Always Closed- Certified US Teacher w/ Master's

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gravatar-icon Posted on ยท by Stephanie W.

I was curious if anyone feels like they are being inappropriately filtered out of candidate pools for jobs where they meet or exceed the requirements. I am a certified teacher (State of Maryland) with a Master's degree. I will be completing my third year of teaching at the end of this school year. Every application I have submitted has been closed. I am wondering if it is because my subject area of certification is ESOL, that the people reviewing my application are assuming I have a TEFL or CELTA certificate. However, I am a highly-qualified public school teacher with certifications in special education, middle school mathematics, and middle school ELA, along with my ESOL (prek-12) certification.

Is anyone else surprised by all their closed applications?

4 Comments

  1. gravatar-icon
    Katherine C.
    March 1, 2017 at 9.23 pm

    I also exceed the requirements, I'm not sure where you are applying (I have been applying for UAE)... for over two weeks I have many apps that say "submitted" and some that are "closed", which the start date is very close or from reading these forums I'm gathering that interviews were conducted last month
    But, today i received emails for a Skype interview for China and phone interview for a government UAE school. This seems to be a long process.....

  1. gravatar-icon
    Shirin S.
    March 7, 2017 at 3.11 pm

    Hello Katherine:

    Welcome to the forum! I can see that you were successful in one of your applications and have been in touch with your placement coordinator. I wish you the best of luck in your upcoming interviews

    Best,
    Shirin

  1. gravatar-icon
    Shirin S.
    March 7, 2017 at 3.03 pm

    Hello Stephanie:

    Welcome to the forum!

    I had a quick look at your profile and I can see that you have mostly been applying to positions in the UAE. Typically for positions in the UAE, two years of relevant teaching experience at the required teaching level is required (for example, if you were applying to teach high school level English, then you would need to have had at least two years of teaching high school English; elementary, middle school or ESL level would not be accepted). Your most recent experience is teaching ESL , because of this you qualify for the positions that cover this subject area and level

    You can find ESL teaching positions here : https://www.teachaway.com/teaching-jobs-abroad?loc=All&jcat=ESL+Teaching&sub=All&lvl=All
    and you will find that for most of the positions here : https://www.teachaway.com/teaching-jobs-abroad?loc=All&jcat=Certified+Teacher&sub=ESL&lvl=All, you will have the necessary qualifications for

    You have good experience and qualifications, I recommend you to keep an open mind and apply to the positions that you are interested in

    Best,
    Shirin

  1. gravatar-icon
    Stephanie W.
    March 9, 2017 at 2.57 pm

    Thank you for your response. I haven't looked at the "ESL Teaching positions" because they seem to be ESL at vocational institutes. I have certifications to teach in actual K-12 schools, as I am a state licensed teacher, and see it as a different field entirely. For example, why was my application to this position closed? https://www.teachaway.com/teaching-jobs-abroad/elementary-english-teachers-uae-government-schools I met every requirement.

    https://www.teachaway.com/teaching-jobs-abroad/elementary-teachers-american-international-school-qatar This job also says they welcome new graduates. So my experience working with ESOL students in 2nd and 4th grade should be more qualifying than being a new graduate.