teaching jobs with Hillsborough County - external applicants and open hire questions (Tampa: transfer)

[d-fens]

I am wondering what the deal is with the "open hire period" that starts on June 16th. Just last week there were almost twice as many jobs in my field available. The internal transfer period ended on May 15th and if no one could be hired between then and the 16th, how did these positions disappear? The two I am interested are still open, so I still have hope, but not sure if I should. If I wasn't contacted for an interview by now, should I forget about it and move on?

[katleigh]

It was due to the job fairs they held last week. I believe you had to be registered for the job fairs by April 30th and there was a maximum number of participants allowed. Many positions were filled during this time. What you see online is what is left over.

So yes, if you are interested, you absolutely should still express your interest. Don't wait for them to contact you, contact them again. Be proactive. Good luck!

[ambersmom722]

katleigh..does the system tend to have a lot of open positions? I looked at the county's website last night and was surprised to see so many positions opened. I am looking to move to the Tampa area next summer. I can only pray that there will be positions open next yr. I know things are not so good in a lot of places. I have already applied for Florida certification. I just mailed off the copy of my Ga certificate and my grad school transcripts (need to get undergrad in). I am entering into yr 14 of teaching. (elementary)..I know you can not give definite answers, but what is the likelihood that I will be able to find a position? Will the competition be thick?

[katleigh]

ambersmom,

I'm not really sure how many positions are normally open. I heard that they hired about 2,400 teachers (overall, not just elementary) two years ago and only 800/900 last year. After the pool, it looked like there was about 400/500 jobs still posted online. However, I don't know if that is how many jobs that were still available or if there were really less (or maybe more?).

They tell us that they prepared for a downturn in the economy by slowing down in their hiring earlier than other districts. Hopefully, that is true. If it is, then it would seem that normal retirements/moving/changes will mean continued openings for new hires.

Unfortunately, competition will probably be thick. Many surrounding districts have been laying off. Plus, they often hire existing interns as first year teachers. I'm assuming you'll be certified K-6? If so, indicate that you are willing to take a position in any of those grades. Good luck!

[sunshine712009]

I moved to Tampa from out of state due to not wanting to have a long distance marriage anymore.

The job fair was horrible. Cue the chariots of fire music and imagine teachers snorting their nostrils as if they are at the "Running of the Bulls at Pamplona"... Just horrible.

They sat you according to when you came in, so even with it starting at 7 am and you getting there at 6 something; you're seated somewhere near the top rows of a high school auditorium. They then call you out groups at a time with 20 minute increments between each starting with the absolute bottom row. This is long enough for others to fill up interview slots. So by the time you're dismissed all interviewing is filled. The next thing you hear is that you're welcome to leave a resume.

I've since sent at least 60+ resumes out, either through faxing or dropping off. Think of the cost of faxing per resume at copy stores. Hardly any calls.

When you follow up they tell you they've already got 200-300 at least and that the principal will review them all to line up interviews.

If you get called for interviews (I did get 2) you're told they either filled the position through someone in the (waiting) pool (laid off from last year) or whatever, like well thanks for interviewing with us.

This has been before and after the pool release date.

I wish they would only post jobs internally on their district website instead of out to the world for everyone to get their hopes up. They could then post "residual" jobs on county website after the pool is over. But they tell you that if you want to have a chance, you need to send your resumes directly to schools. Why, if they're only going to hire internally anyway?

There were some shouts of joy at the job fair from a few teachers. Meanwhile at what I like to call the bull pen, you had teachers who had signed up for interviews and have gotten placed turning in slips with interview cancellations. You then had some guy in the middle of literally a 3 ring circus like a ringmaster, calling out schools. Nevermind that you know nothing about them, what side of town they're on or anything. You had a split second to think and the slip went to the fastest bidder like an auction block. At the same time as you heard "I'll take it!!" from one, you'd equally hear sighs of "Oh...shoot..."

Not a good scene.

By the way, I'm really sizing up more and more that they're signing people either fresh out of college or maybe with 3 years or less experience. That's what it seems like, really. And I guess with budget cuts why would you sign someone with a number of years of experience.

I may have that wrong, but really something is weird about it.

I've been slaving away at this since before June and it's October now.

Even when I tried to get on the list for subbing, they said even as a certified teacher, you have to train for 3 days, all day (8-3) with no pay because it's conditional to the job.

If you do not have your certification, you have to train with them to sub for 10 days, same setup.

If you're working some meager job now, who's going to give you that time off for something like that. If you're not certified it's like asking for a 2 week vacation.

In my last district up north, it was a 1 day training of a district overview mixed K-12. They taught you how to compete for sub jobs, and said you want 'em, go get 'em.

As a matter of fact there's so many new applicants, that there's not another class until the end of October for subbing. By the time you get out there, you wont get a check until early November.

Phew!!

But hey welcome to Tampa.

[sunshine712009]

Also one more thing about the hiring in Hillsborough county schools. They really seem to have interview quotas. If you don't stretch them out with discussing your skills or showing portfolio etc., they seem to be over in about 12 minutes. You're asked standard questions and are hurried thanked along. They may often ask you again for a resume and breeze over it while you're sitting there checking off a few things. However they're always overly grateful that you came out. This also comes from some screenings which occurred at their local job fair. They require you to be screened hither, thither and yon. And you can't go through this unless you've gone through that.

It's like they're just checking people off to say they tried, and then just go with someone. Anyone I guess.