 |
THE
CAREER DOCTOR
GETTING
INTO TEACHING |
 |
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?
|
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
or write to Jobs & Careers, Career Doctor, Whitespace
Ltd., Top Floor, Block 43B Yeats Way, Park West Business
Park, Nangor Road, Dublin 12.