TMATE

Finding a Job

As a TMATE intern, you are responsible for locating the employing district where you will serve your year-long internship. You must apply, interview and negotiate the salary and benefits. During the internship, you are hired as the teacher-of-record, will receive identical benefits and pay as any other first-year certified teacher within the district, and will teach under a Probationary Certificate issued by SBEC.

The best time to begin applying for jobs for your internship year is late March/early April. You should begin considering where you want to teach and visiting those school websites.

Each year the number of teaching jobs available depends on the openings within the various districts, the grade and/or subject you want to teach and where you want to teach. You may not be able to find the exact grade or location where you want to teach and may have to commute or relocate to be employed. Beginning teachers frequently are the last to be hired. Most new teacher hiring occurs during the summer months, even up to and after the starting day of school.

The TMATE offices have several ways to help you find job openings in the over 2,000 schools within the service area. Each year, a list of Interns Available for Employment is posted as a password secured link and provided to all district superintendents, principals, human resource directors, and special education coordinators within the service area. Please check with the appropriate TMATE Office if you are unsure if your intended district is within the service area.

In addition to the links provided on the right, TMATE interns, past and present, develop a network which is a potential source of a job lead.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) provides an excellent means of locating schools. Choose the District heading to access the School District Locator. The map option scroll bar can show each school within each county. The text only option searches by either school district or county. You can link to most districts and see a listing of employment opportunities.

Almost all TMATE interns obtain employment. If you do not find a fall semester teaching position, you may remain conditionally admitted to the TMATE program for one year as you continue to look for a job.

Employment Listings

• Stephenville & Fort Worth area
• Killeen/Waco area
• Wichita Falls area
• Dallas area
• Abilene area
• tasanet.org
• Tarleton Connection Job Listing
• Texas Workforce Commission
• Texas Troops to Teachers (TTT)
• TEA District Search

When a district offers a teaching position to a program participant, it is acceptable to ask for 24 to 48 hours to make a decision and respond to the offer. To ask for additional time might place the offer in jeopardy, and the district might extend the offer to another teacher. Once the intern has accepted an offer from a district, it is not ethical to entertain offers from other districts, even though the second offer may be more attractive. A verbal acceptance of an offer is considered binding.