Great benefits, weekends and summers free, normal workdays, and a challenging environment sound like a great career in education employment, doesn’t it? Education employment is a recession proof career choice and a very sought after profession in today’s age. What exactly do you need to do to get into this field? What can you do to set yourself apart from the other education employment candidates? And, what exactly are the benefits, the pay, the hours and duties of someone within educational employment?
What exactly does it mean to be in the field of education employment? First and foremost, being an educator or being in the education employment field does not necessarily mean a K-12 schoolteacher. There are many ways to be involved in education employment. Some of the ways of being involved in the education employment career field which are slightly non-traditional roles. Examples of non-traditional education employment are teachers for hire by businesses to train their employees, colleges also employ educators, literacy coaches are educators and there is an organization which employs parents as teachers also.
Description for Education Employment
Education employment is a career as a teacher of some kind in an institution of many sorts. Most commonly, this would be a school offering K-12 classes. The standard job summary for an individual in education employment would be some of the following, but most certainly would not be limited to: preparing exams and giving homework, grading exams and homework, teaching a class as a whole yet still giving each individual child the specific attention they need, keeping order in the classroom, going to school staff meetings, keeping track of students attendance and progress in the classroom, documenting the students progress, talking to students and helping them with personal problems, make lesson plans and map out their presentation, talk to parents of the students on a regular basis, arrange and schedule special things like field trips and upgrade teaching style and methods when needed based on the newest teaching trends.
The education needed to become a part of the education employment field would be an undergraduate degree in either education or the selected field the individual would be teaching. For example, some states allow individuals to teach a specialized field, such as journalism. If they have a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism then this would be sufficient to teach journalism. Some states would allow an individual with a degree in mathematics to become a math teacher. Oftentimes junior colleges and community colleges will hire an individual with a master’s degree in a specialized field. This individual would teach at the junior college or community college with only the master’s degree.
Job duties of an individual in education employment, roles and responsibilities and job vary depending on the specific job that one is hired to do. Required professional skills to become an educator are numerous. An individual would need to be articulate, intellectually curious, and a good communicator to be an educator. Additionally, one wanting to become involved in education employment would need to have the ability to scholarly or knowledgeable traits. It is a necessary professional skill for a good educator to be a role model for their students.
Education Employment Career
There are two different career paths an individual may take in education employment. One path would be to obtain an undergraduate degree, begin teaching at a school, and maybe move around within the school district. The other career path for an individual in education employment would be to obtain an undergraduate degree as well as a master’s degree in education. These two degrees are often accompanied by a PH.D in education also. These extra degrees allow the individual to work as an educator, become a principal or even eventually become a superintendent. There is also a career path for educational employment which would be in the realm of a community college or college professor. This career path would follow an advanced degree and many years of experience. There are opportunities in education employment to specialize as well. One could specialize in mathematics, English, art, English as a second language, technology or an individual could even specialize in German.
As an educator, one is required to continuously renew their knowledge and to read and study up on the most recent happenings of their field. Educators are required to participate in and obtain a certain number of continuing education credits annually.
Employment competition is not as rampant in the education employment career as it is in many other careers.
Salary and Benefits for Education Employment
The salary for an education employment position will vary from school to school and state to state. In some areas a teacher fresh out of undergrad would make just $22,000. In other areas an educator just out of undergrad may start at $40,000. The salary caps vary as much as the beginning salaries do. A seasoned educator in some areas of the country may make upwards of $100,000 while other teachers may cap out their district’s salary range at $50,000. Education employment benefits are very good. Almost every education employment position will offer a complete benefits package with top of the line health insurance, life insurance, FMLA, short term and long term disability, maternity leave packages, 401K and retirement investing. Education employment positions have traditionally been one of the best careers for offering benefits.
Worldwide educator’s salaries and benefits vary as well. More advanced countries with highly sophisticated school systems pay educators similarly to the higher paid educators in the United States. Third-world countries oftentimes have volunteers as educators. They cannot afford to pay their teachers.
Opportunities for Education Employment
Opportunities for education employment have always been very good. Even in times of economic strife the opportunities for education employment have always looked positive. There are opportunities for education employment in elementary schools, secondary schools, community colleges, state universities, specialized institutions, ESL institutions, businesses, and there are ‘parents as teachers’ organizations as well.
Agencies and resources for Education Employment
Many states have online resources they use when looking to hire an educator. Missouri schools, for example, use an online agency called MOREAP. Many school districts will not accept an application from an educator seeking employment unless they are registered with MOREAP. Several other states in the country follow this same guideline. Many states education employment opportunities are sought through the superintendent’s administration office also.
Conclusion Education Employment
A career in education employment would be a very stable career with an extremely thorough benefits package. A career in education employment is recession proof as people will always need educators.
