Searching for a teaching job in NoVa (Alexandria, Fairfax: credit, teaching jobs)

[LauraG211]

I'm hoping to learn more about the hiring process for teaching jobs in Northern Virginia. I will be relocating from Long Island and have already obtained my teaching certificate in Virginia. The job hunt is a bit different than in New York, simply because schools are run county wide in VA. I recently had a screening interview at PWCS, and my current employer let me know that he had been contacted a few days ago for a background check. Does anyone know what the rest of the process looks like, or what I can expect to happen next? Does HR handle all of the hiring, or is it wise to be contacting the principals of the schools with vacancies?

Any and all advice is really appreciated- thanks!

[marie5v]

I can tell you that for Fairfax County Public Schools and for Alexandria City Schools, you will need to not only go through the county application process, but also contact principals directly. Otherwise, your application is likely to just sit in the system forever. I can't say for sure about PW, but it's probably the same. In Fairfax, and probably the others, the principal is the one who does the choosing and then HR handles the paperwork, background check, salary, etc. The big advantage to the county-wide system is that the school board is so far above you that you don't have to deal with them directly and they don't get involved in personnel issues. Also, the principal is not the one responsible for your paycheck or your salary level - it's all kind of anonymous HR stuff - so you don't run into the problem of not being hired or being harassed to retire because your salary level is too high (and HR will give you as many years of credit as they can toward your pay scale level).

Of course, there is no union like in NY, but other than too many demands on your unpaid time I can't see any real differences because of that. Certain "associations" will try to get you to join and pay them dues, but they can't engage in collective bargaining and don't have any real power at all so I don't see the point.