So, yesterday I got a call in response to my resume. A woman by the name of Mimi Aronson called me from an organization that sends out literacy consultants to schools in New York City. I had responded to their search for a supervisory position which basically would manage approximately 10-16 consultants, observe them, provide them with professional development (PD), etc. Mimi starts off the conversation by telling me how impressive my resume is. In fact, she has over a hundred and fifty resumes on her desk and mine was the most clear, the easiest to read, and again – extremely impressive. Thank you, she exclaims. I thank her for thanking me. Then she asks me about my experience with literacy. So, I tell her a little about the last company I worked with, explained that it was a literacy based company that focused primarily on bringing in multicultural literature into schools, that my dissertation was on literacy instruction from a socio-cultural perspective at the middle and high school level. My resume also shows that I taught a course in literacy at Manhattanville College – entitled, Literacy and Social Development. So, Mimi responded that she was not sure that my experience in literacy was sufficient. You see, she explained, we are a NYC based company where balanced literacy is the thing and I see that you don’t have at least five years experience in balanced literacy. Yes, I know, I replied, balanced literacy is a big deal in NewYork. So while I have been a national consultant, my time in New York has been limited. I am familiar with balanced literacy, I assured her and would no doubt pull together the mass of resources and research necessary before day one to get familiar with the specific details of this NYC based approach. Mimi quickly responded that she had no doubt after a few minutes talking to me that I could “get up to speed” quickly but it would be hard to present me to very experienced consultants as their supervisor without the five years and would I be interested in doing part time consulting?
Then it dawned on me. I was Obama and Mimi was miming what Hillary Clinton announced to Obama while in the lead. Shouldn’t he consider being the Vice President? If he doesn’t have enough experience to be the President, how is it that he has enough experience to be the Vice President when one of the prerequisites of being the Vice President is clearly being ready to be the President? While Mimi started out the conversation by telling me how “impressive” my resume was, she quickly turned a two-minute conversation into my lack of experience and would I consider a lower job? A job I might add, that is very familiar to me, because I had been doing it for years! Well, Mimi, I would think that having a Ph.D. in education and national experience as a consultant would help validate the fact that I have something to offer in a supervisory role, I told her. And quite frankly, I thought (but did not say) the work of the consultant going into school after school working with a roster of fifteen to thirty teachers in ridiculously stressful environments (all of which would no doubt be radically different in climate – imagine working with thirty different students across ten different schools that span five different boroughs and perhaps 6 different grades?) is far more critically dependent on one’s “level of experience and expertise” than the supervisor because they are giving the direct support to the teachers! I KNOW. I did that job. So, Mimi, I said, whether it be here or in Seattle, a consultants job I know and if you are concerned that I am not qualified for a supervisory position (that which you called me about ) then perhaps you should look around, interview other candidates, because – NO, I am not interested in part time consulting.
Mimi responds that of course, I understand why you wouldn’t but you must understand my concerns regarding your experience and well, frankly you just sound great on the phone, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to think about this and perhaps I will get back to you in a few weeks to set up a face to face interview.
So, while the media and political pundits alongside the Mamas and the Papas at home continue to desperately hold on to the now tired cliché of attacking Obama’s “lack of” experience (while we know that executives in ALL fields from wealthy Harvard degrees have been in positions of power and prestige right out of college because of their connections and donations making extremely generous salaries and making heavy decisions) – this man continues to stand up in front of the masses, time and time again (and yesterday’s speech was a historical testament to the fact that you can talk about the real deal about race in America and still run for president) with eloquence and pride, with precision and commitment with persistence and mind boggling clarity – and talk about the truth. Starting with himself always, extending himself to his brothers and sisters closest to his side, then the community in Chicago, and now the nation – as it should be. Because as we cast our energy into the world it must resonate from the inside out, from the small circle to the larger one – Obama relentlessly demonstrates leadership and dignity espousing unity in the face of such harsh criticism and attack on the value of his background, education, experience. While people voted for Bush and continue to vote for the same GOP or others who with just a little bit of scrutiny are cut with the same scissors after all – who in the light of our history have made and continue to make so many of us Americans cringe with shame and embarrassment, Obama’s resume continues to be impressive but in the end – not quite sure why – might still, still not be enough. When will it be enough? And if you are like me that does not accept a position of authority without understanding that one can never have all the answers and one must always see themselves as a life long learner – I ask: What about me and about my impressive resume communicates the inability to grow, to lead? What are the criteria for leadership?
I admire Obama for his strength and audacity and courage and I think about myself, after hanging up the phone with Mimi. How tired I felt. Then the anger. Then tired again. And I think, do I have the stamina it takes, the motivation it takes, the strength it takes to continue caring about the things that I have always cared about, to continue talking, doing, living and wanting to commune with the world around me even though the world around me still, still rewards some people effortlessly and punishes others even in their hour of true greatness?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Notes from the Underground
On this ominous anniversary day of my graduation and I still don’t have a job, I wonder what is going on in the field of education? After investing sixty thousand dollars in my career and one hundred resumes later, I am beginning to consider the possibility that I have chosen the wrong stock. However, unlike the floundering market when it’s easy to accept a gamblers fate and take a loss, having made an investment of time and scholarship in the field of education somehow doesn’t seem to fall into the category of fate but rather it was supposed to be the category of safe. How could I have gone wrong? While medical doctors have to put in their time after graduation as a resident making somewhere in the range of forty thousand dollars a year while busting there ass with haphazard work hours and lengthy stints of time with little sleep – there is a solid, secure light at the end of that tunnel. A light that’s worth a six figure salary, a cell phone, and a MD license plate that is more than a guarantee that you could actually use it on the highway without the fear of having to pay some blue suit a hundred and fifty dollar ticket. A Ph.D. in education, I am figuring out, holds a lot less cache on the highway and even less in the market place. Has it always been like this or is my case just another reflection of a depressed economy?
The worried glances from my family and friends remind me that there is the question of my self worth. Answering questions and deflecting reproachful comments about my “job search” is common place and repetitive. For example, Are you sure you looked in this week’s paper? Or – Maybe you should take off the letters Ph.D. from your resume so that they will consider you for anything – you know, until something better comes along. Most people don’t believe that I am not doing something wrong to deserve my unemployment. Have I some surreptitious file somewhere that even I don’t know about? Have I carelessly misjudged my character, capacity to educate, my ability to write a cover letter, perform well on an interview? Why after spending so much time working day and night (and money!) to complete my undergraduate degree, a graduate degree and now a Ph.D. while working full time and raising a family – do I have to hide the fact that I have a Ph.D. to get a job? When I was just a Masters, I was told that in order for me to be competitive in the field I had to have a Ph.D. and now all of sudden this is the reason I am not getting a job? Perhaps it’s the fact that to do my job, organizations are not willing to pay a Ph.D. salary. Perhaps my Ph.D. degree just hasn’t got that blue stamp of approval from the traditional ivy-league institutions that continue to dominate education politics. Perhaps I don’t have the right relationships.
Relationships. The last job I interviewed for lasted for about six weeks. After believing that the job was tailor fit for me and having won the support of the leading lady… The Dean told me that if I had been interviewing for a graduate faculty position I would have been offered the job in a heartbeat. However, since it was an administrative position, he thought it was better to higher someone with “relationships” at the DOE. (Later on he wrote in an email that he couldn’t understand why I haven’t been getting any response to teach at the colleges… perhaps its because you started your career as a Spanish teacher… hmmm, that’s a theory.) Relationships? Relationships? I can do relationships. If you actually get me out of my house and introduce me to the real world, then relationships I can do! Trust me. I can do relationships. How can I meet the people that I need to meet to get ahead in my career when no one is opening the door to the gallery?
But when it comes to relationship etiquette, in this case, I was lucky. Because after one hundred resumes and about a handful of interviews spanning the length of a year’s time, this Dean called me two weeks after the interview to tell me personally that I had not gotten the job. More than half of the interviews that I have prepared for, attended and entertained for more than an hour and a half each time (and that does not include the ones I had to write and research for…) ended with out even a call to let me know that they were going with another candidate. One sent me an email six months later. I know what it feels like now to be discarded. If educators can treat each other this way, then what does that say about the character of education today?
So, the people in the know are suggesting that I meet people in the field. You know, get out, get some advice, make some connections. Not an interview, per say – a meet and greet. After I did my first one, I got the feeling I was in one of those seven minute dating events. Coffee? Yes, thank you, that would be great, smile, sit, look around, make eye contact, hello, how are you? thank you so much for meeting with me, yes, she is a doll, how did you guys meet, and of course, here’s another copy of my resume and so on. I almost wanted to yell out, I don’t smoke and exercise regularly! Then there’s the apparently innocent question that right out of college would be harmless, even expected. Why, this is the signature of the American dream. Eyes square on me, I am asked the notorious question. What do you want to do? What do I want to do? I smile. I laugh. I fidget with my heavy bag and swallow the dry taste in my mouth that I adopted from the train ride from Poughkeepsie. I really want to burst out crying and then I realized I am trapped like a monkey at the fair. I try desperately not to climb up on the table, grab my hair, jump up and down, spit, scream, sneer at the sincerely generous “meet and greet” in front of me. What do I WANT to do? Well, my dear sir, a year and a half ago I thought I’d join a faculty, but hey, no one called me. I thought that I’d go into consulting and promote my fabulous, unique and artistic line of consulting services, but apparently no one had the money to pay for me. I thought I’d be a writer, a painter, a teacher, a researcher, a director, an assistant director, an associate, a manager, a trainer, a specialist, an educator. But apparently, there has been no opening for me in any of these things. So, what do I want to do? What do I REALLY want to do? Well, first of all, kind fellow, I want to make money. I want to be able to pay for my house and buy a new car, because the one I have makes so much noise my neighbors are beginning to complain. Can I say that? I need health insurance for sure, how long has it been? Well, to tell you the truth, long enough that I am beginning to wonder if this is a permanent condition. I want to work. Can I just say that? I mean I am thirty-seven after all, and since I am not just out of college and I have a Ph.D. in education, I think that hey! In the very least, I can be honest and say, that really I don’t really give a hoot what I do, but whatever it is, it would be nice if it happened soon. Or if I say that, will I be driven further and further away from the real world into “the underground?”
What is going on in the field of education? Or is it me?
The worried glances from my family and friends remind me that there is the question of my self worth. Answering questions and deflecting reproachful comments about my “job search” is common place and repetitive. For example, Are you sure you looked in this week’s paper? Or – Maybe you should take off the letters Ph.D. from your resume so that they will consider you for anything – you know, until something better comes along. Most people don’t believe that I am not doing something wrong to deserve my unemployment. Have I some surreptitious file somewhere that even I don’t know about? Have I carelessly misjudged my character, capacity to educate, my ability to write a cover letter, perform well on an interview? Why after spending so much time working day and night (and money!) to complete my undergraduate degree, a graduate degree and now a Ph.D. while working full time and raising a family – do I have to hide the fact that I have a Ph.D. to get a job? When I was just a Masters, I was told that in order for me to be competitive in the field I had to have a Ph.D. and now all of sudden this is the reason I am not getting a job? Perhaps it’s the fact that to do my job, organizations are not willing to pay a Ph.D. salary. Perhaps my Ph.D. degree just hasn’t got that blue stamp of approval from the traditional ivy-league institutions that continue to dominate education politics. Perhaps I don’t have the right relationships.
Relationships. The last job I interviewed for lasted for about six weeks. After believing that the job was tailor fit for me and having won the support of the leading lady… The Dean told me that if I had been interviewing for a graduate faculty position I would have been offered the job in a heartbeat. However, since it was an administrative position, he thought it was better to higher someone with “relationships” at the DOE. (Later on he wrote in an email that he couldn’t understand why I haven’t been getting any response to teach at the colleges… perhaps its because you started your career as a Spanish teacher… hmmm, that’s a theory.) Relationships? Relationships? I can do relationships. If you actually get me out of my house and introduce me to the real world, then relationships I can do! Trust me. I can do relationships. How can I meet the people that I need to meet to get ahead in my career when no one is opening the door to the gallery?
But when it comes to relationship etiquette, in this case, I was lucky. Because after one hundred resumes and about a handful of interviews spanning the length of a year’s time, this Dean called me two weeks after the interview to tell me personally that I had not gotten the job. More than half of the interviews that I have prepared for, attended and entertained for more than an hour and a half each time (and that does not include the ones I had to write and research for…) ended with out even a call to let me know that they were going with another candidate. One sent me an email six months later. I know what it feels like now to be discarded. If educators can treat each other this way, then what does that say about the character of education today?
So, the people in the know are suggesting that I meet people in the field. You know, get out, get some advice, make some connections. Not an interview, per say – a meet and greet. After I did my first one, I got the feeling I was in one of those seven minute dating events. Coffee? Yes, thank you, that would be great, smile, sit, look around, make eye contact, hello, how are you? thank you so much for meeting with me, yes, she is a doll, how did you guys meet, and of course, here’s another copy of my resume and so on. I almost wanted to yell out, I don’t smoke and exercise regularly! Then there’s the apparently innocent question that right out of college would be harmless, even expected. Why, this is the signature of the American dream. Eyes square on me, I am asked the notorious question. What do you want to do? What do I want to do? I smile. I laugh. I fidget with my heavy bag and swallow the dry taste in my mouth that I adopted from the train ride from Poughkeepsie. I really want to burst out crying and then I realized I am trapped like a monkey at the fair. I try desperately not to climb up on the table, grab my hair, jump up and down, spit, scream, sneer at the sincerely generous “meet and greet” in front of me. What do I WANT to do? Well, my dear sir, a year and a half ago I thought I’d join a faculty, but hey, no one called me. I thought that I’d go into consulting and promote my fabulous, unique and artistic line of consulting services, but apparently no one had the money to pay for me. I thought I’d be a writer, a painter, a teacher, a researcher, a director, an assistant director, an associate, a manager, a trainer, a specialist, an educator. But apparently, there has been no opening for me in any of these things. So, what do I want to do? What do I REALLY want to do? Well, first of all, kind fellow, I want to make money. I want to be able to pay for my house and buy a new car, because the one I have makes so much noise my neighbors are beginning to complain. Can I say that? I need health insurance for sure, how long has it been? Well, to tell you the truth, long enough that I am beginning to wonder if this is a permanent condition. I want to work. Can I just say that? I mean I am thirty-seven after all, and since I am not just out of college and I have a Ph.D. in education, I think that hey! In the very least, I can be honest and say, that really I don’t really give a hoot what I do, but whatever it is, it would be nice if it happened soon. Or if I say that, will I be driven further and further away from the real world into “the underground?”
What is going on in the field of education? Or is it me?
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