Advice on finding teaching jobs.... (Dallas, Plano: house, transfer to, school district)

[knoxtnhorn]

My wife and I - both teachers - will be moving to the DFW area this time next year. We plan on taking advantage of the teacher job fairs that occur yearly during the spring. The trick is to find jobs within the same school district. She's an 8th-year ESL teacher; I'm a 4th year 3rd/4th grade teacher. We both have excellent credentials.

Wherever we find jobs will be the location to which we move. I started looking in the Mckinney/Allen area but just about anything outside of Dallas/Ft. Worth proper would probably suffice as we're not picky. I've been perusing TeacherJobNet.com to get an idea as to what is available and there do seem to be plenty of jobs.

The issue, however, is twofold. First of all, we need to get positions within the same school district - preferably within the same school or nearby. Secondly, we'll still be teaching up here in E. TN next year so we don't exactly have the ability to "come in the next day for an interview" if called. Upon selling our house this fall, we will have the ability (and personal days) to fly back and forth for interviews; however, this option will certainly be limited by our current teaching obligations.

One idea I had was to locate any new schools that may be opening in the fall of 2017. Hypothetically, there will be multiple positions available.

Anyway, as I'm starting to ramble, I guess I'll just ask for any advice this board may be willing to give the two of us.

Thank you in advance.

[Beaching]

It really is too early to apply for a job now or even this fall if you will not be here until Fall 2017.

There will be plenty of teaching jobs. In every district. With the state mandated testing, STARR, along with other issues that go along with teaching in todays world, I'm sure you are very aware of all of that , there is a big enough turnover year to year and I do not see it dying off any time soon.

McKinney, Allen, Plano, Richardson, Garland, Lovejoy, Frisco, Anna, etc are all districts that you and your wife can look into next year.
I would start looking come January 2017 to see what gets posted on the districts websites. Many teachers come back from winter break and will start giving their notice. They were home for that winter break and liked it for whatever reason.

[knoxtnhorn]

Got it. Thanks. We weren't planning to job search until next February as that is the month of the first job fair that I'd seen.

[numbersguy100]

You should make sure that your teaching certificate will transfer to TX right away. If there's a way to work on setting that up now, I would do it now. We moved here mid-year from the northeast and my wife didn't transfer hers in advance - which worked out for the best in the end since she decided to go the private school route anyways, but it would have been convenient to have it before moving. If you've got that in hand, the people in HR are much more likely to keep you in mind as turnover materializes into new spaces for the following year. You seem to have general enough teaching backgrounds that finding employment in close proximity is unlikely to be an issue.

[knoxtnhorn]

Thanks numbersguy100. We do have to go through a process to transfer our licenses. We've actually already paid for and begun the transfer. We'll be applying to the same districts come next spring so, hopefully, we'll get some "hits". We shouldn't have an issue getting jobs. The issue will be getting "hits" from the same district. Even within the same district there's a concern because anyone that knows the Dallas area well (I'm from Garland/Richardson) knows that there can be a huge commute problems even within the same county.

[Beaching]

Originally Posted by knoxtnhorn

Thanks numbersguy100. We do have to go through a process to transfer our licenses. We've actually already paid for and begun the transfer. We'll be applying to the same districts come next spring so, hopefully, we'll get some "hits". We shouldn't have an issue getting jobs. The issue will be getting "hits" from the same district. Even within the same district there's a concern because anyone that knows the Dallas area well (I'm from Garland/Richardson) knows that there can be a huge commute problems even within the same county.

Even within the same city. Something a lot of people moving here do not understand how spread out it really is. Both Richardson ISD and Garland ISD cover a lot of ground, as you are most likely aware

Both of those are big districts. If you are from here, you may look up and see if any of the current admins at the district level or principals in the schools are former classmates or acquaintances that may be able to put a plug in for you or keep you and your wife in the loop if they know of any openings coming up. It does not hurt to check that out as it would avoid having to attend the career fairs and watching the websites daily. I would even look to see if any staff, including teachers are people you may have gone to school with or former teachers.

Best of luck! We always need good teachers!