News
Let’s see… what is new… hmmm. Have I mentioned that I got a job?
For the most part, I have been keeping busy writing for my blogs, recording audio shows for my various podcasts, and reading lots of books for reviews. That’s a lot of fun, but the pay isn’t exactly impressive. It’s enough to get by, but having more to pay on the student loans would be nice. So I’ve been keeping an eye on Careerbuilder.com and Monster.com for things that look interesting, and once in a blue moon I have sent in a resume.
So on Sunday evening, I saw one for an “English Instructor” at a nearby college and sent in a resume. The very next day I got a call for an interview. The interviewer offered me the job on the spot (conditional to passing a drug test and background check of course). It all happened very quickly. It looks like a nice school, a small college located in an old elementary school. The college is growing and adding new classes quickly right now, probably due to the economy, and it appears that there are many opportunities there due to the accelerated growth.
It’s a part-time position for now, but from the sound of things, that could change fairly quickly. During the interview, I was told that I would be teaching two Business English courses, but I got a call yesterday telling me that one of them had been canceled for lack of enrollment in that time slot.
During that call, they also asked if I wanted to teach a class on QuickBooks. I hated to say no, but the accounting I did back when I owned a store was strictly the kind done on a spreadsheet; I don’t know the first thing about QuickBooks. I’m not saying that I’m unwilling to learn a topic this week in order to teach it next week, but I’m so behind-the-curve on Quickbooks that a week’s head start probably wouldn’t help much. I don’t think I impressed him too much by saying I didn’t think I could do it, but it’s better to be honest about these things than have them find out later. My concern is that now they won’t ask me to teach any computer topics in the future, even though there are many computer topics that I could handle easily. Still, I’m being hired for my English degree & experience, not my computer background.
They are looking for another class for me, possibly Business Communications 2. Their system is set up so that some classes start in the middle of the term, so whatever I start out with right now, they could add more classes as early as six weeks from now. The bottom line is that my schedule is still in flux, so I can’t say much on exactly what I’ll be doing yet. I still need to attend a couple of new teacher orientation meetings next week, and then actual classes will start the week after that. Depending on class availability, when all is said and done I might end up teaching only a single class at the beginning of April, but I think they really want me to have at least two or three. Time will tell!
Overall, it sounds like it will be fun. It’s a small school and only a few classes to start, which is exactly what I am looking for. I want to do this full-time, but not for the first term or two. I haven’t taught any classes in over a year, and I want to be able to put in whatever extra time that may be needed on the first few terms. I’m really looking forward to it!
