Fifth Grade Teacher/Team Leader 

How did you get your current job?
University of Maryland set up a job fair with my current county.

What was the application process?
submitted application at job fair and had to be accepted into the county prior to interviewing with specific schools.

Did you have to interview for your current job? If yes, what did the interview process entail?
As stated above, I needed to be accepted by the county prior to interviewing with specific schools. Once accepted, it was up to me to set up interviews with schools that I was interested in. The process required being proactive in locating a position that was comfortable for me.

If you can remember, what questions were you asked during the interview?
Some of the questions dealt with my comfort level with diversity, how I would out-reach to parents in the community, how I would differentiate my instruction for different levels of my students. I was also asked how willing I was to work with others in my grade level. Those were the main questions that I remember.

Do you feel your employer properly prepared you for your job? Explain.
You can never have enough preparation for teaching. My fourth day of teaching was September 11th, and there was nothing that any training could have told me to prepare for that. Initially, I would say no, but as I have continued to stay with my county, the opportunities have arisen to prepare me for the future.

Was there training for your current position? If yes, what did it entail?
My udergraduate studies and courses at the University of Maryland were the training sessiosn for me prior to teaching. They entailed field work with different grade levels and types of schools. Once I was accepted as a teacher, the trainings have continued. Our county believes that in order to stay current, you need to have continuous learning opportunities and my county provides many of those for me.

Do you feel your educational background prepared you for your job? Explain.
No. Although the education department at the University of Maryland is rated in the top 20 in the county, I don’t feel that the required courses were all worth while. There wasn’t enough hands on experience in the classroom provided. Some of the content of the courses were so far-fetched and impractical for the population of students that I work with. I was also not aware of the significance of standardized testing at the elementary school level during my college experience.

If applicable, do you feel your internship experience helped you prepare for your job?
See above.

If someone wanted to go about getting a job similar to yours, what would you recommend for him or her to do?
That person would need to go to college and take courses in education. The best thing for prospective teachers is experience in the field. He or she needs to immerse him/herself in the field to see if this is actually the path to follow. Teaching is a much more demanding job due to accountability for test results and meeting Annually Yearly Progress standards according to government regulations. During the interview process, you absolutely need to impress the administration with strong character and a willingness to work collaboratively with others.

What skills do you think a person should have if they want to pursue a position like yours?
You need to be flexible. The environment in your class can change on a daily basis with children moving in and out. The students in your class are on different levels so you need to be flexible with your grouping and meeting the needs of all of your students. Priorities of the administration and the leadership team at your school can change pretty consistently as well, so you need to be flexible in adapting. A teacher wears many different hats throughout the year and on a daily basis.

Do you feel that you need a certain level of education or training to be successful in your job?
absolutely

What advice would you give to someone who was about to start work in your position/ line of work?
See all of the above comments.