I submitted my application yesterday afternoon.
My principal friend recommended I wait until Monday in the hopes that my former principal would pull through with the letter of rec (just as you all did). She also gave me a few notes on my cover letter, so I made those changes.
Surprisingly, my former principal responded to a text I sent Sunday afternoon, saying he’d get me the letter Monday morning. I finally received it at 2pm, and immediately submitted my application.
It feels good to have it done.
I know I probably won’t even get an interview, but I’m proud of myself for finally applying. That is a big step, one I’ve avoided for years.
I looked online to see if/when one should follow up on an application submission. Of course the advice was totally contradictory. One article said to follow up with a phone call 48-72 hours later. Another suggested something less intrusive (like an email) after about a week. One was vehemently opposed to any kind of follow up. The only advice I’m sure I’ll follow is to check my spam folder regularly, in case any kind of response ends up there.
In the meantime, I have plenty to focus on at home. Today I cleaned out the garage, which desperately needed it. Tomorrow I plan on hitting up Cost.co (so excited to go on a week day morning!) and looking for a new bathing suit (ugh!). I plan on KonMari-ing all the junk in my house, which should be interesting. I’m going to take a giant bag and just dump any miscellaneous shit from drawers, counter tops, and random receptacles and dump it all on the floor of the living room. Hopefully, a couple hours later most of it will be in the trash. Also, my mother has requested I go through the last of my boxes at her house and for some reason is adamant I do that this week, so that fun task is on the docket. I might have jury duty (I have to recheck every afternoon for a week), which is an ever present source of anxiety. And of course I need to pack for our two weeks in St. Louis. Yes, there will be plenty to keep me occupied, and hopefully by the time we get back from our trip, I’ll have forgotten I even applied for a job.
I think right now I’m balancing the tension well, delicately maintaining the scales between hoping I get it enough to maintain the conviction necessary to accept the pay cut and take the job, if it’s offered, and not wanting it so much that I’ll be devastated when I have to return to my horrible job this fall. The reality is I’ll be devastated at my old job no matter what this year, I don’t need to disappointed of not getting this job to magnify it.
It’s definitely easier now that the hard work is done, and I don’t need to glorify the position to keep myself motivated enough to push through the torture that is writing and rewriting a cover letter. Now I can let it all fall into the background, and watch to see how long it take the small floating candle of hope to extinguish.
I’m guessing it’s got three to four weeks.
First off, hooray for submitting!! I know how wonderful it feels to hit the submit button. You did a hard thing.
As far as following up, I have zero advice on this. But what I would suggest is spending some time each week continuing to job hunt and network. I’m in the middle of doing this myself (heading to a meeting today solely based on cultivating relationships and to get into the network). It’s not easy to do, but there are benefits.
I don’t know how the school districts function, but I do suspect it’s a lot like academia where jobs are offered to those already in mind. So networking is key. It’s hard to do because there are a lot of dead ends. But every position I’ve been offered has come from knowing someone (or knowing someone who knows someone). So networking has been fruitful.
I know you’re right that I need to network, I’m just not sure how to go about that in my field. There are dozens of high schools up and down the peninsula, and not many events where people from even on district come together (at least not any that some random outsider could attend). I’ve been at the same school working for the same people for so long…my network is pretty unimpressive. Ugh. I’m never going to find a job. Especially not at the high school level. It’s disheartening.
Do you know any high school teachers? Or know anyone who knows one? Try to have coffee with a high school teacher to learn more about it. It may help prepare you for an interview. Or, at the very least, it broadens your network. Networking doesn’t have to be at a formal event.
You know, I don’t know any high school teachers, at least none I can think of. Can that be true? I need to look into that. My friend’s husband teaches at a private high school, I could meet up with him. There was actually a Spanish position open at his high school this year and I seriously considered applying but then I decided I wanted to wait a year (and teaching at a private school seriously complicates my retirement situation). I’m kicking myself for not pursuing the opportunity now… though this position is a much better fit for me for a number of reasons. Anyway, I do know one high school teacher. I’ll definitely meet up with him at some point over the summer.
Yay!!! Good for you!!!!
Best of luck! This is super exciting!
Thanks! I’m trying not to get too excited, but it’s hard.
Networking–not sure how that would work in your field.
I forgot to mention before–in my experience when jobs are posted “open until filled” that typically means they are difficult positions to fill. Hopefully that improves your likely already good chances.
Foreign language positions are typically harder to fill. You’d think Spanish language teachers would be prevalent in California where such a massive percentage of the populations speaks the language but that just isn’t the case. This is also a position that includes another, totally unrelated class, which some language teachers might not even be interested in. I am hoping that combination ups my chances a little. 😉
I’m so proud of you for hitting the submit button! You never know. Searching for new employees is the bane of my existance, and we do “open until filled” because (a) it’s hard to get the right person for the job in this little community, and (b) when the right person comes along, we want to be able to offer them the job without delay. You never know when you’ll fill the exact requirements they were looking for! If I was you, I’d follow up with an email next week just saying “thanks for the opportunity to apply / I’m very excited about the opportunity to work at your school because ___ / let me know if you have any futher questions for me” blah blah blah… personalize it so they know you haven’t just sent out a million applications all over the place and are truly interested in THEM. Hang in there!
Thanks for the wording on that. I will definitely “borrow” it when I send my email later this week.
Congrats on submitting! You DEFINITELY want to follow up in a few days- the language that Josey suggests is exactly what I would put as well. It lets them know that it wasn’t just one of 100 applications that you sent out.
So nice to hear from people that I should follow up. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
I agree that you should follow up, and Josey’s wording sounds perfect. I actually look upon those favorably—it shows the candidate didn’t just submit to my opening along with 100s of others, but seriously is considering this particular position. IF they are just dragging their heels/having trouble picking anyone out of the pile, for example, an enthusiastic (but not overly crazed) email might prompt them to schedule an interview or send your resume up the chain.
Thanks for the advice on following up. I really appreciate hearing from people I respect, and not just random articles on the internet. 😉
Also YES congrats on submitting. it took a lot of hard work/dedication and motivation on your part!
Thanks!
Yay!! I hope it feels goody one taking some action. I agree about the “open until filled” positions. They are expecting it to take awhile.
Also, as far as following up, I think that if they like your resume, they will be happy that you followed up with them. I wouldn’t do it more than once though. I have had candidates I didn’t like follow up constantly, and that was annoying. But like Ana said,it shows your interest which is good.
Thanks for the suggestion on following up. I really appreciate hearing from people who have been on the other side of hiring.