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Ex-Dot-Commers Make the Move to Teaching

Joon Hyun

By Ji Hyun Lim

After trudging through three years at Tri-Comm, an Internet start-up company based in Buena Park, Los Angeles, Joon Hyun is now a 10th grade teacher at Dominguez High School in Compton. Hyun is among the many who have made the career move from the shrinking dot-com industry to a field with an expanding number of job openings.

Hyun is not alone. Other former employees of Bay Area start-ups, who used to sport hefty paychecks, are turning to teaching as a profession. With unemployment rates in Santa Clara and San Francisco up a few percentage points, statewide organizations are Gaking advantage of the change in times to recruit eager new teachers.

After finding out about his options at a job fair last year, Hyun went to a summer academy where he earned his emergency credentials and started teaching full-time in September.

Before that, Hyun was spending 10 hours a day in front of his computer screen, a slave to the far-off promise of stock options. But with Tri-Comm’s third name change and a pending lawsuit for copyright infringement, the company was hit with the realities of the economic downturn. Hyun’s hope that he would be able to build a hefty nest egg evaporated.

"At first it was kind of interesting because I was new to the Internet thing,” Hyun said. "Toward the end, I was very disillusioned. It just hit me throughout the whole last week before I quit. [I asked myself] What am I doing here?”

Straight to Class

This year San Jose Unified School District (SJUSD) hired 78 ex-dot-commers. San Jose Teaching Fellows has been instrumental in recruiting nearly a third of the 200 teachers for SJUSD. Fellows are chosen through a highly selective process based on a samúle teaching lesson, participation in a group discussion on an education-related topic, and an individual interview. Once selected, fellows participate in a six-week summer training institute and have access to professional development including a credential program, mentors, meetings with other fellows, and opportunities to observe and be observed by experienced teachers.

Currently, the district has a total of 300 temporary teachers. At the end of the year, some will be released, while others will be hired for permanent positions.

Publicist Sophia Kim, explained that Hyun is among the many recruits from California Center for Teaching Careers or Cal Teach, a state-wide campaign in collaboration with Governor Gray Davis’ office to recruit 120,000 teachers in the next 10 years. Cal Teach has six different recruitment centers that span from Los Angeles and Fresno to San Francisco and Oakland. Over the next decade, the state hopes to hire 300,000 people to become teachers.

“We have a goal to meet every single year,” Kim said. “We are looking for teachers to sign on as interns or substitutes or whatever it takes to enter the teaching profession. Dot-commers are among those who are trying to find a different profession.”

Changing expectations

For some dot-commers who are accustomed to receiving large paychecks, public service will be a big change. A teacher with emergency credential starts off with a salary of $35,665, while credentialed teachers receive $40,660.

In the meantime, Hyun intends to supplement his income through private tutoring and coaching assignments.

Said Hyun: “I think teaching starts with paying fairly high and then it plateaus and increases very gradually. It’s comparable to how much I made at the Internet company. The Internet company did not pay me very well because there was always a potential of the company going public and I had stock options.”

Larry Laird, director of Employee Services for SJUSD, said they are targeting individuals that have made it financially in big business and those that want a professional change. Laird estimates that there will be 245 new SJUSD teachers this year. According to Laird, many of these new teachers who come from the dot-com industry have a willingness to work in schools that are the hardest to staff.

“San Jose is a technology rich community and technology has suffered a burn,” Laird said. “When we were starting a new project, ex-dot-commers were available and they have transferable skills. They are willing to begin a new adventure and willing to take risks.”

He adds: “We are looking for empathy for the needs of the students, both intellectually and emotionally, as well as the ability to interact successfully as a team member, and possess leadership, flexibility, technological and communication skills.”

The San Jose Teachers Association (SJTA) has a good relationship with the district and does a lot to help out these new teachers through the transition, explained SJTA member Kathy Burkhard. SJTA offers workshops in classroom management for young teachers, and provides peer assistance and review programs with on-site, professional development coaches.

“We’re prepared to support them in anyway that we can in their professional development and in their learning to be teachers,” Burkhard said. “We want our students to have teachers that are happy.”

Burkhard points out that it doesn’t take new teachers long to realize what a difficult task they have taken on. Many people who come from different industries, such as big business, will say it is the hardest job they’ve ever had.

Said Burkhard: “In the eyes of the community, status-wise, people are acknowledging that it’s a difficult job and they are holding teachers in esteem.”

Hyun adds: “It’s the best feeling in the world when you know that you’ve had a productive lesson with your students. Looking back, you find satisfaction knowing you’ve made some difference.”