After reading Chapter 15 (TCT), a conversation with an old high school teacher entered my thoughts. I went to this teacher originally just to catch up on things, but eventually we started to talk about my future as a high school industrial technology teacher. The biggest point he tried to express to me was to get real world experience. He told me that real world experience in a field relative to the curriculum I would be teaching would not only benefit me in getting a job but would make me a better teacher.
Honestly we get told practically every day that schools are looking for Tech ed. teachers, and there is so few out there. Getting a job doesn't worry me. Something that does worry me is my status as a teacher. I really want to do a good job. I realized after my high school teacher's discussion and reading chapter 15 that if I were to construct a resume right now it would be an archival approach, emphasizing on my education. There is nothing wrong with an approach like this, I have plenty of extra-curriculum, and work experience to generate an acceptable resume. It’s just that I would like to have more skills because that does make you more marketable, but also it would benefit my future students.
Finding a job as a teacher is different than finding many other jobs, However; the questions you have to ask yourself are the same. What are my needs and wants in a job/career?, Who would i like to work for?, Where would I like to live?, etc. these questions are still valuable in finding a job as a teacher. These kind of questions are similar to the questions asked in chap. 3 (TCT) relating to readers. This was my high school teacher’s last point in our discussion, "Find a place you want to be and work there." In order to do this you have to ask these questions to yourself and maybe with a stunning resume you can live and work how you have always wanted.
Dream Job
Your teacher's statement "Find a place you want to be and work there" is a pretty good point. Everyone wants a good job that pays well, but being happy in a place might be a better idea. It is always a battle of the two for a dream job. I have heard people say that finding a job as a teacher is hard to do currently, but i am sure you will be fine. A lot of my friends are graduating and finding jobs as teachers. I think that the archival approach would be a good idea for your profession too. Having an option of different resumes is a good thing though. It helps to decide which one to choose when people have different majors and careers.
Reply
I think your teacher was absolutely right when he said it was important to have real world experience when applying for jobs. When I was applying for internships the summer before this, that seemed to be the biggest problem I had. Many companies only wanted to hire students with prior work experience, but at that point I didn't have any relevant work experience in my field. However since that first internship, it is amazing how much more attention I get from employers after having some relevant work experience on my resume.
Patrick Griffin
pgriffin@purdue.edu