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Finding a Job

Understand the Hiring Process

With over 370 public school districts in Massachusetts, the specific steps of the hiring process often vary. The following tips will help give you a general understanding of the process, but we also suggest that you check with your local school district's human resources office to learn how to get on the path that leads to the right job for you.

Timeline

• The busiest hiring period of the year typically begins in April and lasts through August.
• Large school districts tend to hire later in the spring and summer because they must allow for a period of time when internal candidates can request transfers to fill vacancies.
• Substitute teachers are often needed at all times of the school year. Contact your local school district to learn how to apply for substitute positions.

Finding job postings

• Check your local Sunday newspaper. View a complete directory of Massachusetts newspapers that are available on-line.
• Visit the Massachusetts Educators Career Center.
• Jobs are often posted on school districts' web sites. Visit Schools and District Profiles
• Visit the ESE's resource for employment oppurtunities

Applying

• Some districts - particularly larger ones - require job seekers to submit an application with the district's human resource office before contacting a school principal or department head about a job posting.
• Some job seekers indicate that sending application packages directly to school principals - regardless of whether or not they have postings listed - has been the most successful method for submitting applications.
• It is important to follow-up periodically with schools after submitting an application package because jobs can open up quickly, especially in the summer months.

Interviewing

• In many of Massachusetts's larger districts, candidates will first have a screening interview with someone from the HR office before being called for a second interview with administrators and/or screening committees.
• It is common practice for candidates that a district is considering to be called back for second, and sometimes third, interviews.
• Job offers that are made during an interview often need to be approved by the district's HR director, superintendent, school committee, or other hiring committee before they are finalized.

Contracts

• Career changers should note that some districts have the flexibility to offer higher starting salaries to candidates who have significant work experience that is directly related to the position for which they have applied.
• Explore Massachusetts's public school employee associations to learn more about contracts and benefits:
  • Massachusetts Teachers Association
  • Massachusetts Federation of Teachers
  • Massachusetts Secondary School Administrator's Association
  • Massachusetts Elementary School Principal's Association
  • Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents