My search for job openings in my community or county did not go well. I did not find one job opening for a Early Childhood Educator of any types, much less one with a Master’s degree. This was very discouraging. However, as I was researching online I found several job opportunities in state and governmental jobs and even jobs overseas!
The first site that I visited in my county was the Partnership for children. They offered no employment opportunities on their site. I then searched the SmartStart organization. I know that we have a Pre-K program in our county and in the years when I worked for the program it was administered by the SmartStart program. I did not find anything about the Pre-K program on their page, however there was a link for employment opportunities. So I clicked the link and followed it. On the next page there were several options for state positions. Here I found two job opportunities that I felt I might be qualified for. The first was a SmartStart Learning Community Director. This job entailed developing classes for employees to take in an online environment and working with computer programmers to develop a chat room and discussion board where employees could respond. Ultimately, the director would be developing classes and maintaining the assignments and grades for the employees. They would also be responsible as a contact person for log in information, etc. The requirement was a Master’s degree in Early Childhood, experience in online classroom management and development, organization and implementation of a curriculum and at least 3 years experience in leadership. The second employment opportunity was a Project Manager for a Race to the Top grant. The candidate would be responsible for administering the funding and meeting all of the qualifications of the grant. They have to coordinate programs to meet the qualifications and ensure that all aspects are met. A Master’s degree in a related field, experience in early childhood programs, and extensive knowledge of early childhood program history is required. Both of these jobs were on the state level.
The Office of Health and Human Services website I found an employment opportunity for a Grant Reviewer. I thought this was an awesome job opportunity. Perhaps it is because I long for a quiet environment at the moment to hear myself think, but this is an opportunity to review grants to see if they meet the requirements for funding. The requirements are that you have expertise in the area in which you select. You must have a four year degree or further to apply, and you should have an area of expertise that you can demonstrate through references on a resume. If selected you have 6 weeks to review grants that are at least 3,000 pages. You work 6 days a week and must be available by phone for conferences if necessary. Also, you have to have access to the internet and telephone during set hours each day. The plus is that you work at home….however, you will be on call so to speak for 6 days a week during the 6 week period that you are reviewing the grant.
Finally, while I was on the Office of Health and Human Services website I searched jobs in education. I found many jobs in the United States and abroad for childcare workers, youth program workers, teachers and various other jobs. Most of the opportunities were on military bases. However, I noticed very quickly that the early childhood opportunities were not paying very much money, even those that were in other countries! It amazes me that we have not made any progress on this issue in the past few years. If you are looking for jobs, there are a few out there. I fear it is going to be harder than I imagined to find a new job with our new degrees.
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