Sign of the economic times

I'm still getting rejection letters from job I applied to in January or even earlier. Most say "sorry, we picked somebody else" but some say "sorry, our funding went away" or similar.

I think this means companies are either being very picky (because of the long delay, not because they didn't pick me :-) or are dealing with intermittent hiring freezes.

pivot

I finished my last day teaching yesterday. Walked the halls and said goodbye to some teachers and support folk who stick out as exceptionally devoted and talented.

Turned in my sub paperwork to the front office and headed out the door. It was close, but I got past all the kids in front of the school before I choked up. I was thankful for the sunglasses and for my parking spot way across the lot. Drove to the ISD offices and turned in my badge[s].

I've said before that this feeling reminds me of asking someone to marry you and they say 'no'. Future plans dissolve like smoke wisps and it feels like I'll be limping with an emotional stonebruise for a while. But life goes on. Keep breathing in and out and meet each day as it comes.


I am spending this weekend organizing and cleaning. I start a new job (and what feels like a new life) on Monday.

callbacks, pt2

As I mentioned earlier, I've been interviewing.

The position I really wanted never did make a 2nd interview but they make an offer. :-) I accepted, and I start next week.

It's not in teaching but I'd seen the writing on the wall already anyhow. I'd already doubled-, tripled-, and quadrupled-down on teaching. To continue down that road would require quintupling-down (working several more weeks without pay) and sextupling-down (re-taking more altcert coursework which 'expired') with no guarantee of work on the other side.

Anyhow. Everyone I've met at the new job is interesting, competent, and friendly. I'll do my best to be a productive member of the new team.

Once I turn in my school badge I'll probably make a few posts over on MBTRT with my thoughts on the education market, alternative certification, substitute teaching, and the State of the Classroom in elementary, junior high, and high schools around town.

long day, and it's only 3pm

I think I'm gonna go take a nap.

Gardening

I planted another round of seedlings:

• bell peppers, scrounged last year from peppers we ate. No idea what these will do.
• tomatoes, three varieties. One leftover heirloom breed from last year, and two hybrids.
• squash, two varieties
• cucumbers, two varieties
• more lettuce
• corn
• I forget the rest but it's on my garden planning sheet

Following the SFG model the tall/vertical/viney stuff is furthest away from the sun with shorter stuff in front of it. Alternated species instead of planting near each other to limit disease and bugs.

Composting

Tore down one of my composting bins for delivery to the (very kind and lovely) MIL. Will throw that in the truck next time we go to see her. Chickens were Big Helpers, which is to say they stood on top of the pile and kicked it everywhere but where you wanted it. They got pretty brave working around the hoe.

Tore down an active pile and sifted the compost before restacking/wetting the remaining big stuff. The filtered/finished compost was fine and clean-smelling, though both are difficult to judge from this pic. About 20# worth.

I learned this sifting trick from composting master Rob. I might make a two-tiered autosifter like he built. Maybe chicken wire for sifting the big stuff and hardware cloth or something for the smaller stuff?

Lucid Puppy 5.2.5

Upgraded the eee netbook to puppy 5.2.5.

Grocery shopping

Trip to Aldi. Completely full basket was less than $90. Put the groceries in the back of the truck (on the cargo platform I cobbled together quickly) and it worked out great.

callbacks

Have had two "second interview" meets this week, so we're still moving ahead. My first choice hasn't set up a 2nd yet, but it's more of a bureaucracy so I'm being patient.

soft shoe

Sorry for the long time away. Been handling stuff on the home front.

After months of "no thanks" letters (and a kerbillion applications that went into the Great Beyond with no response at all) I have four job interviews within a 7-day period.

I don't know if this a fluke or businesses forecasting an increase in demand. Either way, I'll take the interviews. If nothing else it's an opportunity to put on the song-and-dance in front of an employer. Gotta be grateful for small things.

None of these jobs are in education (in any normal sense); even before the recent ISD Budget Apocalypse the writing was on the wall for me. The planned massive layoffs made me face the fact there is almost zero chance for an new alt-cert social studies teacher to gain a foothold. Could I still get a teaching position? Yeah. And I might win the lottery, and monkeys might fly out my butt. It's time to plan for a future outside the classroom.

In the Real World my family has to eat and we have to pay to live somewhere. I have been applying to positions all along, but I took each of the ISD snow days and spent 8hrs/day applying to non-teaching positions. Thus the non-teaching interviews.

Life goes on.

I'll let you know how it goes.

"may involve the use of explosives"

may involve the use of explosives and always occurs in a heavy industrial setting. A Class A or B CDL with HAZMAT is required, but can be obtained in the first sixty
days of employment during which time appropriate training will be provided. The job is physically demanding and requires being on 24 hour call. The job is in the field requiring work at all times of the day and in alltypes of weather.

Sweet baby Jebus. It's the landlocked analog of a crab fishing gig. If I were a younger and crazier man...

another interesting posting

A really specific/interesting set of requirements on this posting:

Requisition Number: URS51210
Interest Category: Environmental/Sciences

Interest Sub Category: Archaeology

Job Title: Archaeology Caddo Expert
Employment Category/Status: Part Time

Type of Position: Temporary

Country: U.S.

State/Province: Texas

City: Dallas

Minimum Requirements: Ph.D. in GeoArchaeology

15 years experience in the field of archaeology field work and research with an emphasis on Caddo culture.

Must have specific experience interpreting and analysis of all aspects of Native American artifacts, specifically related to the Caddo culture. Must be proficient in all aspects of Caddoan and adjacent cultural areas. Extensive experience in leading projects, both in the field and with the analysis and the preparation of report of findings. Must be proficient in technical archaeological writing.

Proficient in MS Word, MS Excel, ArcMap, Access, and SPSS.

Proficient in using total station, GPS receivers, and post processing software.

from an actual job posting

Applicants must check your e-mail randomly for an assessment sent to you from [company]. The assessment will need to be completed as soon as possible in order to proceed to the next step.

Really? That's not a good sign.

Reminds me of an online test I took for a well-known telco with offices in Frisco. It was 40mins of massive multitasking. For example, do this math word problem while we barrage you with IMs and emails that scroll by. Oh, and you have to be able to recall the content of the IM/email minutes later.

Translation: we have a totally f&$%ed up work environment; wouldn't you like to work here?

Now, you'd think that a beggar couldn't be a chooser. But I've taken enough messed up jobs in my life to know a bad one when I see it.

teaching, tilting at windmills

Introspection and explanation.

It's been a year and a half since I left a corporate/technical job to pursue teaching. My timing turned out to be quite bad; the economy immediately tanked and the teaching market constricted mightily. School districts like Richardson have quit accepting applications altogether from alternative certification folks like me unless one is in a high needs area (Math, Science). I'm not. And I can't get into a high needs area without getting a certificate in my non-high needs area first. This in spite of recent findings that there is no particular edge that traditional hires bring to the table.

I promise this isn't a whine or a complaint. My mood is one of acceptance and reality. A new alt cert applicant asked me the other day if the job market was depressing or scary. "No," I replied, "depressing and scary was about a year ago." I should point out that she asked me this during a 30-hr block of Saturday classes I'm having to retake for TEA because I didn't get the internship before the 18-month limit timed out. And I wasn't the only one like that in the classroom.

I tell you that to tell you this: I just filled out my first application for a non-teaching job. The market may pick up soon but subbing doesn't pay enough to keep me from burning through my resources: savings, checking, retirement, eBay/craiglist-able nonessentials and credit line. Subbing every single day (no days off, no cancellations, fully booked) yields a max of about $16k/yr. I figured I'd sub until I got a teaching job or ran out of resources, whichever came first.

If I do not get a teaching job for the Fall it's safe to say it's over. Neither the mortgage holder nor student loan officer will accept good intentions or dreams in lieu of cash, and I don't blame them. I gave the public school system first right of refusal and they exercised it. Fair enough. But I do feel a tiny bit like a fellow who had his proposal turned down on the jumbotron at the ballpark, or a volunteer the Peace Corps wouldn't accept.

I continue to email, hobnob, apply to ISD websites, look at 40+ ISD/charter/private school job listing pages each day but it appears the die has been cast. I'll keep trying to get a teaching position right up to the point I get hired to do something else.

Edited to add: even if I get a non-teaching job I'll continue to teach on my own time and my own dime. It's a vocation, and finds its way to the surface like St Francis preaching to the birds. Maybe I'll teach the chickens in the backyard.

Headhunter calls as leading economic indicator

I have had my resume posted online for about 15yrs, so I get a certain amount of headhunter traffic on my phone and email.

Headhunter calls seem to be a leading indicator of what's to come economically. According to my highly unscientific sample it seems that the call volume and quality lead actual conditions by 6-12 months. I am happy to report that headhunter calls have started slowly picking up again this month after about a year of zero contacts.

If past performance is any clue, maybe the the economy will pick up mid- or late-2010. I sure hope so.

Now, if I could just get any of those headhunters to call about a teaching job rather than *nix administration...