As a professional singer and actor, I have had a total of 33 jobs in 17 years. I have worked at least 3 jobs or more simultaneously in addition to performing over the years. Each week, I will discuss one of my former or current jobs. My thirty-second job was floater teacher assistant at Long Island City Early Childhood Center with Birch Family Services.
Getting the Job
In November 2023, I still worked as a banquet server at Amerivents and Cipriani. However, catering slows down in January and February. So, I interviewed and accepted a para position at Birch Family Services. When I got hired to sing on the Tea Around Town bus, I turned down the Birch job. Then, the Tea bus job fell through in January. I reached out to Birch about the para position. The position was already filled so I was hired as a floater teacher’s assistant.
The Experience
As a floater teacher assistant, I filled in for classes that needed additional assistance. I attended an Autism workshop and learned that working with children with special needs requires very extensive training. I think that the staff was undertrained. During February winter break, I decided to apply for full-time positions at other schools.
Birch Family Services paid a very low hourly wage with part-time hours. There was no training at all during my time there, except one staff training for the entire Birch network. I felt like I was not really learning how to do my job properly. Once I was hired at East River, I gave two-week notice to Birch Family Services. My last day was March 15th, 2024.
https://birchfamilyservices.org/school/long-island-city-early-childhood-center/