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When you were a kid and you were asked what you wanted to be when you grew up, did you say you wanted to be a teacher?
One of us, Giovana, did so, and I became one of them. After completing my bachelor’s degree in English and English Literature, I immediately started working as an English teacher. I taught for 5 years and then decided to go back to school. I earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in linguistics. I continued teaching for two more years. Three years after receiving my PhD, I work in academic administration and still use the skills I gained through my education.
Another of us, Victoria, found her own answers to the questions: first as a baker, then as a writer, then as a teacher. This was my first full-time job after completing my Ph.D. World History combines management and teaching, including supervision of staff and instructors. When I first joined the company, I struggled with personnel management. I was nervous about confrontation because I hadn’t been trained for it. At the same time, I saw growth in my teaching approach. As a new teaching assistant, I was afraid to give honest feedback to students who were struggling, but I found myself learning from them the importance of building trust and transparency. . Coaching instructors and staff. By cultivating trust and transparency through regular feedback, I shifted my perspective to see critical feedback as a growth opportunity for both me and the students/staff/instructors I was teaching.
In your graduate program, you may have gained a lot of teaching experience as a recording instructor or teaching assistant. In conversations with students and postdocs, I realized that many were unsure about how their experience would translate to industry job requirements. In this article, I’ll share guidance on how to use my own teaching experience to articulate a host of skills that are useful for a variety of potential roles, rather than simply teaching by putting a few sentences on your resume. Transferable skills in areas such as leadership, communication, and problem solving are widely recognized as important for success in almost any career. Because work experience can be more difficult to pinpoint and link than some technical skills with formal training, we look at key aspects of education and how to translate them into transferable skills. Provide advice.
Classroom Management → Human Resource Management/Leadership. There is an old Serbian saying: “Working with people is the best, but most difficult of all jobs.” There are very few jobs that don’t require some degree of collaboration with others. Working with and successfully managing groups of people requires a sophisticated level of leadership, management and organizational skills, as well as confidence, self-awareness and humility. Many non-academic professional employers are looking for exactly these characteristics.
In graduate school, most students do not have the opportunity to directly supervise others. However, if the job you are applying for involves supervision, be sure to cite your classroom experience when answering this requirement. Through your education, you have moved multiple people from different backgrounds and skills toward a common goal. Teaching awards provide tangible evidence of your skills. Find out if your institution offers teaching awards for teaching assistants and ask instructors with whom you have worked as a TA if they would consider appointing you. Even if you don’t win the teaching award, you can still say things like: “I am energized by working with people. It has been a pleasure and a great opportunity to teach from small to large classes throughout my PhD/MSc/postdoc years.” Administrative Skills and to demonstrate leadership skills. ”
Syllabus construction → project management. During your graduate studies, you may have had the opportunity to serve as a recording instructor and take responsibility for an entire class. This may have included creating your own syllabus. If you’ve worked in this role before, draw on that experience to talk about your ability to do high-order thinking, long-term planning, and conceptualizing projects from start to finish, with evaluation points along the way. I, Giovana, have always felt that creating a syllabus is a good opportunity to practice scalability. Because you need to be able to determine what is achievable and where you need to cut or add. It requires anticipating and anticipating the many issues that may need to be addressed. For example, when I taught writing to first-year college students, I always planned one or two classes to cover a topic in more depth if needed, without moving away from other topics. Teacher and student evaluation → self-reflection. Being able to reflect on your work and strive to improve is something most employers value. At least the good ones will! As a TA, you may have invited (or been asked to invite) colleagues to observe your class and provide feedback on your teaching. Being able to receive feedback about your performance and respond to it constructively is an important skill that demonstrates a growth mindset and a desire to improve performance. You can use student evaluations to discuss your experience with performance evaluations, how you responded to evaluations, and the interventions you implemented based on the feedback you received.
Additionally, as part of my teaching, whether I was a TA or a recording instructor, I had to evaluate the work of others and give them feedback on their strengths and areas for growth. When thinking about translating your own teaching skills, give students regular feedback in the same way that you give feedback to supervisors with guidelines for transparency, attention to personal priorities and goals, and facilitation. Be clear about how you can give constructive feedback. personal learning and growth.
Classroom assignments → problem solving. It is not uncommon to encounter challenges such as academic dishonesty, disruptive behavior, and miscommunication within the classroom. How you address these challenges will determine your ability to find effective solutions. Remember that problem solving involves knowing when to seek help and guidance from the appropriate sources. Don’t be afraid to share a difficult situation (be careful not to give away confidential information or violate anyone’s privacy) and explain how you dealt with it. Emphasizing what you learned from it is just as important as how well you overcame the situation.
For example, when I, Victoria, was interviewing for a role, I used the case of a student in my class who plagiarized as a problem-solving example. I explained how I approached the problem by first being transparent about it, asking questions about the students’ experiences in the class and their approach to the paper, and actively listening. This uncovered the external personal factors that were impacting student learning in my class, allowed us to move the discussion in a productive direction, recalibrate expectations, and provide resources for support ( Writing Centers, etc.), and I was finally able to plan and set goals. For paper correction.
As part of my classroom teaching and management, I learned how to effectively navigate systems and work with people with different priorities, perspectives, and backgrounds. The ability to communicate effectively with a variety of constituencies is a great skill to emphasize.
So what does your educational experience actually look like when translated into a job application? In your job posting, identify the key skills and experience required and highlight what you have gained through your education. Match. You can include those skills in your resume, curriculum vitae, and cover letter. Remember to show as well as tell. For example, you can include a statement that you are good at problem solving, communication, and management. Even better, you can demonstrate these skills through examples.
This is my own (Jovana): When I was a TA, I invited one of my professors to observe my class and give me feedback on my teaching. My lesson plan for the day included a lot of technology use, but I completely failed that day. Nothing worked. After trying for 5 minutes, I admitted that I had a problem that I couldn’t solve right away and didn’t want to waste any more class time. I redirected and taught the class using different methods and activities. Teachers who observed classes were impressed by the following points:
I tried to resolve technology issues, but the issues never affected my classes. I acknowledged the problem and moved on. I had a backup plan in place to be able to deliver lessons.
Depending on the requirements of the job, I use this example to not only explain my skills, but also to demonstrate them. You should use this strategy not only in your job application, but also in your interview.
Finally, please note that we recognize that you may not have the opportunity to completely design and teach a course on your own. However, you may also engage in other educational opportunities, such as serving as a TA, participating in educational workshops or certification programs, or collaborating with organizations that host symposiums and lectures, and may You can also acquire corresponding parallel skills such as:
Don’t get caught up in having the exact type of experience in the type of industry you’re looking to break into. Think about what kind of signal your experience sends to employers. One example we often use when considering resumes is when we see someone who has worked at a youth camp. It immediately shows that they probably have good leadership, management, and crisis response skills that are really valuable in many jobs. We know that you, too, can use your educational experience to demonstrate how you can be a great member of your new work community.
Jovana Milosavljevic Ardeljan (she/her) is the Director of Career, Professional, and Community Development at the University of New Hampshire Graduate School, where she conducts research, develops programs, and teaches professional development and communication skills to graduate students and postdocs. . Path to career diversification.
Victoria Hallinan (she/her) is a program manager in the Yale University Office of Postdoctoral Research and co-leader of SPHERE, a community of practice aimed at supporting non-biomedical postdoctoral researchers through the sharing and creation of resources and programming.
They are both members of the National Postdoctoral Association and the Graduate Career Consortium. The Graduate Careers Consortium is an organization that provides an international voice for graduate-level career and professional development leaders.
