Graduates without previous experience of working in schools may find that becoming a teacher's aide provides them with an alternative path into becoming a professional educator. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a number of institutions are now running 1 and 2-year programs that offer bachelor's degree holders to work towards a teacher's aide qualification. In most cases, these certification schemes involve practical on-the-job training designed to eventually help aides advance to become fully-fledged teachers, it added. Ashley Rihner said she became a teacher's aide after previously working in the corporate world. "I wanted more job satisfaction, I felt like I was only contributing to the corporate bottom line," she said. She is now happy to be working towards her "dream job" the site said. Another new teacher's aide, Chris Turner, said the career also offers more security than his part profession as a loans officer. "Banks buy other banks - you are always looking for another job every three or four years ... I wanted a steady, secure job." Department of Labor statistics for 2006 show there were 1.3 million teacher's aides in the United States. In the decade to 2016, the profession is expected to grow by 10%.  |