1. Why did you choose this particular career?A career in education is one among the most attractive opportunities anyone would want to pursue in life. There are many reasons why I chose to pursue a career in education. Foremost, I am naturally passionate about serving people. Teaching and guiding people and especially young people can be particularly pleasurable (Edelfelt & Reiman, 2004). I really get motivated knowing that I am making a difference in the life of an individual. Through teaching, I will be in a position to make life defining changes in the lives of students. What’s more is the reality that, unlike other careers, an educational career is characterized by the breaks that many long for. For instance, the breaks that come with weekends, summer and holidays, are motivational.
2. What personality characteristics are likely required for this career? How does your own personality match/not match?There are many personal traits that define a successful career in education. The foremost personal trait is humility. Being humble means that a person has to be ready to be corrected, ready to accept criticism and ready to correct their faults without forcing others to see the essence of their personal pride (Lock, 2005). Humility is essential in educational careers because for one to make children understand what he is teaching, he or she ought to come down to the level of the students. Patience is another key trait in this career. Teaching calls for a lot of patience because it deals with people that comprehend concepts at different rates. Slow learners need a patient teacher for maximal understanding. Kindness and respect are as well important because a teacher is a role model to students and must exhibit such traits. It is quite fortunate that I posses all the above traits, with the most prominent being humility.
3. What education/training is required for this career ? What is your plan for achieving this education/training?
4. What skills do you currently process that will be helpful in this career? Which skills do you think you will have to work the hardest to develop?In furtherance of my efforts towards becoming a successful teacher, I realize that I must possess some classes of skills. Currently, I have evaluated myself, and come to the realization that I possess exceptional communication skills. Teaching is mainly a communicative process where the parties involved – the teacher and the students – communicate through continuous learning processes. Speaking of strong communication skills, active listening and thoughtful speaking are the most noteworthy aspects. I am a keen listener, who will be able to listen to children when assessing their learning capacities. In addition to communication skills, I have strong planning skills, which are imperative in making lesson plans and organizing the teaching tasks which run through the semester. Research indicates that planning skills are associated with strong leadership skills.
5. What is the outlook for this career? In terms of salary? Position available? Future possibilities?I posses strong team building and leadership skills. These will bring out the role model in me. I, however, need to work on my conflict resolution skills since children in modern day schools are prone to conflicts inspired by the spirit of bullying – a vice that has emerged as one of the most serious public health concerns in the United States. In terms of pay, the career is quite attractive. According to available statistics, the lowest paying state gave $34000 to the teachers (Reeves & Gunzenhauser, 2012). This is not bad at all especially considering the fact the economic crisis facing the world currently is only favorable for the well-off class. In terms of availability, there are currently very many positions because education is getting embraced by the day, and the schooling population is remarkably expanding. Education has a great future, especially considering that globalization and technology have taken education to the international scene, meaning that education is the career of the future.
6. What do you think you will like most about this career? What do you except you will like the least?In my opinion, I think I will really love helping the children. Helping and guiding people are my most notable hobbies. It goes without saying that a person that has a passion for working with people will always love helping other people grow. I will enjoy the fact that I will assist the students make a difference in their lives using education as the primary tool. Everyone loves to be a mentor. Since I am not an exception to this preference, I will enjoy working as a teacher while mentoring the children and counseling them in making the right career choices. I think the thing that I will not enjoy is the aspect of dealing with conflicts among children. As mentioned earlier, I am not good at conflict resolution.
7. In relations to your career, where do you see yourself in five years? In ten years?
In conclusion, I will do all that it takes to achieve my robust career plan. I would like to see many people join this career as it is quite an interesting one. In the next five years, I suppose that I will have stabilized my career. I will have become conversant with the needs of and the challenges to expect in educational careers. In the next five years, I will probably be in the quest for wealth accumulation. In the next ten years, I will probably be a parent, with my own home and personal property. I will be guiding young adults considering joining this noble career.
References
Edelfelt, R. A., & Reiman, A. (2004). Careers in education. Chicago, IL: VGM Career Books.
Lock, R. D. (2005). Taking charge of your career direction. Belmont, CA, USA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Reeves, D. L., & Gunzenhauser, K. (2012). Career ideas for teens in education and training. New York: Ferguson's.
Rothwell, W. J., Wang, A. W., & Payne, T. D. (2005). Career planning and succession management: Developing your organization's talent ; for today and tomorrow. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers.
