One of the other things that I did during Spring Break was attend another job fair, this one up in Greely, Colorado at the University of Northern Colorado. The first thing about this fair is that it is huge – over one hundred and twenty tables and school districts represented. However, I have decided that if possible I would like to stay in Colorado (for a number of various reasons) and somewhat close to Denver if possible. So the night before the job fair I went online to each and every one of the schools that was going to be at the job fair and I looked at their potential openings. I also had my short list of school districts that I was interested in, but did not get a change to talk to at the last job fair or they were not present.
So the morning of the fair, Thursday, I got up and drove through the blizzard up to Greely and got into a large line of other candidates. When I was in line the fair organizers provided a listing of all the school districts and their locations. Then I opened up the homework that I had done preparing for this fair and cross referenced the lists. This way I knew exactly which school districts I wanted to speak to and which ones I really wanted interviews with. So we finally got into the large gymnasium with all the school districts and I quickly got in line and completed two interviews with the two school districts that I was interested the most in. Then I also went and dropped off resumes at locations where the school districts had openings, but were not holding interviews. Then by about 9:15 am, because I did not have any other interviews scheduled nor did I feel that I needed to schedule interviews with school districts in New Mexico, Alaska, or small towns on the Western Slope I decided to leave the fair (also because the weather outside was getting worse and worse by the minute).
Overall, I think that the job fair was a success. I had one school district principal that told me that “Randon, you will get a job. I have no doubt about that. The only thing is if you want that job to be with us.” That was helpful and really did make me feel good. I think that completing my homework the night before really prepared me for the job fair in a way that put me ahead of the competition. It was a good day, all except until the three and a half hour drive back to Denver in the snow (it usually takes about an hour to get back from Greely). Now I just wait for the phone calls and hope that they start coming soon.
