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Major job dilemna - advice?
So I have potentially four interviews lined up for the next week or so. The first one is scheduled for tomorrow. I sent my resume out yesterday and the center director called within hours and wanted me to come in today. I can’t, however, because Friday’s tend to be my husband’s busiest days and he still has to chauffer me around. So that will have to wait until one day next week - and next week is already kinda booked for us.
There is only one job out of the four that I really want - which isn’t to say I wouldn’t like the others. However, the one I really want is as a preschool assistant teacher and it’s in a charter school program. This is huge for me because it gives me an in at the charter school for next year when I have my teaching endorsement… we were advised by the director of this program that charter schools are often the best way for teachers not following the traditional teaching path to get hired. Furthermore, I spoke to the director of the preschool yesterday and really liked her. She was very up front about the pay not being great (though it’s on par with what I’d make at most daycare centers anyway) and she is very amenable to the idea of using this position as a stepping stone to get a teacher’s position. I explained that I’d love to teach Kindergarten or first grade next year once I have my endorsement. She told me that this is a great way to familiarize myself with the curriculum used by this school and that I’ll be working with junior Kindergarten. She also pointed out the school is growing and will have more openings for teachers in the near future (like next fall). I really enjoyed talking to her and she seemed eager to meet me. We have a tentative interview set for next Thursday because she hasn’t even seen my paperwork yet… and she’s been out of the office for a week, so she isn’t certain what mound of paperwork will face her Monday (she called me from home).
This is *the* job. This is the one I really want. In fact, I’ve never wanted a job so badly. I want to be a teacher. I’m tired of daycare, where you’re a glorified sitter and the set up is such that there’s really no solid educational background happening. That doesn’t mean they won’t learn… it just means you don’t get the same support as you do in an actual preschool setting. It’s also far more stressful because there’s far less structure, far fewer guidelines and goals. Plus, working in daycare for the next year won’t do much to advance me in my goal to be a teacher.
Then there’s a job working as the director of a before and after school program. This would be good for my resume and would help slightly in my quest to be a teacher, because it is located on the campus of an elementary school. Though private, you develop relationships within the school. However, it’s not in my county (despite being close) so I don’t know which alternative program they participate in and I don’t know if they’d hire me anyway. Plus, it’s a split shift job, which means working three hours in the morning and three hours after school. That’s really annoying and means lots more driving. On top of that, the owner of the company called me last night to schedule an interview today - last night at 9:30!!! I kid you not, the man sounded as though he’d been drinking and coming from a family that has had multiple alcoholics, I know of what I speak. My hub could hear part of the the other end of the call and told me he wasn’t leaving me when he took me to that interview. I scheduled it for a week from Monday because the guy made me feel sort of uncomfortable… it’s just so bizarre that he’d call that late (especially since he told me he’d call today and since he has my email address and could’ve tried that way to schedule something). I just think he’s a bit… off. So I’m not even sure I’ll bother meeting with him.
Tomorrow I am supposed to meet a couple who have a five week-old and an eleven year-old. They need a full-time nanny, probably for 40 - 50 hours per week. The mom sounded really nice on the phone. I called this job before the interview came up for the charter school… I’m sure, assuming they are as nice as they seem on the phone, that this job would be enjoyable. I love infants, the older child will only be there a few hours a day and my only real responsibility where he’s concerned is helping him start his homework. I’d probably have time during the day to study for the two courses I am taking… and an infant that young is usually pretty easy to care for (provided they don’t have colic). It’s a job I’d have loved to have prior to deciding to pursue this teaching thing.
So what’s the problem? Well… this job, out of all the fires in the pan, does the least to help me forward my career as a teacher. In fact, even worse, it will hurt me. The reality, however, is that I desperately need to find a job… and this job is close by (in fact, it’s the closest of all four). Not only that, the woman already Okayed the time off I’ll need both at Christmas and over Labor Day weekend. That’s a bonus. I know the odds are good that if the interview goes well, they will hire me. My last job was working with an infant and the family adores me and will give me a fabulous reference.
The problem is… if I interview tomorrow, they’ll probably offer me the job before Thursday. Before I interview at the job I most want. The job I most need if I want to be a teacher. My husband pointed out how great the money will be for the nanny job, assuming they, like most, pay off the books. I pointed out that working off the books gives me no job security, no benefits if I get hurt on the job or fired for some reason or laid-off because Mom decides she doesn’t want to work after all (always a possibility) or if they cut my hours back. I’ll also be unlikely to get paid sick days or holidays and I probably won’t get any paid vacation… plus, it’s much, much harder to call out if I am sick. There are a lot of disadvantages to this sort of work, on top of the problem with it not advancing my efforts to become a teacher.
But I need a job. I already doubt highly that I’ll want the director job, given the weirdness of the owner… the daycare job is “down the hill” and although it’s not terribly far, it’s the furthest - and it’s daycare. But the job I so desperately want might not be the one I am offered. I have no way of knowing until I interview, until I get a feel for the director… then I can gauge better if she’ll hire me.
I don’t want to cancel the nanny interview… my husband said I should consider possibly rescheduling it. She wanted to meet me tomorrow because she wants to do it when her husband was home. Which means that she’d probably want to wait until next weekend if I can’t meet her tomorrow - and by then she might have found someone else. However, if I meet her tomorrow, I’m almost certain they’ll offer me the job before Thursday (assuming they want to hire me, of course) because I get the impression she’s going back to work within a couple of weeks.
I just don’t know what to do. I know whatever I decide, my husband will support me. Part of me thinks maybe the negatives to the nanny job outweigh the positives and I should just tell her I’ve been offered a position and accepted it. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to work for her - they also have three huge dogs… dogs and a newborn! I love dogs and babies. I’m just concerned over the risks with a position of this kind. I have three other potential jobs. If I interview at the daycare, they are almost certain to hire me. Daycare centers generally do - and this is a chain daycare, so there’s no need to worry about the hell I endured at the other center I recently went to.
Argh! Why does this have to be so complicated???