Getting good grades is just the entry criteria to landing a good job right out of college. Nowadays, standing apart from other graduates has to be done by showing well-developed communication skills, leadership skills, and the demonstrated ability to perform on a team. Brains will only contribute to career success if you can effectively share and implement those innovative ideas. Makes sense that companies are looking for these traits in graduates, then. What better way to grow and showcase some of these skills by becoming a teaching assistant? Tips for becoming a TA and getting the most out of the experience are outlined below, along with some of the benefits to highlight on your resume.
Set Yourself Up Right
Do well in the class
This one is pretty self-explanatory – you can’t teach the class if you didn’t do well. To even get in the door often requires an A; this can vary, but scraping by in the class isn’t going to work out well on the TA application. Keep your grades up from the beginning and put in the time to learn the material. A tip that is good for all college courses, but especially if you plan to TA the class.
Get to know the professor and your current TA’s
No one learns from someone who doesn’t understand the material enough to teach it… nor someone who understands the material but can’t teach it. Just knowing the material isn’t enough. The perfect TA has to be approachable and always there (during the duration of the workshop, at least) to help out and answer questions. Basically, you need good communication skills and to be interested in the material.
The time to demonstrate these qualities is while you are enrolled in the class – professors are looking for students that they will enjoy working with in the future and that they believe can teach students. Those that do well in the class but get there quietly aren’t normally picked for a TA slot. Ask lots of questions and participate in class – get to know the professor. Visiting professor and TA office hours and asking insightful questions also demonstrates your interest. Often times, the TA’s have the professor’s ear, so getting to know them doesn’t hurt either. This extra effort will all hopefully be repaid when you become a teaching assistant, but if not, knowing the instructors of the course makes the class more enjoyable all on its own.
Pick the Right Class
Be more than “the grading machine”
Sitting in an interview facing the hiring manager, he points to a line on your resume and asks about your experience as a teaching assistant. It gets rather awkward when your response is, “uhhh… I looked at an answer key and graded homework assignments.” Being a teaching assistant is a great opportunity to highlight communication skills and mastership of the course material, so take advantage of it.
To really capitalize on your experience as a TA and later highlight it on your resume, apply for classes where you think you can make a change. I was extremely fortunate and had a wonderful professor that let me design projects and assignments, as well as implement new material in the course. This spoke volumes on my resume. I was able to give concrete examples of my initiative in the changes that I made. Furthermore, I had numerous talking points about communication I could speak to in interviews from my experiences assisting students and helping the professor.
Did you enjoy the class?
Making a difference and contributing in the class will work best and come naturally if you enjoyed it when you were enrolled. A small shiver up your spine very time you mention a particular course or bring up a certain professor’s name probably indicates you may want to look elsewhere. Seriously, though, if you choose a class that you thought was at least a little fun, involvement will come naturally. No forcing yourself to attend workshops or develop course content required.
This will be reflected in workshops, too. When you see a student raise their hand, a good TA goes straight over. No pretending like you didn’t see their hand, then 5 minutes later when you have no other option, sulking over to them and grumbling “how can I help you?”. Choose a class where you don’t have to pretend like you enjoy the material. It will be more enjoyable for both you and the students.
Follow your career goals
Some students may still be deciding on a career field to enter into following their graduation, but try your best to choose a class that aligns with your career goals. The points above will still make your teaching experience enjoyable and impactful on your resume, but being able to show that you were 1) selected as a TA and 2) held the position for multiple semesters displays mastership of the material. May as well show mastership in a class that will relate to your future job, rather one that was taken for fun.
Capitalizing on Your Role
Taking Initiative
Normal course work doesn’t lend itself to going above and beyond. You complete the assignment best you can and turn it in; you don’t add extra math problems or go redesign it. In interviews, its hard to demonstrate your initiative if you can only speak to class work. So, use this as an opportunity to help out in the course, rather than sitting back and waiting for the next assignment to grade.
Now, it is important to judge whether this is appropriate for your professor. Some like the way they have the course designed, so I wouldn’t recommend going up to them on day 1 and offering to change it all around. That would not be appreciated. Instead, wait for your professor to outline your role, then try to be as helpful as you can in that role. Perhaps they ask you to distribute and grade assignments. Almost all courses have to change the problems to some degree, so you could politely offer to assist with that process.
Another recommendation I would make is to TA the same class for multiple semesters. With experience already as a teaching assistant for that class and with the same professor, you will be given more responsibilities, giving the opportunity for you to take more initiative. Many classes offer a “Head TA” position, so if you are the most experienced, this is not a difficult position to get. Showing growth in your role from day 1 to Head Teaching Assistant will be even better resume material, rather than jumping around to different classes and consistently being the lowest one on the totem pole.
Demonstrating Communication Skills
A point that was brought up in several of my interviews was my communication with different personality types. This was a no brainer to answer because of all my work leading workshops. In these sessions, there is a large group of students who all have a different grasp of the material and communicate differently. I would go from someone who was really interested in the class and would ask a complex question to someone who was totally lost and complained about the work load.
My ability to successfully navigate through all these personality types gave the interviewers confidence that I could handle tough interactions in the workplace. Furthermore, it was a great learning experience and grew my communication skills tremendously.
Learning to communicate within a hierarchy was important as well. In class, you are only communicating with peers, unless you ask a question in class (which isn’t much communication). However, your role as a TA hinges on your ability to respectfully talk to your professor on a daily basis. And as a head TA, you may also be in charge of delegating tasks to other teaching assistants. Knowing the proper boundaries in all of these dialogues is very important – not that this is difficult to learn, but potential employers like to see exposure to this system before dropping you in a role.
Mastership of the Material
And finally… being a teaching assistant shows your proficiency level with the course content. Even being selected for the role out of all the other candidates demonstrates your knowledge, but then holding the role for several semesters really drives home the point. Being able to teach a subject is head and shoulders over stating that you got an A in a class.
Conclusion
Becoming a teaching assistant is both a fun and rewarding experience, so make sure you take advantage of it. Employers will be impressed!