This article outlines the 3 main reasons you may not have been alerted for a job:
A) Your Sub Sidekick account needs to be updated in some way
B) There were jobs, but the alert wasn't sent or didn't reach you for a specific reason
C) There was not a job to notify you of
Below are the details explaining each of these reasons.
A) Your Sub Sidekick account needs to be updated in some way
1) Your phone number/email address has changed: If your phone number or email address has changed, you'll need to update it on your Sub Sidekick Settings page, under the Alerts tab so that you can continue to get alerts. Make sure to click Update when this is completed.
2) You changed your substitute id/username or phone number on your substitute-service's website : If any information has changed in your substitute-service's account (Aesop, SubFinder, SubFinder Elite, SmartFindExpress), it will need to be updated with Sub Sidekick as well. Even if you only change a phone number on their site, often times they will issue you a new sub id # that matches. If you need to update your substitute id # with us, go to your Settings page, and under the Accounts tab, you'll want to Add A New Account with your new substitute id. If you need to update your pin, simply click on the Edit key icon, and update your pin on your existing account.
3) You changed your pin/password on your substitute-service's website: If you change your pin/password on your substitute-service's website, you will need to update that with us as well so we can search for jobs for you. To do this, go to your Settings page, then the Accounts tab, and click on the Edit key icon to update your pin on your existing account. *One important thing to note is that if you have set up a multi-district pin with your substitute-service, we will need that 6-digit pin to be plugged in as your new pin on our site so that we can monitor all districts for you.
4) Your payment method on PayPal is invalid (i.e. expired credit card): If the payment method you have linked to your PayPal account expires or gets cancelled, PayPal will not be able to draft payments for you. You will want to update this in PayPal's system as soon as possible so your Sub Sidekick account can stay active. If this happens and too much time passes before it is updated in PayPal's system, they will suspend your Sub Sidekick account. Click on the following article to see how to update your payment method and/or re-subscribe for your Sub Sidekick account if it indeed has gone inactive. Instructions: Update Payment Information/Resubscribe
B) There were jobs, but the alert wasn't sent or didn't reach you for a specific reason
1. Filters: The job did not meet your keyword or duration filters. For instance, if you are set for Full Day Jobs Only, then you will only be alerted to jobs that fit that criteria. Click Job History to see if any jobs have been detected where alert sent is N. It is possible you have filters set in Sub Sidekick and/or your substitute-service account (Aesop, SubFinder, SubFinder Elite, SmartFindExpress). Check both sites' preferences to make sure you still want to keep those filters. Update as needed.
2. Schedule Conflict: If you are already scheduled for another job, you will not receive any alerts for jobs that conflict with the existing job.
3. Job Marked 'Locked'/Unavailable: The job was marked as unavailable by the substitute-service (Aesop, SubFinder, SmartFindExpress), meaning that the job is locked or currently unavailable for acceptance. Once the job becomes available, you will be notified.
4. District/School Preferences: The substitute-service may use algorithms to only show a job to substitute teachers that are on a preferred list, have a specific qualification, or other criteria defined by the school district. The job may also be assigned directly to a specific substitute teacher without the job ever being put into the system.
5. Timing: Because Sub Sidekick is only able to check for jobs at a set interval (usually about every 60 seconds depending on the sub-service), a job may have appeared and disappeared between that interval. This doesn't happen often, but because of this, it is possible for a job to become available and then accepted by someone else before our server can detect it. There is no way to change this interval because it is determined by our server.
Additional reason for no text-message alert:
1. Your phone number needs to be updated in our system. You'll find instructions in this article under: “A) Your Sub Sidekick account needs to be updated in some way.”
Additional reasons for no email alert:
1. Our emails are going to your spam/junk folder (our emails come from the address: alerts@subsidekick.com). Click here to see how to change this.
2. Our email address is blocked in your email account - follow this link to learn how to unblock our email address: How To Unblock Address
3. Your email address needs to be updated in our system. You'll find instructions in this article under: “A) Your Sub Sidekick account needs to be updated in some way.”
C) There was not a job to notify you of
Sometimes the simple answer is there haven't been any new jobs recently. There are seasonal fluctuations and times when teachers are less likely to need/be able to take time off (school holidays, teacher in-service, standardized testing times, etc...). There are also times that jobs in specific schools start calling teachers only off of their 'preferred sub list.' If you find out that is the case with a certain school, you'll want to work with that school to try and be listed there.
*If you are receiving alerts, but not being able to accept the jobs quickly enough, read further here: What's The Fastest Way To Accept Jobs?
*If you have further questions, please submit a new ticket to our support team.