Economy in Texas? (Austin, Midland: home, find a job, transfer)

[ryhoyarbie]

While I will agree that the economy in Texas is far better than a lot of other states (Michigan, Ohio, and California for example), is the economy in Texas as healthy as some economists say it is?

It still seems that Texas still has problems in the job front, that people are still having a hard time trying to find a job (any job at that rate) aside from engineering or even medical. I know the teaching job front is still sluggish because there are too many people looking for a teaching position and not enough jobs. I happen to work at a elementary school that received 200 resumes for only two job openings for this upcoming school year at a job fair that was held back in May.

[ChristieP]

Teaching jobs are not an accurate measure of the economy's strength. The availability of them depends on state funding decided by the Legislature, and on local tax revenues.

Look at private industry, and the overall unemployment rate, for a more accurate picture.

[TheOverdog]

I happen to work at a elementary school that received 200 resumes for only two job openings for this upcoming school year at a job fair that was held back in May.

The large company I work for received 38,000 resumes for 30 positions for jobs in south Florida. This salary starts just slightly higher than a rookie teacher does. That is 38,000 submitted resumes, so your two hundred for two positions sounds like nothing! Most areas across the US aren't that high, but the ratio of resumes to open positions is still close to 1000 to 1. There are a lot of people across the US who want to work, and are looking for a new job or a better job right now.

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Teaching jobs are not an accurate measure of the economy's strength. The availability of them depends on state funding decided by the Legislature, and on local tax revenues.

Look at private industry, and the overall unemployment rate, for a more accurate picture.

Exactly. Teaching jobs are at a premium because no where else do you get 2.5 months off in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week in the spring and then other holidays sprinkled throughout.

It actually says a lot about the (lack) of economic understanding in this country when people think that jobs that suck money out of the economy represent the economy.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Exactly. Teaching jobs are at a premium because no where else do you get 2.5 months off in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week in the spring and then other holidays sprinkled throughout.

It actually says a lot about the (lack) of economic understanding in this country when people think that jobs that suck money out of the economy represent the economy.

Not really, WB. Yes, I admit the attraction of only working 187 days a year is great. As you say, weekends off, long holiday weekends and intermittent vactions, and the summer off to do as you please...and getting paid to boot.

BUT...longevity for a teacher is about 5 - 7 years. I did it for 15 and can say with certainty that all that glitters is not gold! LOL

I know some teachers might say different, but my own experience over the years is that most will say that the "holidays and summer" are necessary to maintain sanity. I can't think of a single stressful job -- other than teaching -- where one cannot finish their duty hours and go home and forget about it.

It don't work that way with teachers. Your day REALLY begins after your duty hours end. Being up grading, filling out BS paperwork (especially special ed teachers as I was), until 10 at night and then having to get up at 6 in the morning with little to no real sleep because you are worried about whether or not you have done all the paperwork correctly!

Well, it takes a toll. Weekends off? Nope, not always. I have -- and many other teachers have -- spent our so-called "weekends" off" doing things that we just learn about on Friday needs to be done by Monday. Whatever plans we may have made with our families must be put on hold or else we are responsible for the outcome. It got worse (and will continue to be), when high-stakes testing came into play.

I would challenge anyone who thinks teaching is a cush job to just take a long-term substitute job and see for themselves what it really is. And even then, the exposure would be abbreviated and somewhat artificial as subs are not responsible for paperwork nor outcome!

I wish I could say different, but post-dating back to about 5 years ago? I would not advise any young person, today, to get into teaching in the public school system...

To paraphrase a bit? At one time, the teaching profession was the most rewarding of all. I used to love it.

But then? The government stepped in...

[ryhoyarbie]

Thanks for the imput with teaching and what all people do.

I knew Florida was bad, but that's a lot to handle. 38,000 resumes for 30 jobs is horrible. And you're right, a lot of people are looking for a job or a better paying job than what they have right now. I know I am, and I've been out of college for 8 years now living in Texas.

[BobTex]

Full time jobs continue to diminish while part time is increasing(nationwide) much of this is due to the coming regs for the "Affordable" Healthcare Act but the bringing of the US to 3rd world status continues. Overall Texas looks strong compared to most areas in the US but today's economy would get elected officials strung up in the late 1980's to 1998. The US economy is very sick and Texas' just has a mild cold!

[winkosmosis]

Originally Posted by War Beagle

Exactly. Teaching jobs are at a premium because no where else do you get 2.5 months off in the summer, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week in the spring and then other holidays sprinkled throughout.

It actually says a lot about the (lack) of economic understanding in this country when people think that jobs that suck money out of the economy represent the economy.

No job sucks money out of the economy... Put down the Ayn Rand garbage.

A teaching job transfers money from taxpayers to a teacher who spends it in the economy.

[ScoPro]

I just posted this reply about teaching jobs in Austin:

//www.city-data.com/forum/texas...obs-texas.html

My DIL is the HR person in charge of staffing teaching positions in Austin high schools.

She told me a few weeks ago her office recently purged about 50,000 applications out of the 120,000 they had on file.

IIRC, Austin has about 5,700 total teachers in the district, with less than half those being high school faculty. I don't know what the turnover rate is these days, but if it's around 10% you are looking at roughly 200-300 positions being vacated each year.

Now with about 70,000 applications still on file and a few thousand new ones coming in to fill those few jobs, you can see the competition is going to be tough....at least in Austin. The same is probably true for nearby districts. If you have a much in demand specialty (ESL or Special Ed), then it might be somewhat "easier".

I have no idea what's going on at the elementary level.

The wife of my brother's grandson recently got a faculty position at an Austin elementary school - she has state certification for American Sign Language.

If you get certified in Special Ed, then your chances will be better than most of those applicants.

Two members of my extended family were Special Ed teachers, and several others are currently teaching or retired. I put in 30 years in secondary schools myself, retiring in the '90s.

Best of luck to you and your husband.

[Midessan]

In Midland jobs are easy to find. A place to live is another matter all together though.