Spencer Long
Vania Castro
William Cope
Kara Francis
Sol Roberts-Lieb
Emily White
Yulia Cook
Matthew Montebello
Trischa Duke
Kristin Szydelko
Ryan Bartelmay
Sonia EstimaLDL Students and Alumni’s Updates
Career Dev: Summary of Questions from our session on 1/31/2022
Here are some topics that came up on our call last night. We'd love to hear everyone's input. Some of these are similar to existing threads.
- Currently in higher ed instructional design space, but interested to move into workforce development ID space
- Getting into higher ed and how to move from P-12 to Higher Ed; how to get experience
- Looking to move into academia full time, looking to make connections
- Job ideas of what to do when we finish with the EdD and ready to transition out of K-12
- What can I do to be proactive as a new EdD student? I want to be prepared and not wait until graduation.
- What type of research should we be conducting if we are looking into higher ed either as a faculty and/or leading a student teacher or similar program
- What are some elective areas or courses targeted at K-12 educators who want to stay there?
- What are some elective areas or courses targeted at K-12 educators who want to move to higher ed or a corporate or non-profit space?
- General career development tips.
Hi all--sorry I couldn't make it last night, but here are some responses to these (some others I have responded to in previous threads):
1. I would strongly recommend doing a lot of networking (https://grad.illinois.edu/careers/info-int), which will help you learn how to translate what you've been doing in higher ed to a new context--and build you a web of relationships who can refer you for jobs. Also consider joining professional organizations that aren't just higher ed-focused.
2. See comment on existing thread.
4. Saw this yesterday and thought it might apply: https://www.wsj.com/articles/teachers-are-quitting-and-companies-are-hot-to-hire-them-11643634181. Also, take a look at an article I wrote about using job ads for career exploration: https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2017/04/03/examining-various-jobs-ads-can-help-you-explore-your-career-essay
5. Join student groups. Choose projects for your class that challenge you to develop new skills or get experience in a new area of interest. Start networking (https://grad.illinois.edu/careers/info-int) before you are actively job searching, when it can do the most good.
6. More quantitative analysis experience could be useful, as could anything related to program evaluation/assessment. Also explore what some of the key problems/issues in higher education are that interest you (student retention, diversity, workforce development, loans and financial aid, etc.), and choose projects that will give you some experience there that you can talk about in cover letters and interviews.
9. My biggest tip is to be creative--use informational interviews and other career research to explore areas that are new to you, so that you can imagine your future in new ways. Book like this one (https://designingyour.life/designing-your-new-work-life/) can help.
Feel free to ask follow ups or for anything you need!