I recently took a temp assignment working in a call center. I found out the job could go permanent. Not exactly what I want to be doing, but I'm grateful for steady $ right now. It's giving me a chance to rethink some things. I've ignored my true love of drawing and painting. I'd love brush up (no pun intended, I think) on my portfolio, and even take the Art CSET...which I have been talking about forever. I still continue to apply for elementary teaching jobs, but out here in Southern California they are almost non existent. I still would love to teach high school visual arts. And, even with budget cuts there's still some jobs out there. All I know is, I've ignored my passion for way too long. Perhaps this is where God has placed me for that reason alone. Anyhow, if anybody else out there is working a job other than teaching, how are you handling it? A couple of gals last week were shocked when I told them I have a teaching credential. I guess for many, they still believe teaching is a profession where there should never be lack of work. :unsure: Anyhow, as I said I'm grateful for a job....hoping it lasts me until I either get a teaching job this year, or God willing for the next year while I save and add on to my certification.
I am working as a cashier part time right now. I am determined to get a job teaching! If not, then I will change my major and get a Master's in education with normal student teaching, and hope that helps me in the market! I am in an alternative certification program right now and really want to start teaching soon! I feel like I am drowning in applications!
I always taught in a public school. I've reluctantly accepted a kindergarten position at a childcare center. I figure that with the lower expectations of me including a smaller class size, I too will be adding on to my certifications while I am not doing exactly what I want to be doing. I'm glad you've found work. We should be thankful that we have something. I believe that God has a plan for all of us so sometimes we just need to roll with it!
I can't speak for other states, but California has a 25BILLION $ dollar deficit. It's horrid. I'm grateful to get almost anything right now. I worked for the phone company years ago, I'm grateful for that training I had...makes this job easier because of previous training. I want to teach as well, and I'm also looking at private schools. It's just so desolate right now. And, I want to pursue what I love and what I feel I am meant to be teaching.
That's great that you found something, nasimi! I'm working part-time at a grocery store in the produce department. I've worked this same job since I was in high school (except for a little while when I moved away) and it's not bad. Honestly I like the job, it's easy and I know how to do everything well and if I don't get a teaching job, I'm thinking about trying for full-time there. As hard as it is to find anything right now, I'm glad to have a job that I enjoy.
I can't say that I really "enjoy" the job I have right now....it's ok. :unsure: But, it IS a job and I am grateful for that. Right now I'm working through the temp agency...and there's talk it could go permanent, so we shall see. I worked at a grocery store years ago, I liked it too. Sounds like you have the right idea Jessica. Just keep plugging away at your current job, and keep on the lookout for teaching jobs as they pop up. Best of luck to you!
It might be me but I'm tired of doing those kinds of low pay/deadend jobs. Some poeple might say a job is a job, and some people might be glad they have a job right now depending on where they live, but they will probably be somewhat miserable knowing they have a college education working at someplace that requires a high school diploma. I worked at Lowe's hardware store from July of 2007 through July 2008 and got tired of it. Sure I learned about paint (the department I worked in), but I also found out the new person working in the same department as me was getting paid more, and I had been there for a year and had a bachelor's degree and had several years of more working experience while he was around 20 with a high school diploma and would only be there for the summer before he went back to school. I learned that A.) retail is horrible B.) those kinds of jobs don't care about education C.) the management can pay anyone any kind of wage regardless of age and education. For those who have a job that doesn't pay that much, don't be surprised if someone with less education than you might be getting paid more at some point even though you've been there longer and have a bachelor's degree or better.
ryhoyarbie: I hear you. However, most of us are trying to see the best in the situations we are in. I hardly want to be working at a call center. However, I'm in California, where I would argue finding a teaching job in elementary is probably the most challenging......downright close to impossible at this time. There are just no jobs right now. Period. So, I have to suck it up and work where I can find a job. If the guy next to me is making more $ and he's newer, I have to deal with that. It's not a place I see myself at for more than a year at best. I have to make plans, take classes, add on to my certification, in other words, have a vision for my future. I'm not going to get caught up in the menucia of the situation I'm currently in.......it's not worth my time. My choices are this: LOWpay, or NOpay. A lot depends on our attitudes as well. I see this as a chance to take some night classes, put a portfolio together, begin interviews at schools for drawing and painting jobs. Whatever. It's only a dead end if you view it that way. maybe I feel this way because I've been out of work for over a year. Subbing has not paid my bills, not even close. I don't eve know how long this job will last...but for now....it's the breaks while I keep looking. But I gotta deal with that and keep my head up high. We all do.
Well, best of luck to you. California is one of the hardest hit places. It might be me but before the economy went sour, I was doing low paying jobs and making 8 or 9 dollars an hour after I graduated college in 2005 and I'm still there. For others who have been making 30,000 to 50,000 dollars in the past teaching or doing something else, at least you've seen that kind of money. I feel like I'm going to be stuck at those low paying jobs for the rest of my life, no matter how much education I have or how hard I work at those kinds of jobs.
Hang in there ryhoyarbie...I do know what you mean. I feel "stuck" as well. I wonder if I'll ever teach again. I was on an emergency credential and then got displaced. Then I worked at a private school and got offered a LTS job, but then that fell through due to our budget cuts out here. It's hard make decent money and then slide back to where I am now. Either way it's tough. People say to me, "Well, at least your not alone"....and somehow that doesn't help. Oh great, me uncle and I and everybody else and their relative are all trying for the same jobs. Ugh. Trust me, I know the frustrations, the feelings. It's times like these to have friends around to support you, pray, whatever you do. Don't give up though...keep plugging away, and keep that vision of yourself teaching somewhere.
I'm currently working for a textbook publisher, the same place I worked all through college. Sure, it's not my passion but it's all about your attitude. At my job I've been asked to do some training so I really do get to call upon some of my teaching experience and it makes it easier to answer the interview question, "So, are you currently subsitute teaching or what have you been up to since graduation?" I just explain why I don't see myself subbing and then talk about how I am seen as a teacher in my current position. Also, my job lets me out in the early afternoon so I don't have to miss much work for interviews and I have my afternoons free to do tutoring or volunteer at a local school. I think as long as you think of your current position as temporary and keep focused on becoming a teacher and do things to better yourself in that area, you'll make it.
I totally agree with you about the low pay or no pay; something is better than nothing. Also, having a job to go to keeps me sane and makes me feel better about myself.
I was just thinking that now, so grateful I have someplace to be tomorrow. I've spent weeks on end sleeping in on Monday mornings, and man does it get depressing. A good friend of mine told me once, "You have to bloom where you're planted." I really like that saying. Puts into perspective things, in how we must look at life, even when are places we may not want to be. There's always lessons to be learned, room to grow. In time, we'll have our teaching jobs that we cherish. For now, we must keep plugging away.
I think having things to do during the day will keep people in check. Yes sitting around and doing nothing gets boring, although you can also say you would want to be back at home relaxing while you're at your job. I go to the gym and run 8 miles on the treadmill to get away from the junk. Crazy of me to run that many miles? Yes, but it does help me forget about things that are bothering me, especially if I'm having a good run.
Ooh, I totally agree!! I am working at the place now part time, and I dread going in everyday!! I hope I find a job by the fall, but if now I am still going to school. I am enrolled in an Alternate Route program, and taking an online class to add a Math endorsement since around here they are so much needed.
