I don't mean to blame the education students but...it's not hard
to see that there are few jobs available in Michigan--it's not a
secret. I went from college straight to law school and heard
about how there were "no jobs" in the particular area of law that
I wanted to practice, so I got experience in a bunch of things
(of course, it's different in law than it is in teaching!!)

When I switched careers to go into teaching, I was at first going
to be a general ed teacher in Social Studies with a minor in
Government & Speech. Within about a month of entering the
program, I learned that there were no jobs in those fields. I
switched to special ed and ended up loving it.

I'm no smarter or more attuned than an average person, but I did
pay attention and keep my eyes and ears open. While I do blame
the teacher ed programs for this surplus crap that they throw
around, I also have to hold the education student responsible for
finding out about future job possibilities.

That said, my district (urban public school) has a hiring freeze
but even without it, I doubt we'd be doing much hiring. My
special ed department has no openings and other than maybe the
Autism Impaired program, I am not sure any departments do.

> I think univesity advisors are investing in their job security
> by not telling the truth. Can't say I'd blame them in this
> economy!
>
> What to say about it?
>
>
>
>
>
> On 6/09/09, just curious... wrote:
>> Just curious as to what numbers people have heard this year
>> regarding how many applicants there are for positions. I
>> applied at a small district a month ago (1 opening) and
>> what told by the principal they had over 150 applications
>> so had a big task ahead of them!! My inner voice
>> screamed" "That's all...try 1,000!" I have also read the
>> posts about 13,800 applicants in troy....uggh...
>>
>> So what numbers have you heard, or better yet been told by
>> administrators?
>>
>> I don't mean to bring this up to discourage people from
>> seeking jobs or bring down morale. Personally this is my
>> fifth year looking for a full-time classroom teaching
>> Michigan job...I did a minimum wage position as an aide and
>> went out of state for a while as well. I'm plugging away
>> at resumes, and have applied to at least 300 Michigan
>> schools/districts so far this spring (not to mention poured
>> $$ into resume paper, printer ink, envelopes, postage,
>> driving to deliver them, and driving to a few interviews).
>> If I don't get a job I plan to go back to school and go
>> into a healthcare field, I can perhaps find a job to
>> actually support myself, since subbing is so poorly paid,
>> plus you only get about 8 months worth of pay and can't
>> file unemployment for the other months!
>>
>> I bring this up because I'm shocked to hear so often from
>> recent graduates (some I've talked to on facebook, here and
>> on other boards) who had NO IDEA the job market was this
>> bad because university faculty just don't discuss it...I
>> know we weren't told much when I graduated in 2004 (my
>> student teaching building principal was the one who hit us
>> with the stone cold truth) and that was five years ago, its
>> soooo much worse now! And there has been vitually know
>> media/newspaper coverage of the problem. I'm sure many
>> students would (not all, but I know I would) have chosen a
>> different career path had they know the truth about
>> teaching in Michigan. I think the teacher "surplus" in our
>> state needs more attention so our college students can make
>> more informed decisions and not waste their money (as well
>> as that of Michigan taxpayers) when they won't be able to
>> find a job here in MI for years after they graduate.

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