After getting hired at ESS as a permanent para, I never received any training, orientation, support, or anything to prepare me for the position. The first day I stepped foot in the school, they assigned me with my child and that was it. They knew ahead of time that I did not have any prior classroom experience, as I was a college student. However, they did not offer any training, support, or shadowing whatsoever. You never meet anybody that works for ESS. Additionally, I never received any update ever about my job performance. So, basically I did not know if I was doing poorly or not. The teacher would lay down some of the basics, but that was about 5 minutes. Any other job provides more training than us. Worst part was the pay, we got paid minimum wage for NJ. I would make the same working at McDonalds. I also received no benefits such as PTO. As someone who never worked in a classroom setting until this year, I got sick quite often, more than I ever have. This is common for first year school employees. So, I did take more days off than I should have. However, I did provide documentation from my doctor. If I came in while sick, I would have been sent home, so I am unsure what they wanted me to do. But they ended up firing me for my absences despite the documentation. Normally, this would be acceptable for them to do, however, I never received any verbal or written warning/notices at all about anything. Never received any notice or warning about my absences or job performance at all, not once. I felt it was unfair to fire me without atleast talking to me once about my absences/job performance. However, I have been looking for a new job anyway and have interviews lined up so it was a blessing in disguise. Education wasn’t for me and I respect their dissatisfaction with me, however they should have provided some training, support, and orientation to new employees, which they didn’t. So they should not be surprised. If they do not want to train people, then do not pay minimum wage and hire people with more experience. Last point, you did not have any support other than the teacher who did not have time to assist you. You never meet anybody from ESS which means you have nobody to reach out to regarding concerns.
