Kawartha Pine Ridge Occasional Teachers' Local
Not Getting Called?
Greetings all Occasional Employees,

For the benefit of newer employees who have not been on call in September before, I have a few things to share. I will apologize now. This is not going to be a short note. First off, the FAQ states:

September is the slowest month for supply work, as are the days leading up to and after a holiday. Make sure you have many schools listed in your profile (e.g. all schools within an hours drive) and are classified to teach all grades K-8, including Spec. Ed and French .

That is a good 'general' explanation but I do have a few other suggestions that might help. Anyone who isn't getting called really needs to check their Smartfind profile. I found several issues with mine (I'm embarrassed to admit).

To begin with, in SmartFind, after clicking on profile, you can alter/double check the following tabs/information:

Profile:

Call Back#:  Ensure if you are long distance from the board office that you put a 1 before the area code. (learn from my fail). Dashes do not matter. All numbers must be at least 10 digits long. Double check that the number is correct, especially when you change from your cell to your home phone and back again (if you do that).

Schedule: this should contain a list that looks a lot like this:



Obviously if you are not available all day, every day of the week, your list will look different from this one. If you were in a partial LTO last year there could be days missing or even half days missing. Be sure to check it out.

Classifications: This list should have all the grades you are willing to teach as well as library, special education etc.

Locations: This is a big one and probably the biggest indicator of the amount of work you will get. I was in a .5 LTO last year and could only get to the school I was in for a half day supply job. Needless to say a few weeks before September I thought about updating my list and was flabbergasted to see only one school there! Oops! Check this list out. I know many successful OT's that will work at any school in the board. I know for a fact that many of them worked a lot last year. Fewer schools on your list will equate to few jobs. It's simple math I'm afraid.

Unavailable Dates: This is where you can put dates you are not able to work. This is highly recommended as the system is stuck calling those who can't work when it should be calling the people who can.

Of some note. When you do use this feature, if you want future calls, make sure you check off the little box. You can change this after you have put in dates you are unavailable. Yep I've done that before too.

Password:

An OT told me that she changed her Phone Password PIN to something that was 4 digits long and never again lost a call due to entering the wrong pin. I have not done this as I have too many passwords to remember as it is.

Hopefully if you take some time to check out your Smartfind profile you can clear up any 'technical' reasons you are not getting called.

Be well,

Jenn