OSHKOSH, Wis. — Cara Bryant is looking for a career change.

The Oshkosh mother said working for the Oshkosh Area School District would be a welcomed change.

“I’m looking to change my career,” Bryant said. “I thought it’d be nice to get into the school district so that I can have the same schedule as my daughter and hopefully do a Monday-through-Friday early and be done early. That’s kind of the plan, so I can spend more time with her in the afternoon.”

She attended a career fair at the district office, along with dozens of other job seekers looking to grab a open position before the start of the school year.

“When I saw it pop up, I had to take a chance,” Bryant said.

The district was offering on-site interviews with the opportunity for on-the-spot hiring, complete with a start date.

Julie Conrad is the district’s director of curriculum and assessment. She said there was a sense of hope in the room.

“It’s exciting and when you see people coming in, they have like an excitement about them and that’s what we want and that’s who we want working with our students,” Conrad said.

She said the district still has roughly 30 certified teacher openings and more than 60 overall positions that need to be filled, including support staff openings.

“Up and down the valley in the state of Wisconsin and I would say in the nation and the region, we’re experiencing an educator shortage. I have been doing this for 31 years,” Conrad said. “The last few years has been the first time that we’ve ever seen positions go unfilled in a school district.”

Bryant’s interview didn’t go as planned. The position had already been filled. She said she’s not giving up on her hopes of joining the district in some capacity.

“I’m going to go back to their website and take a look and see what else is out there for me,” Bryant said.