Professional references before you've given notice

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newteacher17
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:01 am

Professional references before you've given notice

Post by newteacher17 »

Hello everyone! I have searched through the forum to see what people think about this, but I'm hoping to get some updated information. I'm a teacher at a charter school and I am an "at-will" employee. While I am confident I can get positive recommendations from my principal and leadership, I do not want to taint our working relationship this early in the year by letting them know I am looking elsewhere. We fill out our letter of intent in January or February.

However, the recruitment agencies require updated references now. I should be able to get a reference from our training consultant/mentor (who would keep it confidential), my co-teachers, and co-workers. I could list leadership as a reference after filling out my letter of intent.

What would you recommend doing in the meantime? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Thank you!
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Inquiry

Post by PsyGuy »

Whats the big deal, youre notice period is a month away, maybe 2 months and a good three weeks of that is the winter holiday? Youre leadership will probably be grateful for the extra lead time and early notice. Just tell them, get your reference now and move on with recruiting. How would it taint your work relationship?
wrldtrvlr123
Posts: 1173
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 10:59 am
Location: Japan

Re: Professional references before you've given notice

Post by wrldtrvlr123 »

I agree that in most cases, teachers looking/leaving is just a part of being an administrator. If you are currently at a domestic school, your admin might not be quite as used to it as an int'l admin but it should not taint your relationship (necessarily).

If you are still in the US (or other home country) it might be to your advantage since you can generally paint your int'l job search as just checking out the possibility, might never happen kind of thing (as opposed to seriously thinking about moving down the road to the next school/district for a little more cash).
newteacher17
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2017 12:01 am

Re: Professional references before you've given notice

Post by newteacher17 »

Thank you both for your responses! We've had a few people quit without notice (again, "at-will" job) so far this year and admin is stressed. I didn't want to add to that stress, but you're right that searching for international opportunities is much different than switching schools domestically. They seemed to be understanding of the teachers who left for Europe last year.

Thanks again!
shadowjack
Posts: 2138
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am

Re: Professional references before you've given notice

Post by shadowjack »

The other thing you can point out is that if you were to leave, it would be AFTER the school year was done.

We got our references lined up in August and our admin was fine, as it was looking for September of the following year...
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