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Hastings College

Pursue Your Passion.


Resources for Teachers

Career Services, located in Hazelrigg Student Union, provides professional advice and resources for candidates seeking jobs in teaching. The office is immediately down the hall to the left as you enter Hazelrigg, under the clock tower. It is open from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. After hours services are available by appointment and the director will work to accommodate schedules of student teachers.

 

Staff includes

The office address and fax number is:

Career Services
Hastings College
710 N Turner Avenue

Hastings, NE 68901

FAX 402-461-7474
  • Resources in Career Services – Securing employment as a teacher is no easy task, but with assistance from Career Services you can be prepared and manage an effective job search campaign.
  • PRAXIS (Pre-Professional Skills Test) www.ets.org/praxis – All students in the teacher education program need to take the PRAXIS I – PPST in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. Prospective teachers in elementary education, special education, and early childhood education also take the PRAXIS II – Elementary Education Curriculum Instruction and Assessment in the final year.

    The PRAXIS exams are offered at Hastings College on five Saturdays each year (September, November, January, March & April).  Computer-based Examinations for PPST are by appointment. The nearest testing center is in Kearney. There are additional computer-based centers in Nebraska and across the nation which are open during the week and sometimes on Saturdays.

    Career Services is a good source from which to obtain registration information and test preparation materials.
  • Credential Services – A credential file contains letters of recommendations and recommendation forms from cooperating teachers, supervising professors and others who know your abilities and is sent to school districts by Career Services as part of your application process.  There are three options for your credential file; OPEN – self-managed file, CLOSED – college-managed file, and DUAL– containing both college and self-managed documents.

OPEN FILE – With an Open File, you retain the right to examine the entire credential file.  Reference writers compose recommendations knowing that you will have access to them. 

CLOSED FILE – With a Closed File, you waive the right to examine the recommendations contained within the file. Reference writers will be aware that you have requested a recommendation to be sent directly to Career Services and that you will not read the recommendation letters. 

DUAL FILE – With a Dual File, you have both open and closed recommendations in the credential file, giving you one file that is open and one that is closed. This flexibility allows you to self-manage the open documents and have them available to upload to online applications that are becoming common in school district hiring practices.

To establish a credential file, candidates must complete and submit Career Services’ Candidate Data Form and a Release Waiver Form. Candidates download the Reference Recommendation Sheet document, save it to their computer, make recommendation forms for each reference writer, and submit those forms to Career Services. Registration on JobZone is also required. Since credentials are unique to the field of education, Career Services recommends that candidates schedule an appointment to discuss credentials and their education job search.

There is no charge for establishing a credential file. A fee is assessed when a credential file is forwarded to an employer. A credential file may be updated throughout a career. However, files that have not been used for 10 years will be destroyed. Candidates may establish a new file should they need to after the 10-year-period. View and download information and forms related to credentials below:

Frequently Asked Questions
Steps for Establishing a Credential File
Candidate Data Form
Release Waiver Form
Job Seekers’ Rights and Responsibilities Document
Credential File Recommendation Sheet (MS Word Document)
JobZone User's Guide