I had a job interview today. It was completely nerve wrecking just in the fact that it all came about so fast and I haven’t done anything like this in nearly 10 years.
A little over a week ago a friend of mine mentioned that our local school district was hiring a lot of teachers this summer. This was big news because they have been laying off teachers nearly every year since we moved to Oregon. Last year I did the paperwork to get an Oregon teaching certificate so I could apply for the on-line school my kids attend, so I already had that piece in place. I thought it was worth checking into since our family seems to be in a time of transition. Could this be God opening a door for us?
I checked for openings on the school website and sure enough there was a position open for a middle school science teacher not 3 miles from my house. However the position was only accepting applications for the next 6 days. I began working on the on-line application. It took me over 8 hours to complete as there were 7 essay questions. I submitted it and activated my prayer network. They were asked to pray that I would only be offered the job if that is what God wants for my family.
Two days later I got an email informing me that I was selected to interview for the position. The interviews were scheduled for the following Monday.
Whereas going back to work full-time will take a lot of financial strain off my family, there were several things that really concern me. 1) When I taught before it was all consuming, have I changed enough to be a more balanced person? 2) My kids attend school from home and are required to have a parent with them while they work. How will this disrupt their schooling? Is it possible for me to manage their school work in the evenings after working all day or will we have to put them in a more traditional school? 3) I really don’t like many things about the Oregon educational system. Can I work in it without offending my co-workers? The main reason Oregonians don't like people from California is that the Californians are always saying things like, "In California we do it this way." I can't imagine they would be any more receptive to me comparing everything to the way I did it in Texas.
I spent the weekend getting my portfolio ready and praying. This is a huge step of faith for me. Not just the interview but also trusting that if God gives me this job, He would have a plan for working out all the details that my going back to work would mess up for my family
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The interview went pretty well but I didn’t walk away feeling confident. Something was off, but I can’t figure out what it was. It reminded me of being on an interview committee a few years ago. We knew that we were going to hire the long-term substitute that had been working with us for 5 months, however the district required that we interview at least 3 people before they could make an offer. Today the people were friendly but a few of them were very stand-offish, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that they were in the same position of having to do interviews when a decision had already been made. We will see…
A few shots from my teaching days.
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