and like to give hugs. A teacher who once worked there told me that she had a few bones broken while trying to restrain students.
- One of their students was shot and killed near the school the day of the recruitment fair.
The Bad:
- To start, it's an HOUR away from FGCU where Ed works.
- It's a migrant school, so workers who come to work the citrus fields, send their kids to this school. Nothing wrong with that.
- It's out in the middle of no where.- When we drove out there to see what the school looked like, the only word that came to mind was prison.
The Good:
- Potentially nice students.
- Loan forgiveness.
- They pay you a little more because of the location (maybe a gas/travel supplement) and because the school is in session longer than normal schools because of its migrant status.
Needless to say, we have both started job searches in other states, closer to home and family.
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