I am not a violent or negative person. However, sometimes aesop and subfinder (the two major sub placement systems in this region of the world) drive me absolutely insane!
For those of you who have not subbed or used these systems, there are many similarities. One, they are both automated systems, and randomly call subs who are available for jobs. Subs can search for jobs via the internet and phone. When using the phone, there are certain numbers to press to accept or decline a job, repeat a job posting, or skip it and come back to it later.
Subfinder allows teachers to request subs using the sub request number. When they input the number, subfinder will call the sub and the sub can accept or decline the job. Aesop does not allow teachers to request subs - instead, if a teacher wants a specific sub, they should call the sub personally, and then assign them to the job.
Aesop also does not allow for subs to cancel a job. If a sub double books themselves (as sometimes happens), or they accept a job and then get the flu, they have to call the district office to cancel the job. Subfinder allows subs to cancel a job up to an hour before the job starts. So if you wake up with the flu at 5am, you don't have to wait til the district office opens at 7:30 to call and tell them you can't do the job that starts at 7:30am.
I don't like either system, because of the confusion of it all. Some school districts use Aesop, but most use subfinder. I don't like Aesop because of the whole "won't let me cancel a job I accidentally accepted" thing, but there are benefits of Aesop. Aesop allows you to bundle your different school district accounts. That means that if you sub for school district A and school district B, and they both use Aesop, a job that you have on May 20 in district A will show up as a no work day for district B. meaning you can't double book yourself, and district B won't call you for a last minute job on May 20.
Subfinder doesn't do that. I sub for 4 different school districts which use subfinder. For each district, I have a different pin number and a different sub request number. I also have to manually go into each separate subfinder account to make myself unavailable for May 20 if I am already booked for that day. Which is a really annoying thing to do.
This morning, I got a call from subfinder for a teacher who had requested me. Somehow I accidentally declined it. It was a half day, which would have worked out wonderfully for me since I had to go to the doctor this afternoon. Alas, once you decline the job, it goes to the next sub, and it was gone forever.
Then, I got a call from Aesop. It was a half day in the afternoon for today, which didn't work with my doctor plans. Somehow I hit the wrong button and accepted it. Remember how Aesop doesn't allow for cancellations? Thankfully I was able to call and cancel it.
When I get a full time job, I definitely won't miss this part of subbing. Oy what a headache those systems are!
For those of you who have not subbed or used these systems, there are many similarities. One, they are both automated systems, and randomly call subs who are available for jobs. Subs can search for jobs via the internet and phone. When using the phone, there are certain numbers to press to accept or decline a job, repeat a job posting, or skip it and come back to it later.
Subfinder allows teachers to request subs using the sub request number. When they input the number, subfinder will call the sub and the sub can accept or decline the job. Aesop does not allow teachers to request subs - instead, if a teacher wants a specific sub, they should call the sub personally, and then assign them to the job.
Aesop also does not allow for subs to cancel a job. If a sub double books themselves (as sometimes happens), or they accept a job and then get the flu, they have to call the district office to cancel the job. Subfinder allows subs to cancel a job up to an hour before the job starts. So if you wake up with the flu at 5am, you don't have to wait til the district office opens at 7:30 to call and tell them you can't do the job that starts at 7:30am.
I don't like either system, because of the confusion of it all. Some school districts use Aesop, but most use subfinder. I don't like Aesop because of the whole "won't let me cancel a job I accidentally accepted" thing, but there are benefits of Aesop. Aesop allows you to bundle your different school district accounts. That means that if you sub for school district A and school district B, and they both use Aesop, a job that you have on May 20 in district A will show up as a no work day for district B. meaning you can't double book yourself, and district B won't call you for a last minute job on May 20.
Subfinder doesn't do that. I sub for 4 different school districts which use subfinder. For each district, I have a different pin number and a different sub request number. I also have to manually go into each separate subfinder account to make myself unavailable for May 20 if I am already booked for that day. Which is a really annoying thing to do.
This morning, I got a call from subfinder for a teacher who had requested me. Somehow I accidentally declined it. It was a half day, which would have worked out wonderfully for me since I had to go to the doctor this afternoon. Alas, once you decline the job, it goes to the next sub, and it was gone forever.
Then, I got a call from Aesop. It was a half day in the afternoon for today, which didn't work with my doctor plans. Somehow I hit the wrong button and accepted it. Remember how Aesop doesn't allow for cancellations? Thankfully I was able to call and cancel it.
When I get a full time job, I definitely won't miss this part of subbing. Oy what a headache those systems are!
Aesop does let you cancel jobs. You can cancel up to 1.5 hours ahead of the job start time. It's just really confusing and hard to find. You have to look at the online calendar, and next to the job that you want to cancel there is a small trashcan. Click on that to cancel. Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteNot all districts allow you to cancel jobs in Aesop. Mine doesn't.
ReplyDeleteHow do you cancel a job in Aesop if the district doesn't allow you to cancel???
ReplyDeleteIn my state (MI) you can cancel in AESOP, but only up until a certain point, after which you are required to call PESG (my employer) and/or the school. We have one district that pays something like $15-$20 per day less than the others in the area, so I can imagine that has something to do with it (drop the low-paying job for one that pays more...)
ReplyDelete