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How can college students prepare for their careers prior to being hired?
I am a high school student aspiring to become a high school teacher. #teaching
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5 answers
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Sean’s Answer
Prior to selecting my college major, I spent time shadowing and talking to professionals in that field to have a complete picture of the type of work that profession does. This helped me make confirm the major where I had an interest connected to work that looked interesting to me. I do think talking to and shadowing professionals in your field of study is an important step to selecting an area of study for college.
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alan’s Answer
One of the ways you could gain experiences that would prepare you for teaching is to travel the world. A brad understanding of different cultures brings depth and color to educating students. A fellow teacher of mine spent a year traveling and volunteering in Africa. His wealth of experiences enabled him to share multiple intriguing stories as part of his lessons. The kids ate it up.
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Francisco J.’s Answer
This is a great question! Experience is very important, but that doesn’t have to be in the form of a job. As someone who wants to go into teaching it is great to gain experience in roles where you interact with kids. This could be through a summer camp counselor, volunteering at an after school program, being a teaching assistant on campus, etc.
I believe before you do these things is to do some research too online on what skills and experiences are needed. Speak to your current teachers and ask questions to seek advice. You learn so much by talking to others.
Then once you have an idea of what opportunities you may be able to do, then I recommend taking full advantage of your university career center to work on your resume and utilize free resources.
I believe before you do these things is to do some research too online on what skills and experiences are needed. Speak to your current teachers and ask questions to seek advice. You learn so much by talking to others.
Then once you have an idea of what opportunities you may be able to do, then I recommend taking full advantage of your university career center to work on your resume and utilize free resources.
Thank you so much for your answer! I have actually been a summer camp counselor and aftercare supervisor for several years, so that makes me feel better!
Emmalyn
As a teacher who worked and volunteered a lot with kids in camp and after-school settings in high school and college, I agree. If you like being a camp counselor and working in aftercare, you know that you like children (and that children like you)! The one big difference between doing those kinds of jobs and being a teacher is that as a teacher, you have to work within a system that holds you accountable for getting kids to learn specific content and standards. You have less freedom, but you still get the joy of working with kids.
Justine Brunett
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Kelsey’s Answer
Great question! During college (or even starting in high school), I would recommend volunteering or shadowing in the career path you are interested in pursuing. I would also find ways to connect with professionals in the current field and ask them for advice and what they did to get to where they are. Once you are in college, I would be sure to pursue internship opportunities to get experience in your field of choice. If you wish to become a teacher, many college teaching degrees have student teaching as part of their program. I would make sure to pick a school that includes student teaching as part of their course requirements if that is important to you to have experience before you start working. Good luck with everything and I hope this helps!
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Jessie’s Answer
I think prior to be hired, and even before deciding to apply for schooling towards a career, everyone should try to volunteer or shadow in the field... whether it's nursing or welding or computercoding . Workplaces can be very different from the way schooling and the media make a career seem.... especially in healthcare .
Shadowing is always a good start to understand what a job entails. Most of the time, the work being done is mundane. But there are specific accomplishments that gives you the satisfaction of a job well done. Those moments make it all worth it.
Reyaadh Hakim