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Re: Online applications
Posted by spedhead on 6/15/08

On 6/15/08, Merrill wrote:
> I just filled out one for a district in Illinois--it was an
> absolute nightmare. Took close to 6 hours to complete. They
> wanted every piece of information imaginable, put me through a
> "teaching style" personality test that was timed, and they
> wanted me to upload letters of recommendation--as if I have
> those--they usually come from the person making the recommendation!

No, in Illinois they don't. You have to understand every area has
different ways of doing things. I have filled out out-of-state
recommendation forms that came from a district and they expected
me to put them in the mail direct to them. This is almost never
done in Illinois. We write letters of rec and give them to the
candidate. They then give them, or a copy of them, to the
district they're applying to. PDFs uploded on the online
application are quickly becoming the prefered way to get this
info, along with college transcripts and certification documents.

> There was no place to indicate that I am close to finishing my
> Ph.D. There was also no way to indicate that I had been in the
> private sector for a few years between teaching gigs.

Most Chicagoland districts use the Online ASAP application. After
you've done one, you can import a lot of the info to another
application. There is room to put all experience in the work
force, teaching and private sector. There's also room to put all
school attended and the credit you have there. If you've done
something other than this application, it is not the norm.

To be honest, I don't care if you've been in the private sector.
We usually consider teaching experience when making a call on
whether to interview. Non-teaching experience has to be something
special to even raise an eyebrow, like military experience in Iraq
or aide to a Senator or something like that (I've seen both of
those examples, BTW).

> So it is safe to say that an online application hurts most
> applicants in a big way. It's just laziness on the part of the
> district--why not hire someone to look at our resumes and cover
> letters?

Ummmm, because that costs money. School districts have many
things to do with their finite resources and being fair to job
applicants doesn't even make the list. If public schools in your
state have money to spare, I'd suggest staying there.

I'll say this. Teachers in fields that are glutted, like elem ed,
English, Social Studies, PE, etc. do not get their applications
looked at "fairly." I know this for certain because collegues of
mine hire for those positions. There are many hundreds of
applications for each job. We don't have the time to look through
them and we don't want to. This is why we have the online system
to sort through the people we don't even want to consider. Is it
perfect? Nope, but its the system we have and its the system
you'll have to live with if you want to work here. I'd say 3rd
Grade teachers are a Dime a dozen, but they're more common than that.

Now, I look at special education applicants and we have far fewer
than say, the English Dept. I have the time to look through each
application, because there might only be 8 apps for 3 jobs.
Towards the end of the summer, when fluke openings spring up,
there might not even be one app for a job.

>
>
> On 6/15/08, Don't worry wrote:
>> Most applications have a question such as "How do your past
> professional and
>> personal experience make you an excellent candidate for this
> position?" Surely you
>> can fit it in there, and you can send cover letters to the
> principals as well.
>>
>> On 6/15/08, Merrill wrote:
>>> Many districts and schools require online
>>> applications--basically a database entry for the applicant.
>>>
>>> In my case, I have a CV that is much more comprehensive
>>> than this--it has publications, service work, private
>>> sector stuff, etc.
>>>
>>> I am worried that the online system is going to make me
>>> (and everyone else) look the same. I won't be able to
>>> explain why I was teaching in the mid 1990s and then took
>>> time off and returned to graduate school/teaching (I was in
>>> the private sector working). In other words, the database
>>> is like a shoe-horn.
>>>
>>> I am pretty worried about this--should I be?
>>

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Online applications, 6/15/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/15/08, by Don't worry.
• Re: Online applications, 6/15/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/15/08, by mrsd.
• Re: Online applications, 6/15/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/16/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/16/08, by KKL/2nd/IL.
• Re: Online applications, 6/16/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/16/08, by KKL/2nd/IL.
• Re: Online applications, 6/16/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by Rebecca.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/17/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/18/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/18/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/18/08, by Without Words Thanks to Sped Head!.
• Re: Online applications, 6/19/08, by discouraged.
• Re: Online applications, 6/19/08, by spedhead.
• Re: Online applications, 6/20/08, by Merrill.
• Re: Online applications, 6/20/08, by spedhead.