My major is Engineering Technology Teacher Education this degree points me in the specific career as secondary education teacher. Unlike most majors mine has a very specific destination in mind. This is nice because I will be very qualified as a Tech. Ed. teacher, however; it is also a little scary because it limits my options for different career opportunities. In this job search I looked for opportunities outside of teaching class.
One position that caught my eye was welding. I have had courses that involved fabrication and welding. I have also worked with an uncle who customizes parts for tractors; a lot of welding techniques are used in this process. One position I looked up was welding engineer the reason this caught my interest was its salary. As a welding engineer you can make upwards of $80.000, however; this job requires at least 5 years experience which I do not have and probably will not have at time of graduation.
The second link is a more realistic approach for my skill set when it comes to welding. With this job you get paid by the hour and the description made it sound like the longevity of this jobs existence was diminutive. This could be two reasons; one being the employer may want to make it sound as if the job will not be available for long, so sign up. The other reason may be because this job is temporary and they only need so many hours of welding done.
This company offers benefits and many available work shifts. While analyzing the job description I came to the conclusion that they needed lots of hours filled. They say they are looking for work horses. The reason I am capable for this job is because it does not require a welder’s certification. No certification but experience in welding is how I qualify.
The job is a local manufacturing plant. This also works to my advantage because I am familiar with manufacturing processes. In a manufacturing plant it always helps to have some knowledge of how a plant operates. This could help in determining my hourly wage and my move me up a buck or two, Yee pee!
All in all my theory was originally correct. There are not many jobs available outside the small spectrum of my degree. I talked about how the qualifications of these jobs either match my skill set or transcend my skill set. This does not worry me because I am quite comfortable with the idea of becoming a high school teacher, However; I do know now that if need be I can always get a low level welding job!
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=ILKV&f...
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?IPath=ILKV&f...
Paradox?
It is interesting that teachers can't really become another profession. However other professions can become teachers in their own field. Look at college professors. Some of them didn't start out as teachers. They started out working in their career field only to come back and become a teacher. But then that really only applies to higher level education. I can't say I've heard of anyone becoming a math teacher after being an accountant. I guess it would have something to do with learning about teaching theory rather than just knowing the subject matter. Although I don't know anything about what teachers learn, I can only assume that it is one of the major differences between someone who starts out as a teacher and someone who becomes a teacher later.
Andy
Teaching with different professions
Yeah the welding engineering job sounds pretty interesting. I worked with a couple welding engineers once and their job seemed kind of fun and interesting. They usually just worked on special projects or fixed the robotic welders. Since the job does not require a certificate I think that is a great opportunity. There is so many welding techniques that can only be mastered if you practice with it everyday. If welding was taught in high school I think that it would be a great class and very informative. Getting hands on with metal and other materials earlier in a student's life could probably interest them into more technical careers instead of something like business. Little things like that could help someone because great at designing or inventing also. Also if a person did not want to go to college, they could possibly start a profession in welding.
Another thing I thought was interesting to read was a person teaching classes about their profession even though they are not teachers. Actually in my high school I had a few teachers that were engineers but not teachers. They taught classes that had to do with their professions and learned a lot more because of it. I have always thought that it was a better idea to get someone with experience to teach the technical classes instead of just teachers. I actually learned so much from the teachers that my freshman year in engineering classes were kind of review. I definitely think that getting experience in a technical job before you become a tech education teacher would be a great idea.
Instructor Comment
I think you would have been better served had you focused this analysis on the one job you were applying for. That would have allowed you to focus on the particulars of the job and the company in a way that would allow you to more clearly articulate the relevant skills and experiences you have. You do some of this when you write, "While analyzing the job description I came to the conclusion that they needed lots of hours filled. They say they are looking for work horses." What you need to do now, with respect to the position that has caught your eye, is determine how best to demonstrate that you are a "work horse." The temptation will be for you to say that you are a work horse. What you should do instead is describe your relevant skills and experiences in way that demonstrates your hard work. It is quite easy to say that you work hard; it is much harder to demonstrate it through writing.