Students
Credential Files
Credential files are maintained by our office and include:
- Your personal data sheet.
- Two or three recommendations:
- one employer
- one professor (from any class you have taken - not just education)
- pastor recommendation - you may ask anyone who knows your spiritual walk (optional, but encouraged if you'd like to teach in a Christian school)
You may request more if you wish—this is the minimum.
Please request your recommendations to be sent directly to: edcareer@calvin.edu by December 1.
**Do not ask your college supervisor or cooperating teacher to write recommendations as they will submit evaluations of your student teaching experience for your file.
**Your resume is not part of your credential file.
3. Your transcript and your final student teaching evaluations (both by your supervisor and cooperating teacher) are added to your file by our office.
**Items for credential files should be submitted electronically by you and your recommendation writers to edcareer@calvin.edu.
Request your recommendations thoughtfully. Once a recommendation is in your file, it can only be removed after receiving permission from the director of career development, which is only granted for special circumstances. So, when requesting recommendations, ask the prospective recommender if they can give you a glowing letter. If they cannot, ask someone else.
Unless you specificially ask in writing to edcareer@calvin.edu not to have your credential file distributed to employers, we will distribute the information to prospective employers who request it. Even if you do not submit your personal data sheet or recommendations, your credential file will include your performance evaluations and unofficial transcript.
Want your credential file sent to a school? Fill out the credential file request form. You can also use this form to request that access to your credential file be sent to your email address. Be sure to save the link you are given to access your file in the future. You can also open and save each document in your credential file to your computer for your records and to be used for applications.
Your credential file will be stored and distributed to employers upon request by our office for five years. You may submit an updated personal data sheet to edcareer@calvin.edu any time your contact information changes.
Get included in the Teacher List for Employers (for grads of this academic year only)
Enter your information online to be included. School administrators refer to this list frequently when looking for people to fill positions at their schools. This is a valuable job searching tool for you! We link this booklet on our website and update it as students report their jobs.
If school administrators contact you regarding job openings at their schools, please reply out of courtesy even if you're not interested in the position.
There is a one-time $30 fee for education students to cover all of the extra services that are provided to you by our office.
Job Searching for Future Teachers
We have a plethora of resources for job searching. Here are a few select handouts that may be helpful to you:- Especially for Teachers-a handout prepared just for you!
- Resumes
- Job fairs (Out-of State Teacher Fair and Teacher Search)
- Links to teaching-related job sites
You are encouraged to make an appointment with one of our career counselors to talk about your job search strategy, perfect your resume and/or cover letter or participate in a practice interview. Call our office at (616) 526-6485 or stop by to schedule an appointment. Be sure to take advantage of all the great resources our office has available to you!
