Old Cat with Teacher Certificate

[barbara5500]

Hi,
I am receiving my first teaching certificate from a legit university that offered a two-year transition from your career to teacher certification. In other words, I'm old (45) and am hitting the streets in a new career that I love and in which I think I'm very good for a newbie. How do I get a job? What do I put on my resume? What are the buzz words? What do I do with my unusual education situation? I had a 20 year career in non-profit management and some of those skills do directly transfer into a classroom. Can anyone help?
Thanks.

[Chef Dave]

Hi,
I am receiving my first teaching certificate from a legit university that offered a two-year transition from your career to teacher certification. In other words, I'm old (45) and am hitting the streets in a new career that I love and in which I think I'm very good for a newbie. How do I get a job? What do I put on my resume? What are the buzz words? What do I do with my unusual education situation? I had a 20 year career in non-profit management and some of those skills do directly transfer into a classroom. Can anyone help?
Thanks.

At age 47, I've started my 3rd career as a chef instructor of a high school culinary arts program. This is my first year working as a chef instructor. Before that I was in the food service industry for several years ... and before that I was an elementary teacher.

How do you get a job?

1) Decide how mobile you are. Jobs abound for teachers in this country - particularly if you're willing to relocate. Google search for teacher jobs on the internet and dozens of teacher recruitment sites and individual districts will come up.

2) If you want to stay within your local area, identify all of the local school districts. Most districts now have websites. Look up each district on a website. Many have downloadable application forms. Some will even allow you to apply on site.

3) If you're available now, given the lateness of the school year, start looking for a substitute teaching job. Working as a substitute teacher will give you valuable hands-on experience. It will also give you a glimpse of individual schools within a district. As you develop experience, you will also become known to the building administrator and if you do well, this will become a plus when it comes time for the administrator to hire new teachers.

What are the buzz words?

It depends upon what your prior experience was. Prior experience can sometimes tie in to looking for a job in a new career. For example, even though I am in my first year as a culinary arts instructor, I have 17 years experience as an elementary teacher and a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Although not directly related to secondary teaching, the prior teaching experience and the advanced degrees were a plus.

I also just came out of the food service industry and have real and relevant experience with both the food service and the hospitality industry. This was also a plus.

I had a 20 year career in non-profit management and some of those skills do directly transfer into a classroom.

Again - that depends on your area of certification. What will you be teaching? If you're going to be teaching business, you'll find a lot more correlations than you would if you went into kindgergarten.

[Chef Dave]

If you have not already done so, update your resume and develop a portfolio.

Your portfolio should include a copy of your resume and transcripts. It should highlight any accomplishments in your previous career that directly relate to teaching. Include copies of lesson plans and recommendations from former supervisors and/or professors.

Learn how to use a portfolio properly. Most teachers do not properly use their portfolios. They put together a marvelous scrapbook and wait to be invited to put on a show and tell presentation by the interviewing administrator. Many administrators will deliberately not notice the scrapbook just to see what applicants do.

The proper way to use a portfolio is to use it as an illustratory tool during the interview.

When asked about your creativity as a teacher, talk about lessons you wrote as a student teacher. USE THE PORTFOLIO to show sample lessons and/or pictures of your lesson in progress.

When asked whether or not you regard yourself as an organized person, DEMONSTRATE your organizational skills. Describe some of your relevant prior career experiences and USE THE PORTFOLIO to illustrate this. Use of the portfolio by itself will help demonstrate organization provided you have tabbed your pages and know where to look.