A Long, Dull, Stupid Story About Trying to Get a Teaching Job in Idaho of All Places

After I got married my wife and I were invited by her father to spend a week or two in Florida. We were working dead-end jobs at the local mall here in Montana at the time. We lived in a studio apartment and had been married for about four or five months. If we went on this trip, we were told, all our food and lodging would be paid for along with our air fare. Since we were just working to survive anyway we figured a couple of weeks of free food would be awesome.

I had just graduated from college. I'd put in an application with the school district but had heard nothing of them hiring. We were satisfied to work those crappy jobs because they paid the bills and we could find something better in the future.

While we were on the trip, I got a call on our cell phone from the school district in Montana. They wanted to have an interview with me in two days' time. I told them I was all the way in Florida, and might we reschedule it or something? They said they couldn't do that, but they would keep me in mind for future job openings if I wanted. We went and spoke to my wife's father about the situation, and he kindly agreed to fly us back home early.

I let the district know I would be there after all. They told me to prepare a sample lesson to present to my interviewers. It should be about fifteen minutes long. I anxiously prepared the lesson on the plane ride home, showed up at the school the next morning, gave my lesson plans, went home to our little apartment. I got a phone call from the school after I had been home for a while. I still remember what the lady said,

"We'd sure like it if you'd come be a teacher here."

We were ecstatic. It was such a happy occasion for us. I had a real job! With a real salary! Real benefits! It was such good news.

I tell you all this because it was my only experience with finding a real, professional job. Sure, I've done my share of trying to find crappy jobs while I was in high school and in college. It's miserable, they always give you the run-around, you always have to keep bugging them for real answers... You force yourself to put in application after application, hoping one of them will give you a call back. None of them ever do. Occasionally you get an interview which you think goes really well, but they never get back to you. It's worse than miserable; it's hellish.

In a way, getting that first teaching job was the same as all the other jobs I've had. In every job I've ever had (cookie shop worker, convenience store stooge, movie theater stooge, and toll booth worker to name a few), I was typically notified that I'd gotten job almost immediately after interviewing or applying for it. There was not a lot of waiting involved. I don't think I've ever gotten the job when I had to constantly call, check up, touch bases, see how it's going, etc. If I ever had to "touch bases" with a potential employer, it meant I didn't get the job.

So getting that teaching job confirmed in me that I was in the "professional" world now. When you're a "professional," your employer doesn't dilly dally. He calls you and gives you a straight answer. Right? Right. Awesome. Yeah, it wasn't much (starting teachers in that district made $27,000!) but it was better than the mall and it felt good to call myself a teacher.

Now I'm looking for a new teaching job, specifically in Idaho where my wife will be going back to school.

Here's my stupid, boring story.


March 13th
Saturday – 9:00 AM

On this day the school district in Idaho held a job fair. I signed up for it and was offered an interview. I would have to make a six-hour drive from Montana to Idaho but I thought it would be well worth it to show my dedication and for them to meet me in person. I left for Idaho immediately after school Friday and arrived at around 11 o’clock. I had a great interview the next morning, but was told afterward that it would only be considered a preliminary interview. If considered for a job, I would have a second-round interview in May. I was disappointed that they didn't mention that earlier, but drove home and waited optimistically.


May 24th
Monday – 5:45 PM

I finally got a phone call from the Idaho district. They wanted to do a second-round interview with me after all! They noticed I was certified to teach English and Art, and lucky for me they had one part-time English and one part-time Art position open for next year. I could fill both at once! They wanted to do a phone interview with me Monday evening which I was happy to do. I raced home after school on Monday and waited for their phone call.

A nice lady called me and I thought the interview went really well. My interviewer asked if I had any final questions.

“When will you have an answer for me?” I asked.

“We will let you know within the week,” she said.

“Will you call me whether it’s a yes or a no?” I asked.

“Yes,” she affirmed, "We'll call you either way."

“So I will expect your call by the end of the week then,” I said.


May 28th
Friday – 3:40 PM

May 28th was the last day of the week. I had not heard anything from the people in Idaho. I was a little disappointed but it was my birthday and it was a three day weekend before the last week of school. I was very busy and didn’t worry much about it. I thought they would surely get back to me by Monday of the following week.


May 31st
Monday – 9:00 AM

But I forgot that Monday was Memorial Day and there was no school. No matter. I had a lot of packing up to do at school and papers to read and final grades to put into the computer. It was the last week of school. They were probably busy.


June 2nd
Wednesday – 11:04 AM

I decided to call the Idaho school on Wednesday and ask when I could expect a decision. I knew it was the last week of school for them, too, and they were all probably very busy. I started second-guessing myself. "Did she actually say it would be within a week? Maybe she said within a week OR TWO. Maybe she said within AT LEAST a week..." I started calling the district office in Idaho. I called three different people but received no answers. I left three voice mails, each of them stating my name, phone number, and e-mail address. I never received any replies.


June 7th
Monday - 10:00 AM

Monday was the first official day of summer vacation. I called the same people from earlier in the week and received the same voice mails. I left messages for all of them, and then decided to start e-mailing.

I emailed four different people. Thankfully, they all got back to me (some of them even within the hour!) All of them gave me different information on who I ought to contact. The woman that gave me the second interview apologized that it was taking so long to make a decision. Another woman informed me that it had been the last week of school and everyone had been very busy and that was why it had taken longer than usual to make a decision.

Here’s a copy of the email I sent that finally put me in touch with someone who knew something:


Hello there,

I had a job interview a couple of weeks ago (May 24th) for an
English/Art teacher position at ________ High School. Ms. C.
interviewed me. I was just e-mailing to find out what the status of
that job was and whether or not the district has made a decision. I
e-mailed Ms. C. and she said I should contact you (I think I left
a message on your voice mail, too).

Are you able to make an estimate on when a decision will be made? Any
information would be greatly appreciated.

My phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX, or you can always just e-mail me back.

Thanks again,
J. Lahondere

I received an answer back within minutes:


Monday, June 7th
10:02 AM

J.,

We have not filled the position. Since our final set of interviews is
scheduled for Wednesday, June 9, we will fill the position by the end of
this week.

Thanks,

G.


Okay. So I had been misinformed when I was told I would get a call “within a week.” Not a problem, because I realized it was probably not on their list of priorities to hire a new teacher, what with the entire summer to sort it out. Silly me for obsessing over that phrase "within the week"!

So I’m thinking they’ll do their final interviews on Wednesday, and I’ll know by Friday. I didn’t want to misinterpret what the woman wrote to me, but when she said “we will fill the position by the end of this week,” wouldn’t that lead a guy to believe he would get an answer by Friday, Monday at the latest?

I don’t know how hiring decisions are made. I only have my own past experience to go on. Like I explained above, when I was hired for my first teaching job here in Montana I had the interview, drove home, and got a phone call less than an hour later asking if I would accept the job.

Maybe this school in Idaho needed to sort it out with some kind of hiring committee or something. Perhaps there were twenty people who applied and were interviewed. Notes needed to be compared, salaries worked out, background checks. I can understand it would be time-consuming.

I made the mistake of being a little over-confident since I was qualified to teach both English and Art. I thought I was a shoe-in for the job. Were there that many English/Art teachers out there vying for this job? No, it only made sense to hire me. By hiring one guy to teach both subjects they'd be saving on the costs of benefits and potential sick leave, and they'd be saving precious space. Plus, I'm only a third year teacher with no Masters, so they could gleefully pay me a crap salary. I was confident, but they did need time... But surely after two interviews and two months to think about it they would know whether or not they wanted to hire me, right?

Friday came and my wife and I awaited their phone call anxiously.

Noon rolled around and I began to get nervous. I really didn’t want to have to wait another weekend to have an answer.

One o’clock. Nothing.

Two o’clock. Nothing.

Three o’clock. I wasn't sure how long they stayed in their offices, but I didn't think it was long past three o'clock. I decided to contact them instead. Here's the email I sent.


Friday, June 11th
3:09 PM

Dr. R.,

It's 3:10 PM and I was just checking in to see whether a decision will
be made on the English/Art position before the weekend. I had an
interview with Ms. C. on May 24th. Thanks in advance for
getting back to me.


I did not receive any reply or phone call. I assumed they must have already gone home for the day and cursed myself for not emailing them sooner.

The weekend felt excruciatingly long, but when I awoke Monday morning I knew it would be the day.

Monday came and went. Still nothing.

I considered calling again but I felt like I was becoming a pest. Surely they would have read the email by now, unless they were on some kind of vacation?

On Tuesday night I found this in my inbox:


Tuesday, June 15th
5:09 PM

J.,

A decision has not been made.

G.


Okay, so it took them a few days to get back to me but they got back to me! A decision had not yet been made, which was also good. Judging by the single line, they must be extremely busy over there. So busy, in fact, that they did not have time to even explain any more to me. What was taking them so long?

On a side note, I noticed the time her single-line email was sent. 5:09. I sent my email at 3:09 on Friday. So was she in her office after all, but had just not seen my email? Assuming she was out of the office by 3:09 on Friday, why didn't she get back to me at all on Monday? It's not as if her reply took very long to write. Anyway...

I went the rest of the week not worrying about it.

Today I decided to try again. It has been twenty-six days since my second interview, about three months since my first. How much longer was I supposed to wait on them? I didn’t even want an answer necessarily. I just wanted to know when I could EXPECT an answer, that way I wouldn’t waste my time worrying about it. I sent off this email:


June 18th
Friday - 10:06 AM

Dr. R.,

Just checking in to see whether or not a hiring decision will be made
by the weekend. If not, do you have an estimate on when to expect a
decision? Even if the district does not plan on making a decision
until the end of August, it would be better to know that than nothing.
(My interview was for an English/Art position at Granite High School.
It took place on May 24th.)

Thanks for your time,

J. Lahondere


Five hours later, I got this response:

June 18th
Friday - 3:49 PM

Thank you for your interest. As of Wednesday, the art position has been
filled. The English position is now a part-time position. Are you still
interested?

G.


No, I am not.