jobs working with kids

[jenny_k]

well i have thought about teaching before, but i think i would be better in an individual or small group environment. i really want to do something great with kids. mostly the adolescent-young adult age. while i think education is great, i would like to do more with inspiring, improving self-esteem, motivating.. i guess counseling in a way.

i have a BA in economics. i loved what i learned and the whole college experience. I am not fit for the business world however. i value relationships more than the bottom line. im not comfortable in the monkeysuit. or in a cube farm. not to belittle those who enjoy that. it just is not my style. i will do it if i have to of course, to pay the bills.. but am not very enthusiastic and run out of energy fast in those areas.

but i am trying to gain insight as to what kinds of jobs/titles/careers are out there dealing with youth? would there be something i am not aware of that maybe i wouldnt have to go back to school for? or if i did, maybe something that wouldnt be another 4 years? im not worried about making tons of bucks. i just want to feel like i am doing something meaningful for others.

of course, i could always do it part time and spread it out over the years.. but looking for some brainstorming here...

thanks!! :)

[wordsmith]

Feel free to read any posts of mine, but since there are a ton, I'll share some here.

I, too, am not a business-oriented person at heart...my real strength lies in helping, educating, and mentoring others, so I've always leaned more toward the direct service end of human serives type fields. I've also always had an affinity for kids, and maintain good rapport with them, and have always found myself respected by them. It came naturally to me that I should look into teaching. I have always been a lover of English, theatre, literature, and the humanties overall, so I decided that I would obtain a degree in teaching language arts to middle and high school students. I received my BA in English and secondary education.

By my senior year, I was ready to begin my student teaching. I hated it. I loved working with kids, but only felt effective in small group settings, and one-on-one. I'd done a lot of practicum experience where I did individual tutoring with kids who were gifted and kids who were learning disabled and kids who were ESL and kids who were in an alternative, last-chance type school setting. I really loved these more specialized ways of working with youth and education. But I didn't love the traditional classroom. At the time, I spoke at length with my advisors, did a lot of soul searching, since I was pretty miserable, but nobody really talked to me about possible ways I could work in settings using these preferences and skills. I graduated thinking that teaching was simply not for me, and I pursued other avenues.

I spent several years as a youth outreach worker, mentor, and director of youth programs for an inner city nonprofit, which I first found through a year-long urban service corps volunteer program. Eventually, I worked for them for a salary, although I was initially a stipended volunteer. In this capacity, I designed and implemented a grassroots neighborhood tutoring and mentoring program, focusing on providing academic assistance, and safe, healthy activities for at-risk kids in a gang-heavy 'hood. I also partnered with a social worker and the city's public schools to help act as an informational and social programs recource for families of the kids we worked with.

Then, I went to work for quite a few years as a community journalist, telling people's stories. I did a lot of advocacy-type writing, and a lot of education coverage.

I found my way back to education in a meaningful way in the past year. I got a position at a private school that is very unique in structure. It is specialized, individualized education for children with pervasive developmental delays. Most, but not all, of our students have autism spectrum disorders, and have not been able to achieve success in a traditional school setting. We offer one-to-one education. Every student at our school has his or her own teacher, who works exclusively with him and her and her specific needs and goals, working toward getting the student to the highest level of independence possible. It's really ideal for me, since I've always preferred the one-to-one approach and special challenges.

All of these jobs have been incredibly personally fulfilling. None of them have paid very much at all. Enough to get by, not enough to get significantly ahead, for most people. But it's a tradeoff that works, at least for me. Not all of them require specialization (because the school I work for now is private, not public, it actually doesn't require an education degree, although those on staff not holding one are required to have worked with disabled people in group home or residential settings or the like, you do have to have some experience if you don't have the specific training. But many programs working with kids do not require specific educational backgrounds outside of having a degree of some kind. The important thing is the desire to do the job and the affinity for young people, which people tend to either have or not, it's not generally something you learn.

From what you describe, mentoring and outreach might be good fits. Working on positive role modeling, leadership, self image issues, building positive relationships, confidence-building, etc. are all things that quite a few nonprofits focus on. Nonprofits, especially small ones, get hit just as hard, if not harder, than anybody else in recessions, though, so it may be harder to find something now than other times, but it shouldn't be impossible. Larger, nationally reaching orgs like YMCA/YWCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, United Way, 4-H, etc. are more economically stable, too, and more likely to have openings at times than the more grassroots programs. But it's worth mentioning the bigger an org is, the more and more it's run like a corporation, so usually, in this field, if you're looking for a more cozy, feel-good atmosphere, smaller is better. But smaller also frequently pays less well, too.

Hope some of this helps. I think I've probably responded to you in the past, so sorry if anything's a repeat.

[jenny_k]

Feel free to read any posts of mine, but since there are a ton, I'll share some here.

I, too, am not a business-oriented person at heart...my real strength lies in helping, educating, and mentoring others, so I've always leaned more toward the direct service end of human serives type fields. I've also always had an affinity for kids, and maintain good rapport with them, and have always found myself respected by them. It came naturally to me that I should look into teaching. I have always been a lover of English, theatre, literature, and the humanties overall, so I decided that I would obtain a degree in teaching language arts to middle and high school students. I received my BA in English and secondary education.

By my senior year, I was ready to begin my student teaching. I hated it. I loved working with kids, but only felt effective in small group settings, and one-on-one. I'd done a lot of practicum experience where I did individual tutoring with kids who were gifted and kids who were learning disabled and kids who were ESL and kids who were in an alternative, last-chance type school setting. I really loved these more specialized ways of working with youth and education. But I didn't love the traditional classroom. At the time, I spoke at length with my advisors, did a lot of soul searching, since I was pretty miserable, but nobody really talked to me about possible ways I could work in settings using these preferences and skills. I graduated thinking that teaching was simply not for me, and I pursued other avenues.

I spent several years as a youth outreach worker, mentor, and director of youth programs for an inner city nonprofit, which I first found through a year-long urban service corps volunteer program. Eventually, I worked for them for a salary, although I was initially a stipended volunteer. In this capacity, I designed and implemented a grassroots neighborhood tutoring and mentoring program, focusing on providing academic assistance, and safe, healthy activities for at-risk kids in a gang-heavy 'hood. I also partnered with a social worker and the city's public schools to help act as an informational and social programs recource for families of the kids we worked with.

Then, I went to work for quite a few years as a community journalist, telling people's stories. I did a lot of advocacy-type writing, and a lot of education coverage.

I found my way back to education in a meaningful way in the past year. I got a position at a private school that is very unique in structure. It is specialized, individualized education for children with pervasive developmental delays. Most, but not all, of our students have autism spectrum disorders, and have not been able to achieve success in a traditional school setting. We offer one-to-one education. Every student at our school has his or her own teacher, who works exclusively with him and her and her specific needs and goals, working toward getting the student to the highest level of independence possible. It's really ideal for me, since I've always preferred the one-to-one approach and special challenges.

All of these jobs have been incredibly personally fulfilling. None of them have paid very much at all. Enough to get by, not enough to get significantly ahead, for most people. But it's a tradeoff that works, at least for me. Not all of them require specialization (because the school I work for now is private, not public, it actually doesn't require an education degree, although those on staff not holding one are required to have worked with disabled people in group home or residential settings or the like, you do have to have some experience if you don't have the specific training. But many programs working with kids do not require specific educational backgrounds outside of having a degree of some kind. The important thing is the desire to do the job and the affinity for young people, which people tend to either have or not, it's not generally something you learn.

From what you describe, mentoring and outreach might be good fits. Working on positive role modeling, leadership, self image issues, building positive relationships, confidence-building, etc. are all things that quite a few nonprofits focus on. Nonprofits, especially small ones, get hit just as hard, if not harder, than anybody else in recessions, though, so it may be harder to find something now than other times, but it shouldn't be impossible. Larger, nationally reaching orgs like YMCA/YWCA, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, United Way, 4-H, etc. are more economically stable, too, and more likely to have openings at times than the more grassroots programs. But it's worth mentioning the bigger an org is, the more and more it's run like a corporation, so usually, in this field, if you're looking for a more cozy, feel-good atmosphere, smaller is better. But smaller also frequently pays less well, too.

Hope some of this helps. I think I've probably responded to you in the past, so sorry if anything's a repeat.


no, you really really helped. thank you. you personality sounds very similar to mine. youve hit me spot one with things i would like to do.

[callyna81]

I work for a non-profit, and one of our areas is financial literacy/counselling. Financial literacy programmes are sometimes targeted to teens moving in to the work world, and with an economics background, and an interest in education (plus the actual real need for people to undergo financial literacy and counselling at the moment) it might be an ok fit

[winneythepooh7]

My first job out of college, I was a youth counselor for teenage girls who had emotional problems/were mandated to a residential treatment facility by the courts.

[jenny_k]

what are good resources to tap into this job market? these are not positions i am likely to see on careerbuilder or monster.com. nothing on there but sales and receptionists.

what would be good ways of finding out where these needs are? for things such as the above mentioned financial literacy or youth counselor?

clearly if im looking for something new, i cant go about it by hunting in the same tired areas...

thanks!

[wordsmith]

idealist.org is one that comes to mind. I had better luck with them, though, when I went to one of their regional sponsored job fairs and gave my resume directly to people. I did score some interviews off the website, too, but had better luck dealing with people face to face.

I got my current job through my community's local philanthropy network job site...maybe there is something similar where you are. My employer used to put all its job postings on the local philanthropy net, but actually in recent months has since moved to also putting them on careerbuilder in order to get more applicants, so you never know.

[winneythepooh7]

Check out socialservice.com and also look to see if your area has a site that lists all the local social service agencies and what they do by category. Most agencies nowadays have some kind of website up that you can find out info about an agency as well as if their hiring/HR info.

I also have noticed that places like diners and CVS/RiteAid/grocery stores have employment guides that are published every couple of weeks that tend to list entry-level job listings for the human service fields.