How to Get a Job in Music Education, Part Two: Getting the Interview

Get in the pool.

Our HR office keeps a stockpile of resumes for two years. If a job opens up, they pull from that pool, especially if applications for a given position are light.

Always apply for an open position you are interested in, but if you have a program in mind that you would like to be considered for, it does not hurt at all to send a resume to that school district's HR department. If there isn’t an open position, don’t sent your resume to the District and Building Administration.

The Principals and Superintendents don't want your stuff. Unless there is an open position, don't spam those people.

They, at best, will just forward it to HR. Now, if there is an open position, that is a different story. The principal might forward your information to HR for consideration if they are trying to fill a position. As the Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, I'm a little more grounded, so I, and people in similar positions, would love to have some resumes in my back pocket to send to HR, or possibly give you a call if something opens up.

All of these people will tell you the same thing APPLY, and that, in this day and age, will most likely be done online.

How do I find out about open positions? Large companies like in Delaware use something like Frontline and have a state hub for all open teaching positions. There are even links to individual schools that, for whatever reason, do not link their frontline to the greater state repository.  USreap.net has all the schools that use that system, or you can dial it down by state with spin-off sites like PAreap.net mini hub for Pennsylvania.  Some sites scrape over job boards like Schoolspring.com, Indeed, and others. They can be a little less organized and a little less up-to-date, but may include nonpublic school options like private and parodical schools.

Don't discount another great way to find an open position—word of the street. Cultivate relationships with people in the school districts around you. Get your ear to the ground. 

A job opening is like gossip laced with catnip for music teachers. It's a small community, so everybody talks about everybody. When I moved positions, it made the local newspaper's front page.

The photo should be a burning bridge. -DP

When will you see jobs?

The first wave will begin in May. These are retirees. Sometimes, they get incentives for putting in for retirement early. This gives schools and HR departments a heads-up and allows them to fill a job before the end of the year. Some music jobs that really start before the year ends, like high school bands that are already recruiting or making summer camp plans, may want to get a jump on these positions in the Spring if they know they are opening.

However, a building trying to deal with all that happens at the end of the year can be a lot, so June is more likely to have a large lump of openings than now that the Administration has shut down the last year. They are finally ready to get started on planning for the next year.

July will see some dominos start to fall. Positions that were open in June begin to get filled. The people who left their jobs and got hired in that June wave now created a vacancy, and those positions start to post. Oh, no, August hits, and districts that dragged their feet,  waited for allocations, or lost their teachers in the July wave start scrambling for teachers.

August is a big month for hires. If you haven't been hired yet, fear not. Late August and early September have a lot of moving parts.  Allocations for buildings may present new positions. Two years ago, we had three new positions for our Visual and Performing Arts Staff, and we finished the hiring process in the first month of September. Some teachers flake. The burned-out vets come back and realize they can't do another year. Internally, people transfer open positions, and everyone who leaves for another position in August suddenly creates vacancies going into September.

The applicant is in the driver's seat in September and October.  The pool of applicants is super low at this point, and we are looking under rocks for anyone who is available. We have had more than one flame out when a new hire gets into the classroom for the first time and quickly realizes that this profession is not for them, and they hit the exit door fast.

There is one more mini-wave of openings mid-year. December 31, or the end of the second marking period, seems to be an exit point for some teachers.

If you are coming from a position, know that your current job may try to hold you for 30, 60, or sometimes 90 days. Check your contract for holds and penalties.

The moral of the story story is to apply. It absolutely cannot hurt.  Even if you don't hear back for that position, you are in the pool.  If something else opens up, the district might call you in for an interview or to apply for another opening.

Do not get discouraged if you aren't called. Some positions may be filled with an internal transfer. In that case, something else might open in that district. Sometimes, we have too many applicants to interview, so we pick what we believe are the top 5 candidates. Sometimes I want to bring in 7 or 8 people, but the principal wants a short day, so they whittle the list down to 3 or 4 candidates.

How can a new teacher without prior experience increase their chances of getting their resume pulled? Get some experience.

Volunteer or work at a music camp or a local high school as a marching band instructor. Play for a school's musical pit or do some accompanying. Teach privately. Anything that gets you in front of students is a plus. Experience with students is a major factor when two inexperienced applicants square off, and that is important because there are school districts where veteran teachers are disadvantaged against recent grads because you all are cheap.

I am fortunate to work for a district that hires the best candidate regardless of experience or degree. If a 17-year vet with a doctorate is the best candidate, that's who we hire, and we pay every dime of that experience. In some places, the cost works against experienced teachers, so you newbies will have the advantage. A cheap newbie with some classroom or teaching experience is just what they are looking for.

Be honest with where you want to work and what you want to do. Get some teaching experience anywhere you can.  Cast a wide net and apply, apply, apply.

We will discuss who is on an interview panel and their agendas when hiring next time, so if you are interested in that and enjoyed this, please like and subscribe to the blog, and YouTube channel.

How to Get a Job in Music Education, Part One: Be Honest with yourself

In the past three years as a Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, I have been involved in over 24 interviews for new art and music teachers in our 16 schools.I have seen great interviews, some truly horrific, and everything in between. With this series of shorts, I hope to help you get that dream position and avoid the nightmares.

First off,  Here’s some good news. Unless there is some disqualifying reason…there’s a job for you, especially if you can relocate.

There is currently a teacher shortage, with more open positions and fewer people choosing the profession.  This puts you as a job seeker in a much better position than what existed 2-3 years ago.

The bad news for us music people is there are usually a limited number of jobs per building vs. other subjects. We have a high school with 9 English teachers and only 2.5 music teachers. That's one band director, one choir director, and a shared string position. So, if your dream job is to be a high school band director, we will at most have three positions available, ever, district-wide vs. almost 30 teachers in English. I have been in my district for 20 years, and a high school band position has been open only four times since I was hired.  That is why flexibility with relocation can increase your options.

This is an excellent time to talk about honesty.  

Be honest. What is your dream job?

In 72% of states, Music Teaching Certification is some form of “All-Things Music K-12”. That is a very broad certification, and many undergraduate music education programs, especially the schools that are working on a conservatory, are very specialized. Those students are often trained on a primary instrument on a Choral, Band, or String concentration. So, although they graduate Certified to teach all things music K-12, they are probably Qualified to teach a much narrower group of students. So be honest in your expertise when you are applying.

Be honest about the grade level of the student and the grade level of music you would like to work with.  Elementary is different than Middle and is different than High. The hours are different, the skill set is different, the expectations are different, and the students are different.

Be honest with what you like to teach and who you want to teach it to.

Early on, I interviewed for a middle school string position, but I very much wanted to teach high school band.  I got the job but ended up declining it because I couldn’t see myself happy or my students successful with me in that role.

Looking back, I wasted everyone’s time. This is different from interviewing for a position you want and turning down an offer after getting a bad feeling about the school during the interview. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.  More on that in another video. But in this case, I probably shouldn’t have even applied. I wasn’t being honest with the process.

Once you have an idea about the position you are looking for, be honest about where you want to work.  Can you see yourself working in a city?  Do you wish to raise a family there? I don’t mind the city; I grew up visiting Philadelphia almost every weekend, but my wife, not so much. She doesn’t want to live there. So that’s out. Can you see yourself in a rural setting? I’ve worked in urban, suburban, and rural schools and found rural schools to be a more difficult fit-for me.  Middle-income suburban was my butter zone. Not too affluent and entitled, but also, the schools had enough support and resources to sustain a program in a place where we were comfortable raising our kids.

All of this leads to something that seems to come up in every interview, which is this intangible idea of “Fit.” 

Does this person “Fit”? 

When starting to look for that first/next job. What is the best fit for the school and students? What is the best fit for you? With everything, there are exceptions.

RENTING:

I have heard and even advised student teachers about entering the workforce to take any job.  The idea is a new teacher probably has limited connections, limited experience, and needs money, so if someone says yes, great.   They are in. Also, from the employer’s end, they might desperately need someone. I have had vacancies where it was hard to find any candidate, especially mid-year. We were happy to get anyone certified, sometimes even emergency certifying teachers in some cases. They might not be the right fit for us; we might not be the right fit for them, so if that is the case, we are hopefully renting, not buying. They will stay with us, gain some experience, and then leave for their dream job later.

Renting can be mutually beneficial if the candidate is suitable.  This position might not be their final landing spot, but we have a great teacher while they are here. There is nothing wrong with leasing a McLaren for a few years, even if you have to give up the keys.

Renting can even be a win-withe district and can lead to a dream position later. If someone is good in a Middle school position and their dream is High school, when that job opens, we have an excellent candidate in-house who can transfer over. Renters have become buyers. They THOUGHT their dream was high school choir but fell in love with teaching elementary strings.

Renting is also a risk.  It is dangerous. The nightmare scenario for the district and students is if the renter is a squatter. They are a terrible fit, unqualified or underqualified, and won’t leave. I would rather keep a position open than hire someone who isn’t a good fit for the role. I would rather leave a position open and have a 30-day problem than hire the wrong candidate and have a 30-year problem.

I was renting in my first two positions. My first job was as a “teacher on special assignment,” which was great since my “special assignment” was at Philadelphia’s Performing Arts High School.  But that could have changed at any time, so stability was suspect, and as I said, my soon-to-be wife wasn’t eager for city life. The next gig was a rural High school and elementary school band that added Elementry, then middle school strings. It was OK, but looking back, it was probably not the best “fit.”  Eventually, I found my current district, which, like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, was just right.

So what do you think you want to do, and where do you want to do it?  Be honest with yourself and start from there.

Once you have established that, next time, we will go over how to find open positions and how to increase your chances of getting an interview, so if you are interested in that and enjoyed this, please like and subscribe to the blog, and YouTube channel.