How to have the best chance at getting hired

Join Teachers.Net

Chatboards

Recent Groups

DODD Teachers

MEMBERS

287 Members

+ Join Group

Pinned Posts

ALLAll Teachers

Teachers.Net LIVE CHAT Support group - Tues eve!

Featured Jobs

Full-timeMontessori Teacher

Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

TemporaryTeachers, rural schools

Peace River North School District

Full-timeHead Teacher: 2nd/3rd Grades – Mills College Children’s School

Mills College

Teaching Jobs on Teachers.Net

Featured Job special only $39!

https://teachers.net/jobs

Become a Teachers.Net sponsor!

DODD Teachers Chatboard

How to have the best chance at getting hired

by mrsparkes

Feb 13, 2018

A little background first: My husband is active duty and will be retiring in April 2021. I recently graduated with by B.S. in Secondary Education Social Studies from UNLV. Shortly thereafter we PCS'd from Las Vegas to North Dakota, mid-school year, so I haven't even been able to start teaching full time just yet. I am in the early stages of applying to Western Governors University to start their MS Special Education K-12 endorsement program. As of now, there are no teaching positions open in Social Studies where I live and I hope to start substitute teaching as soon as I get my teaching license transferred from Nevada to North Dakota.

It has been my dream of becoming a DODD teacher for over 10 years, ever since we were stationed in Okinawa (back in 2005). I will be done with my Masters before my husband retires and I was going to apply for a DODD position in the 2020-2021 school year.

What steps should I take now to best position myself to be hired as a stateside hi...See More

Comment

(5)

report post

Ida I would think having a Master's in Special Education would be very helpful. It feels like they are always looking for Sped teachers.

Feb 13, 2018

Like (1)

report post

haha SPED is definitely a higher need area than SS. Qualified in SS with 2 years experience would in theory be better than Qualified in SPED with no experience, BUT, SS openings are generally combined with something else (e.g. Journalism, Health, ELA, Psychology, etc.) and there are many highly qualified candidates in the system for relatively few openi...See MoreSPED is definitely a higher need area than SS. Qualified in SS with 2 years experience would in theory be better than Qualified in SPED with no experience, BUT, SS openings are generally combined with something else (e.g. Journalism, Health, ELA, Psychology, etc.) and there are many highly qualified candidates in the system for relatively few openings every year.

SPED is always a high need area for DoDEA and in general (including the states). I was able to get a job in FL right away, even without an education degree and have since had no problem getting jobs in New York, the Middle East, Japan and China as a SPED teacher so I would highly recommend it, if you have the right attitude and aptitude for the job.

I eventually did get my Masters and had around 10 years of experience to go with my newly minted Masters when I was hired by DoDEA. To optimize your chances with DoDEA make sure your Masters (if you go that route) allows you to be qualified in Mild to Moderate and Moderate to Severe under DoDEA requirements. Normally you would get Mild to Mod. automatically with your SPED degree and would need to make sure that 12 of those credit hours had something to do with Severe Disabilities, Physical Disabilities, Augmentative Communication, Cognitive Deficits etc.

If your state allows you to get a certification specifically in Moderate to Severe (many do not) you would only need 6 hours dealing the areas listed above.

In reality, it is a long shot for any individual to get hired with DoDEA. Having SPED qualifications would help, but having no experience would be a hindrance. But, anything can happen. Try and maximize your qualifications and you never know. We do have some combo. certifications that include SPED (including SPED/SS) so anything is possible.

As for hiring you while your husband is active duty, it should be possible if you are being hired from the states. The only time I have heard it was an issue was when the spouse was a local hire overseas and the husband retired ( and there were issues with trying to get sponsorship transferred to the teaching spouse).

Feb 13, 2018

Like (1)

report post

mrsparkes Thank you for the replies. It was quite helpful.

Feb 14, 2018

report post

mrsparkes Thank you for the replies. It was quite helpful.

Feb 14, 2018

report post