College seniors frantically searching for jobs and internships have another option for after graduation.

Teach for America, an organization that seeks to eliminate educational inequality, is looking for recent graduates to work in the national corps.

“It’s just an awesome opportunity to make a great difference,” said Sarah Skowronsky, campus campaign manager for Teach for America and senior in advertising. “It’s amazing to learn more about the issues of poverty, how it is affecting students and how it shouldn’t at the same time.”

The program, which recruits students from more than 200 colleges, encourages students of all majors to apply for a two-year commitment in which, if chosen, they will teach students in a low-income community. The students taught range in age from pre-kindergarten to seniors in high school.

“We want to see the candidate has demonstrated leadership or significant achievement,” said Leaih Kaye, senior recruitment associate for Teach for America.

The corps looks for many other qualities in a person, such as academic standing, perseverance, strong critical thinking skills and the willingness to challenge themselves. They recruit individuals of all majors and career interests, even if the candidate has no previous experience teaching or working with children.

“We’re not only finding top leaders to commit to changing the communities, but we’re also advocating to the public about the issue of education and equality,” Kaye said.

The two-year experience is beneficial to both the teacher and the students whose lives they are influencing.

“First and most important, it gives you the opportunity to make a huge impact in students’ lives as well as your own,” Skowronsky said. “It is definitely something that will stick with you for the rest of your life.”

Kaye said the application process begins online. Applicants are encouraged to fill out a form and personal and academic information, and include one-page resume, a 500-word letter of intent and a 500-word essay. If the applicant is invited to the next stage, he or she will participate in a phone interview followed by a final interview. Before the final interview, the applicant is asked to submit college transcripts as well as regional, subject and grade-level preferences.

If the applicant is chosen for the program, he or she will be given an assignment and two weeks to decide whether to accept the offer.

There are stages of deadlines in which a student can apply online. The two remaining deadlines are Jan. 7, 2007, and Feb. 18, 2007. Students who apply at the earlier deadlines are more likely to be offered a final interview and to get assigned to a region they highly prefer.

“Teach for America does their best job to give you the highest preference,” Skowronsky said. “You do have to take into consideration that you might not be qualified to teach something in that region, or that region may not have a need.”

The program not only gives participants the experience of teaching, but many other skills, as well.

“It allows you to develop into a more skilled and well-rounded person,” Kaye said. “I feel confident after spending two years with Teach for America that I could do anything that I wanted to do.”

Teach for America gives members an opportunity to meet and work with other members during the two-year program.

“It’s rare that you can be in an organization where you are surrounded by so many leaders that encourage you to be a leader every day,” Kaye said. “Teach for America offers that.”