Hello, all. For the past few years, I have worked on and off as an adjunct professor teaching English and writing classes. I say on and off since my DH is active duty and we move quite a bit. Recently, I spotted an ad for director of a small school. I meet all of the requirements, but it's also a full-time position. I've never worked full-time, and I wonder if I'm ready. How does one decide? My kids are now all in school full-time, and I'm torn. If I let this opportunity pass, will I be stuck at home doing nothing?
I think I'm also afraid to try. What if I submit my application and they turn me down? Actually, I did submit my cover letter in response to the ad over a week ago, and I have heard nothing back. Help, please.

All I can say is go for it!! You can't succeed if you don't try. Think positive!

Try to put aside all the logistics and questions until you have the job in hand (well, except for being prepared with an answer if the question comes up).

cj/

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I say GO FOR IT, too. I stayed home with Jason and started teaching when he was in the 5th grade. I remember it being really scary since I had been out of the "arena" for so long, but it was also really exciting. I think you'll be surprised by the reception you will receive from employers. I know that a lot of principals prefer women who have the experience of raising children, who are eager to get going again, who have new ideas that have been tested and tweaked, etc. I have a degree in journalism but went back and SLOWLY got a degree/certification in elementary ed while Jason was little...took mostly night classes. When I started teaching in 1993, I was going into a totally different field and I was mortified! BUT, it is one of the best things I have ever done! Give it a shot. The field of education will be glad that YOU did!

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I agree, if you don't try, you will always wonder "what could have been". I was home with my kids until they started K, and then started loosely volunteering at their school. Long story short, I went from being a volunteer to a teacher aide, then teacher assistant, and then because of my technology background, I am now the Tech. Specialist at that school. 13 yrs later, the kids are in college and I'm still at the same school.

If i had never gone over there and checked it out, I would still probably be home and working part-time.

GO FOR IT! If you get the job, you can still decide whether or not it's what you want. It will still be a good experience to apply and/or interview.

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GO FOR IT!!!!

It will still be scary five years from now, or ten years from now. Face your fears. If you don't get it, the world will not end. Start planning now as if you are going to get the job. How will you handle things in your home? Can you afford for someone to come in and clean once a week when you have the job?

My DH lost his job due to the economy three years ago. I had to jump back into the job market after 14 years off and I know it is hard!! I got hired in the circulation department at our public library.

A job opening came up in the childrens department and I decided to try for it. Everyone at work would know if I didn't get it too. :-) I took a big gulp and did up a resume. I had a 3 hour interview and a written test. Long story short, I did get the job. I received a wonderful pay raise. I've been in my new job for 6 months and mostly I love it. I'm still learning as different things come up all the time. I should also say that I am considered a paraprofessional as I have a portion of the educational background. Add that to the fact that I already had a working knowledge of the library and an excellent work record.

Someone will get that job. It might as well be you. You can do it. Think about and wrap your mind around it.

Go for it!!

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Donna

I basically gave up my career as a social worker when my youngest child was born (now 13) when my DH was active duty. It is really hard to balance a fulltime job when your husband is active duty and you have no family members around to help out. I would just try to make sure that you would not be under alot of stress by taking on a full time job as opposed to something part time or something with more flexible hours. Will hubby be deployed or available to help out? Mine was in the Navy, so was gone alot, a month here, a week there, 60 days here, 90 days there, just enough so you couldn't plan or count on anything and no advance notice in deployment schedule. So basically I was a single parent, but we only had one vehicle at the time, so when he was at home, he had to get back and forth to the ship. So it kind of depends on your personal circumstance and your husbands military circumstances and if you think you could work full time and it not be too stressful. Alot of military spouses do it, alot of military have more reliable schedules than my DH did. He was unable to help at all with sick kids, transportation, child care, etc. because of his work schedule he had to be at work at 5:00am and got off at 7:00pm. We live near an army base and most of the people here have schedules of 7:30-4:00, which would be really easy to work around. So it kind of depends of your personal circumstances. Good luck with the job!

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You should interview for it. The more you find out about the job and the hours etc, the easier the decision will be. You will either be motivated enough to take it, or realize that you should wait for a different opportunity.

Go for it all the way, you will never know until you try..Good luck and sincere best wishes... Peace . Catherine

I will definitely go for the interview and then make my decision. Has anyone ever negotiated a salary, or do you just take what they offer? What if they say, "Well, we're a small company, and we can only offer so much."

I think this might be one of them " Am I taking the job because we need the money or am I taking the job because I'm bored and have a lot of time while the kids are in school " deal. You also need to figure out if you are taking the job because the money is needed can you afford to take it with whats being offered ( example babysitting, after school care, travel expenses, clothing expenses ) If this doesn't effect you and you can live with whats being offered then Personally me, I say take whats being offered. But in case this isn't what you can afford then I would try to work out a pay scale on what you need vs whats being offered. Everyone thinks their skills are always worth more than what they get paid ( well 99.9% does LOL ). But it might be that your job skills come a dime a dozen and the company can hire you at that pay or keep looking till they find someone thats willing to work for the pay they are offering.If your skills required you to go back to school to get a higher education and you know about what a teacher is making with the same degree, then by all means work a pay scale out based on this, However, If there wasn't a degree needed and you have the same basic skills as the next person it might be better to just accept whats being offered. wait it out till a pay raise comes along. Either way good luck and hope you get the job.

So, did you get it? Inquiring minds are dying to know!

I sent in my resume; I'm just waiting for them to set up an interview. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks for the support!