Taking the plunge? (Austin, Round Rock, Spring: rent, home, job market)

[williep99]

While, my wife and I have been discussing moving from Colorado for some time. The only close family we have left is our parents who are getting along in their years and one of my sisters who lives in Oregon. I love Oregon for the beauty and outdoors but the winters are a bit gloomy and their economy doesn't look good either. And from some forums, there are some bitter people up there. Not all, mind you, but I feel an undercurrent of negativity.

We really love north central Arkansas for the beauty but the isolation and economy aren't big perks for the area. And (please don't take offense) we are looking for a good area for our 2 elementary age sons to have good schools.

Hence we come to Austin, your great city. My wife is putting her name on the "wait list" for a position when it opens up. Could be a week, could be 2 years.

Me, I'm looking at a midlife career change and have talked to UT and TSU about getting my teaching certificate and Masters degree and moving into the teaching business. The market for it seems lukewarm but there iseems to be some opportunity. It would take me a year to finish the schooling and I hope that the time, plus waiting for my wifes job to open up, allows the economy to pick up where some jobs will be available.

From the posts we see, internet research, and proximity to lakes for fishing , the north side of town looks good at this stage. Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander and such. Even though we have owned our own home for many years we will probably rent to get a feel for the perfect place. That will kill me since I constantly am working on some home improvement or two.

Hope you don't mind my "lurking" and posing a few questions from time to time.

Bill

[staubach]

Have you taken a look at Hot Springs Village in Ark? It has quite a few amenities that sets it apart from the rest of central Arkansas. (better schools, golfing, fishing, gated community, etc.)

Austin is great place if you decide to move here though..

[shankaupas]

Teaching jobs are very competitive here. A few years ago, I thought about going into teaching and I got my teaching certificate. I originally got my bachelor's degree in accounting but I never really enjoyed that line of work. I went to a job fair in Round Rock and I am not joking when I say that there were several thousand current or ex teachers attending the job fair also. I walked around a bit but got very discouraged when I could not get face time with any of the principals. I had no real classroom experience except for the few times I volunteered at my kids elementary school. So if you are going to try and get into teaching, make sure you get as much class time as you can get either via substitute teaching or student teaching. I looked into substitute teaching at the time to get classroom experience but Round Rock was not hiring subs. They just started hiring subs late last year. And even then, they were only taking subs with teaching certificates. I was only focusing on the Round Rock ISD. But there are multiple ISDs in the Austin metro area where you might have better luck.

[love roses]

Yes, shankaupas is right. I'm trying to do the same as you and it's gnashing of teeth competitive. I'm subbing (almost a yr. now) and all the teachers and student teachers/aides tell me that that is one of the best ways to get yourself known because a lot of it is "who you know". Round Rock is currently hiring subs and aides and non-certified ones at that so you're chances are pretty good to at least get your foot in the door. If I don't get hired as an aide, I think next year I'm going to go multi-district. Looking at all the different district web sites, Taylor is about the only one who only hires certified teachers as subs.

[williep99]

My thought was completing the teaching cert in one year and then moving on toward my Masters degree ASAP. Like many jobs I imagine you need as much education as possible going in. Your thoughts? While there will likely be Districts I would prefer over others, I would look at a number of Districts to start.

[williep99]

Staubach, Hot Springs Village is OK but the job market in tht area isn't. Also the amenities for adults is excellent but not as much for the kiddos.

[love roses]

If you have the cert first, it'll up your chances for sure.