Getting Classroom Jobs May Require Specialties, Patience

Getting into a school may take some extra homework and flexibility for those seeking teaching positions and jobs in education these days.

With tight budget apparently affecting school districts' hiring plans, teaching candidates may need to prepare themselves to teach in special education, math and science or work in education-related occupations until classroom opportunities open up.

"I tell our teach candidates that it's really, really tough right now," said Cynthia Favre, director of career management at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. "We're telling them probably the opportunities will be there. It's maybe going to take awhile."

Evidence of the challenging hiring environment was on display in April at the Minnesota Education Job Fair, staged yearly for new graduates and alumni of the public and private colleges and universities that have teacher licensing programs.

Two years ago, more than 200 school districts from around the country attended, Favre said. This year, the number was down to 88. Of those districts that responded to a survey (not all did), Favre said 31 claimed they would hire candidates this year, with 21 of those expecting to make one to five hires.

"Education employers seem to be hiring less," said Jeannie Stumne, director of career service at the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development (CHED). "At this point we haven't seen any definite signs of when hiring might increase."

Many of the districts attending this year were looking for candidates for harder-to-fill areas such as special education, math and science or counseling, Favre said.

Geographic flexibility - accepting the likelihood of having to work outside the Twin Cities metro area - is a necessity, Favre said. Teaching candidates at the job fair appeared to realize that, she said, as they packed presentations by school districts from Montana, Alaska and Mexico.

The CHED career office encourages students to begin their job search preparation early, and makes sure students and recent graduates have information about the job market so they know their options and can consider alternative careers, Stumne said.

Besides moving, those determined to get into the classroom can consider options that will keep them involved with education and children, Favre said. Those include tutoring, substitute teaching and AmeriCorps and similar programs that offer teaching opportunities.

Retirement of current teachers may create some openings. Stumne said 15 percent of existing educators are projected to retire in the next three years, according to a national study.

Long-term occupation projections show that the state may have close to 36,000 positions to fill in education (and training and library occupations) between 2009 and 2019, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Employment is expected to increase by close to 15,000 new positions over the same period.

- Job market:cehd.umn.edu

- Increase your marketability and look into alternative careers: cehd.umn.edu