Yearly Archives: 2014

Do you need to know what career you want when at school?

Posted on December 30, 2014 at 9:02 pm

These days there is so much pressure to chose the correct GCSE and A Level subjects that some students find the whole process very daunting, I know I did.

You may feel like you need to have a good idea of what career path you wish to take from an early age and the subjects you chose at 15 will decide the job you will have for the rest of your life.

This is not always the case and regardless of how old you are, most of the time you can take a total change in jobs.

You my find it slightly harder to return to studying when you are older as you may have more responsibilities like a family or financial commitments and often as an adult you will have to pay for all or most of your further education. This being said, there are sometimes other ways round a change in career such as on the job training or evening studies that will allow you to progress in a career without having to worry about the issues above.

Posted in education

Looking for your dream job

Posted on November 27, 2014 at 8:43 pm

Sometimes in the pursuit to get your perfect career you have to take what may seem like a step backwards in the short term to gain long term.

Some careers are notoriously difficult to get into and the most important thing is to get one foot in the door. A great way to do this is to start by doing some voluntary work if it’s available. A good example of this is if you’d like to join the police force. There are very limited spaces available within the police and getting into the career can be extremely difficult, however by joining the special constables, who are un-paid volunteers, you vastly improve your chances of being accepted onto the force as you can show that you already have valuable experience.

If you think you’d like to get into a career but you’re unsure volunteering is also a great way to try it out without the same level of commitment needed. For example by becoming a teaching assistant you can observe the roll of a teacher before deciding if that’s the direction that you’d like your career to go in.

Sometimes it’s best not to head into a career feet first if you have the chance to ease in slowly and get experience along the way.

Posted in Jobs

What age pupils should you teach?

Posted on October 30, 2014 at 9:34 am

When it comes to teaching, you do not have to train differently to teach different aged pupils. Regardless of whether you teach secondary school children or a reception class, the degree is the same, it is your teaching style that needs to change.

It is totally different teaching classes of different age ranges and you must be able to adapt accordingly to suit the requirements of each class as and when it is needed. If you are a supply teacher, you may go from teaching five year olds to teaching fifteen year olds within a few days. The planning of work and how you actually teach subjects will vary greatly.

Often in a class with younger pupils in, the ability varies greatly so you may need to split the class in to groups and give them each a slightly different task according to ability. Normally in secondary school the classes have already been split up in to sets.

Posted in education

Challenges and rewards of becoming a teacher

Posted on September 21, 2014 at 5:29 pm

Teaching is quite a popular job. There are two sides to teaching, as with many jobs. It is often very challenging but also immensely rewarding at times too.

If you like the satisfaction of being able to teach a child or adult a new subject or topic, then teaching may well be suited to you. If you are not too sure about teaching children, you could go down the route of looking for a job that requires adult learning.

To teach children and sometime adults of all ages and subjects, you will often find that the degree and courses that you need to do are the same. You may have to do a teaching degree and then a further degree if you want to specialise in a certain area.

A teaching job is often different every day depending on where and who you are teaching and the subjects you need to cover. There will be challenges along the way but also some very rewarding times that you will take with you throughout your career.

Posted in education

Job searching online

Posted on August 21, 2014 at 11:27 am

Many people now turn to the internet when it comes to searching for a new job. There are so many places online that advertise jobs that it can be hard to know where to start. If you are looking to apply for quite a specialist position, it may be that jobs are only advertised on a particular site (their own company website for example). If you are looking for a more mainstream vacancy then you may be able to find what you are looking for on one of the many job site websites available. These sites list hundreds of jobs every day and also offer advice on CV writing and interviews. Some people chose to register with a job agency, these guys will speak to you to find out what qualifications / experience you have and what type of job you are looking for. They will then search for suitable positions and contact you when something becomes available.

Posted in Jobs

Keeping up to date with industry news can help you progress in your job

Posted on June 30, 2014 at 1:37 pm

No matter what job you are in you should try to keep up to date with current developments and news relevant to your industry. This can help you progress in your career in many ways. You may find that something that you have researched or read will actually help you in your day to day job, or help you find alternative ways of doing something. Not only can it assist you in that way but many employers like it if their employees take an interest in the industry and it is often though highly of if you are aware of current developments going on that may affect your company. You may be able to give your opinion on how you think this may affect the business and offer advice on how you think the company could use it in a positive way to gain more sales or business.  There are many sites out there that you can register with to send you emails of news in your business profile.

Posted in Jobs

Revising your CV

Posted on June 25, 2014 at 4:32 pm

As you move from one job to another your CV will rapidly become outdated, and it’s always important to maintain a CV, even when you’re not in a job search. This is because you’re then able to use it immediately when it becomes important again, and you won’t have a ludicrous amount of changes to make.

Dates are important on a CV if you don’t want to have gaps, and it’s a lot harder to backtrack dates than it is to update your CV as and when it’s required. If you’re settled in a job and you’re very comfortable, it can be difficult to see how your CV can be enhanced, but you’re likely to have picked up more skills along the way, while the form of a CV may change somewhat.

For example, social media pages and websites become important in media related jobs, while you may pass your driving test, gain a small promotion or pick up a new responsibility. These should all have a place on your CV so make sure you keep yours updated with the latest developments.

Posted in CV

A teachers guide to summer learning

Posted on April 3, 2014 at 12:51 pm

Summers on its way and the weather is already picking up. With this year set to be one of the best summers for years, it makes sense to see how you can involve summer activities in to your learning plan.To make summer learning an enjoyable experience for your pupils, we have suggested a few activities below that you may like to try.

Outdoor exploration – Design a lesson where the children can explore the wildlife and natural surroundings.  If you have a pond nearby, take a net to the pound and pour out the contents in to a tray of water. Have some worksheets handy for the children to record what they have found.

Arts and Crafts – Simply collecting up leaves and sticks etc and getting the pupils to make a collage using the materials they have found. You could also allow them to draw pictures using pavement chalks on the concrete play areas that simply wash away with the rain.

Posted in education

Working as a Supply Teaching

Posted on March 17, 2014 at 3:33 pm

Teaching is one of the most common professions in the UK. While a teaching career presents numerable advantages and opportunities, supply teaching has a number of benefits apart from the ones in a more permanent position. Unlike a normal teaching career, supply teaching presents a greater degree of flexibility in your working hours, as well as the time when you are allowed to take holiday. Supply teaching also means that you won’t be tied down to a specific school, or subject, which can be good. A supply teacher doesn’t have nearly as much paperwork, or targets, because of this, meaning that you can dedicate more of your working hours to educating our youth. Finding work as a supply teacher can be difficult, especially when you don’t have a permanent position with a school. During lull periods, you have an opportunity to supplement your official work with some tutoring work.

Posted in education, Jobs

Teaching in the United Kingdom

Posted on February 22, 2014 at 2:46 pm

It is a great career choice to become a teacher in the United Kingdom. You will be able to achieve a high level of professional achievement apart from creating excellent friendships with your work colleagues. Depending upon the kind of job you are looking for, there are many teaching jobs available throughout the UK. A visit to a teacher agency will open up the door of opportunities and help you land your dream teaching job.

There are various ways to become a teacher in the UK; however, primarily and most importantly you should get a Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in order to qualify to teach in schools maintained by the State. If you want to get QTS then you can try one of the following five ways:

While you are studying for your undergraduate degree you can simultaneously study to become a teacher. You have to select your subject area like History, Mathematics or English and work hard to get a Bachelor of Education degree. The total time required to obtain this degree is 3-4 years but you can bring it down to 2 years if you have completed the tertiary subjects previously. You will be able to cut down your study time by obtaining credits for the same.

You can complete your teacher training as a postgraduate and get Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) certification if you have already obtained the Bachelor of Education degree. The postgraduate certification can be obtained by people who have already obtained the bachelor degree in a specific subject area. If you are taking the postgraduate course full time then you will be able to complete it in 1 year; however, if you are opting for part time then it will take 2 years to get the PGCE certification. By doing this course you will be taught how to teach the specific subject to the children using correct ways and methodologies of teaching. If you are going for full time course then you can enrol in a university. If you are opting for part-time course then you can select one of the distance learning institutes. A well established teacher agency will help you out to find out the best one.

If you are already employed in a school you can still go for teacher training. You will be trained to become a teacher while you are earning your livelihood at the school. The best thing about learning and teaching together is that you can apply all the methodologies while you are learning them straight away. This will help to preserve all the teaching techniques in mind for a long time.

You may qualify for assessment based teacher training if you have considerable amount of teaching experience. If you pass the assessment test then you will earn your Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This option is only for those who have been teaching in the UK for some time. You can find out from teacher agency about the availability of such options where you can get your teaching skills assessed in order to get QTS.

Posted in Jobs

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