The Princeton Review ranked the top 10 college majors. Education is ranked at number 5, only beaten out by biology, nursing, psychology and business administration.
According to the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey, teachers account for approximately 2 percent of the population, or 6.1 million people.
Though salaries may be lower than average, there will always be a need for teachers and, thankfully, there will always be individuals with a love and a passion for education.
With that said, marketing continues to play an ever-increasing role in marketing teaching careers nationwide.
What it takes to be a teacher
Not everyone has what it takes to be a teacher.
Teaching requires patience, determination, dedication and a love of children and learning. People are either born teachers or it can be learned, but you must be passionate about it.
Teaching is not one of those careers where you can simply "get by" by doing the minimum. Every day will be a challenge, and every day will require 100 percent commitment from you.
The article "Are You Suited for a Career as a Teacher" discusses the types of jobs available for teachers - such as post-secondary, high school, kindergarten, elementary school and teaching assistants.
You may want to student teach at a few different grade levels, research the day-to-day lives of various types of teachers and talk to other teachers in order to determine which sector you want to teach.
How to get people interested in teaching
For those that are born teachers, no marketing plans or discussion of perks are needed to get the person interested. It's already engrained in them.
But what about everyone else? How can schools get people interested in the field of teaching?
With teacher salaries being at an all-time low, pay is not an option for swaying them.
A few methods that might work include:
- Hire good teachers - Think back to your favorite teacher of all time. For me, it was my high school psychology teacher. I loved her so much and learned so much throughout that class that I was dead-set on either majoring in psychology or majoring in education to teach psychology. Though neither of those paths ended up for me, I'll never forget the impact she had on my life. It's amazing how influential a good teacher can be. If you want to create good future teachers, hire incredible teachers now. When you properly market your school, good teachers will take notice;
- Have a well-rounded education program - Some universities are known for their medical degrees, others for their business degrees and some for their education degrees. As a college or university, you can market your educational program to high schools and do something that sets it apart from other programs and universities. Perhaps offer multiple student teaching sessions, provide internships for soon-to-be teachers and, of course, hire the best staff possible for the education program;
- Broadcast the perks - While pay is low in some cases, there are perks that come with being a teacher. For those that want to be parents, the schedule is unbeatable. You'll have all holidays, breaks and summer vacations at the exact same time as your children. And even if you don't have or want kids yourself, not much beats three months off each summer to travel, pick up a second job or expand your skill set through hobbies or classes.
Last but not least, use the various social media tools at your disposal to market what your school offers.
As the information age grows, more and more schools, colleges and universities are using sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and more to market their opportunities for up-and-coming teachers and those looking to switch employers.
Do a Google search of your school and see where it ranks in comparison to the competition.
If your site is not ranking high, you know there is more work needed to market what you offer.