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THE
CAREER DOCTOR
GETTING
INTO TEACHING |
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Q:
I
am a 23-year-old college graduate with a second
class honours degree in theology and psychology.
I have twice applied for the H.Dip., but to no
avail. I really want to further my education and
eventually become involved with teaching or helping
children or adolescents in their own studies.
I have two years' teaching experience in both
primary and secondary schools, and would love
to pursue a career in the educational field. Do
you have any advice or pointers on courses to
take?
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The H.Dip. is a frustrating course to
try an get on to. First, have you received concrete feedback
as to why you failed to secure a place? If it is that
you scored a lower second in your degree, then you have
troubles. If this is the case, you need to get past being
a faceless candidate and make appointments with the decision-makers
in the colleges you are applying to. Buy them coffee and
find out what makes them tick. Have they made exceptions
in the past? Why? Why not? It is easy to reject JABAs
(just-another-bloody-applicant), so don’t be one.
What
about bypassing the H.Dip. entirely for now? Can you look
to getting on to an M.Ed. programme? Either bite the bullet
and go full time (abroad if necessary and if you are really
serious about pursuing education as a career) or do a
longer programme by night or distance learning. The fact
that you are on a Masters programme – highlight
this heavily on your CV – will lend much more weight
to your next move, whatever that might be.
You
mention that you have experience in both primary and secondary
level. Which do you really want to work at and why? Clarify
this in your own mind and it strengthens your ‘sales
pitch’ immeasurably. If whoever is listening to
you thinks that you have a fallback, or Plan B, position;
they will be less inclined to give you what you want.
People respond to passion, drive and commitment, so make
the tough decision, come off the fence and go for it!
Gaining
further experience will be more fruitful and focused once
you have determined your long-term strategy. As you have
no doubt already discovered, there are a significant number
of unqualified teachers out there today. There is no reason
why you can’t join their ranks while you attain
further qualifications. Look to your network, to people
who know your character and who might be willing to speak
up on your behalf or to take a chance on you. Apply for
everything you see advertised as well and learn from each
rejection (there will be many!) You don’t have to
take a job that doesn’t suit you, so apply widely
and learn everything you can.
Finally,
one other route that occurs to me is that you might pursue
something in the field of educational psychology. As our
understanding of the development of young minds grows,
the market is crying out for skilled people in this arena
and while you might not end up directly in a classroom
environment, you would be making an enormous difference
to the children you would be working with.
Rowan
Manahan is MD of the career management firm Fortify
Services and author of Where’s My Oasis?
Visit www.fortifyservces.com or telephone 01 230
1313.
Irish
Independent,
Jobs & Careers supplement, August 25th 2005.
If
you have any job problems you would like answered by our
panel of Career Doctors, please email: careerdoctor@whitespace.ie
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