Anyone make a career change to teaching?

I was wondering what type of certification I would need. My mom is a HS teacher on LI and is going to ask her colleagues that work in the Business Dept-- I have worked in Advertising/Marketing the past 9 years-- so, I figure I can use some life experience towards credits and this would be my area of focus. I am sick of corporate america, but still love advertising, so I think this would be a feasible career move.

Just wondering if anyone recently had researched this and had any tips. I know that certification varies depending on what level you teach-- I would want to teach HS.

Thanks!

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Hey there,

I am in NJ not NY but I worked in advertising for 5 years and recently began the process to switch. If you have a bachelor's degree, you can definitely become a substitute. But I am finding it hard to get a regular teaching job without certification. I have my certificate of eligibility (CE) in NJ which means I can be in the classroom but the problem is, no one will hire me w.out classroom experience...makes sense. I was offered a teacher assistant position but it paid $10/hr and my DH and I decided we just couldnt take the pay cut. What I figured out that I have to do is go for my Masters in Ed..I am applying for a program that gives me my student teaching after 18 credits, certification after 30 credits and the MA after completing all 45 credits. Without the Masters, the only thing I can do is sub or be a TA. FM me if you have any questions! I know there are a few of us on LIW/LIF who have done this...

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

I made the switch from Accounting to Math Ed.

I didn't have much experience, but what I had to do was get a masters in the field of interest and i needed some extra math classes here and there.

The process was really pretty easy. I finished my masters from Dowling in less than a year. Started in October finished in July.

You are going to have to student teach, will you be able to not work? That is the toughest part. My DH wants to become a teacher now, he is starting to hate accounting, but we can't pull it off with him not working.

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

thanks guys so much!

I actually live in NJ-- but in Hoboken--so I really can go anywhere in metro NJ/NY/LI. All of my "teacher connections" are on LI-- so I might want to focus there in terms of trying to get a job in the future.

How do you figure out what classes you need and what certs are needed for the state and subject you want to teach??

I think I could handle student teaching and getting a part-time job doing something-- as long as I knew it was temporary and it would lead to a more regular paying job.

Oh- and what was your time in between quitting your job and actually getting into a school? And how do you find jobs and get hooked up with a school?

Thanks so much--

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Hi!

I live in NJ and am in the process of filing for NJ certification. I got a masters degree in Elem. Education (which includes student teaching). Next, I took the Praxis II Exam (www.ets.org is where you would go to register). You also have to eventually get fingerprinted. In NJ, you can only get this done if you are going to be subbing or working in a school. You can't just randomly go to a police station and get this done. You can also contact the NJ Board of Ed for more info. 609-292-2070.

I finished student teaching at the end of December 2005 and am now subbing and trying to find fulltime work. I quit my job at the end of August.

Also, subbing in NJ is a process. They will ask you for transcripts. If you are not certified, you have to apply for a substitute certificate. You will also need to get things notarized and you will need to get a mantoux shot. You will need to get fingerprinted/have a background check. They may also ask you for references and an interview. After all of these things, you are most likely going to have to get board approved. Just letting you know that if you decide to sub, you probably will not be subbing immediately. It takes a while to fill out all of the paperwork/process.

Oh..forgot to mention..if you look in NJ..I have been going on NJ.com and just been randomly sending my resume to schools all over the area.

I am also finishing up my certification for NY State. I took the LAST...taking the ATS-W for elementary..you would need to take it for Secondary Ed, and than the last test is the CST. After two years of teaching experience, I believe you have to take the ATS-P. I know that you need at least two sciences, two maths, and two language classes (taken during your undergraduate study) in order to get certified for Elementary, not sure what's needed to for Secondary.

I think your best bet is to call up a college and speak with a counselor in the Education department. They can def. fill you in on all the requirements and how to get started..


Good luck!

Message edited 2/20/2006 12:31:44 PM.

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

thanks so much for the details--

So basically, where do I start?? What's the first step- should I call the Bd of Ed and just go from there?

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

My father was a independant sales rep for men's apparel from the time I was born until I was a freshman in college. He was really tired of what he was doing- and heard an advertisment for the NYC BOE on the radio. They were saying how you dont neccessarily have to have an education degree to teach- so he called them up, and met with someone there. After reviewing his college transcripts, they determined that he was qualified to teach junior high or high school math. He went to college and graduated with his degree in finance. He is now teaching 8th grade math in a wonderful school- and has been teaching for about 5 years now. He absolutely loves it! The NYC BOE has given him many opportunities to get his masters in education- and he is now going to school for free for his masters. He will get it in a year thru Hunter College. I will tell you that he is making significantly less than he did when he was in sales, but he feels that this job is much more rewarding- and could care less about the money. Let me know if you have any questions!!

-Liz

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

I did, but I'm back in my old profession (at a lower level) because it was hard for me to find a f/t position and I couldn't live off of a sub's salary. My BIL was a business owner and became a HS business teacher and it was the best change of his life. He is SO much happier and loves his career. I suggest looking at the requirements online and then visiting with the college of your choice to speak with an advisor. Good Luck!

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Randi - on LI, you will most likely not be able to sub if you are not certified. If you want to get certified the fastest way, you would want to go through the NYC BOE - they have different programs like Teachers of Tomorrow where you teach and go to school at the same time.

If you want to go the traditional route, it would pretty much be contacting one of the grad schools that have ed programs (Hofstra, Post, Adelphi, etc) and comparing the programs, your requirements, etc.
Good luck!

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Thanks everyone for your feedback--

Tonight when I get out of my sweatshop, aka my job, I will go online and take a look at all the DOE sites.

I did check out the Teaching Fellows that NYC provides and the deadline was Feb 13th.. So, I am not too late-- but I gotta get my app in!

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

So I was talking to my mom tonight and she told me that those NYC programs are not generally in the best of areas, and then you are required to work in certain schools for a certain period of time. She did not recommend it.

Therefore-- I think I would just have to go the old fashioned route if this is something I actually did..

I do have a question though-- I am very specific about what I want to teach-- I want to use my professional experience to teach marketing and advertising to HS students. I took marketing in HS and was in DECA and competed, etc. and it had a major effect on what I wanted to do as a career.

My mom teaches an elective and she told me it's all a numbers game- and that the Business classes in her HS are not pulling very high numbers-- I am afraid that if I did in fact take the time to get my masters-- then I would have a hard time finding the right kind of job for me..

What do you think?

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

I think that it would be very hard to dictate what you wanted to teach as a business teacher. It's true that as a whole, there are less and less business teachers/departments around in high schools. Yes, depending on the school - some still have pretty big departments. But the demand is getting less, I think mainly due to the change in regents requirements for graduation. There used to be something called sequences, which were combinations of classes that students could use in order to meet grad requirements. Many of those sequences included business classes, hence the need for more of them.
NY State has changed regents requirements and there are no longer sequences - there are just straight class requirements - and there are no business requirements.

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Hey Randi,

Just FMd you back

I agree with MrsWask - I have my undergrad in Business and considered teaching Business to jr high and HS - but the jobs just aren't there as much as general ed jobs.

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

yeah- it feels like I would really need the right opportunity and have a school that would be willing to be flexible with me. Not so easy..

Ok-- I guess I need another career change idea.

Re: Anyone make a career change to teaching?

Honestly, like others have said - finding a business position on LI is very, very tough. I also made the switch from accounting to education. With my CPA and MBA, teaching business would have been a no-brainer - but Dowling said that certificate isn't worth the paper it is printed on. I went the next logical route - math - and had a full-time job within 1 month of graduation. I know in my middle school there is only 1 business teacher - and her schedule is only 3/5 business and 2/5 math. The HS has, I believe, only 2 business teachers in total. And they are required to follow the NYS curriculum - just like any other subject. You would not be able to just do your other thing.