Other Work Avenues Available To Someone With A Higher Diploma In Education

ronanluke

Hey,

I qualified as a secondary school teacher last year and with a serious lack of work in this country I was wondering does anyone know of any other types of jobs i can apply for besides teaching??

Thanks,
Ronan.

Mrs OBumble

Fast-food.
Security (you might have to do a PSA course)
Hospitality.
Retail.
Call-centre.


What have you go expereince in?

Sleepy

TEFL would seem the most obvious route?

ronanluke

Thanks for the suggestions but I've worked retail, security, fast food to get me through 4 years of college. After spending years in factories it would be nice to work for a wage using my qualification.

cloudatlas

ronanluke wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions but I've worked retail, security, fast food to get me through 4 years of college. After spending years in factories it would be nice to work for a wage using my qualification.

What area did you specialise in?

ronanluke

My undergrad was history and politics. My PDE was in history and CSPE teaching.

DK man

Have u tried offer grinds..... Still lots of parents willing to pay - some subjects much more valuable in the grinds market than others.

Maths
Irish

Science subjects

Have u considered doing a learning support course - this will enhance your chances

Teachers are treated fairly badly despite what most people believe - when u do get work it will probably be on a reduced timetable and you'll be expected to sit around all day waiting to do a handful of classes. I don't know any other profession who have to put up with that kind of humiliation

Best of luck anyways

DK man

Approach some political parties and offer to do some research for them.....

Sleepy

ronanluke wrote: »

My undergrad was history and politics. My PDE was in history and CSPE teaching.

There's very little work out there for teachers and, tbh, there's not likely to be much permanent work available in it for years: we allow far too many people to qualify in that area every year.

I'd say your best bet employment wise would be to apply for general admin positions as your qualifications should prove you're capable of a high standard of writing and reasoning. Unfortunately, it's an employers market and salaries for admin work weren't even high in the good days.

Honestly? I'd look at what post-grads are out there that you might qualify for that would give you some marketable skills. Or perhaps look into a professional qualification e.g. CCNA's if you have an aptitude for IT, ACCA's if you could handle Accounting etc.

The_Conductor

To be honest- if you had qualifications in science/math/IT- it would make work as a teacher a hell of a lot easier. I genuinely would suggest you go back- or perhaps study in the evening towards qualifications in areas in which there are a shortage of teacher. Politics and CSPE? They may be a degree- but they don't equip you to impart knowledge in particular subject areas to teenagers.

cloudatlas

What about looking into teaching adult community courses on politics and current affairs. There are bound to be some centers you can get in touch with.

ronanluke

Eh CSPE is a compulsory subject for the junior cert. I think thats the problem right there compared to other countries. Focus on subjects that make money in the Irish economy at present (ie science and it) without looking to the future, thats how we got ourselves into this mess. Where is the choice for students to pursue genuine interests. Going back to college means a hell of a lot money and time i don't have after studying undergrad and hdip. Thanks though.

Sleepy

Sorry but realistically the problem is that we educate far too many teachers. We should be reducing the numbers of places on HDip Eds courses to the replacement rate of secondary school teachers. In reality, at the moment, this would mean either suspending the courses or qualifying a token number (say 10) per year until the current glut is worked out of the system.

Not everyone gets to be rockstars, premier league footballers or movie actors. Sadly, society as a whole hasn't yet got it into it's head that we'll only ever need so many teachers and that, as such, not everyone that wants to be a teacher can be one either. We could use this as an opportunity to improve the quality of our teachers, making candidates compete much harder for positions on the H Dip courses or (as presently seems to be the preference) by reducing the remuneration package received by teachers until the supply of teaching skills reaches the correct level for our current demands. Of course, this could lead to us having to pay a premium for teachers of certain subjects as, lets be honest, a degree in mathematics or science is harder to obtain and more valuable than a traditional BA in Geography and Irish.

Pursue genuine interests all you like but don't whine if society can't hand you a job afterwards. TBH, your greatest complaint is that our society wasted it's money educating you in your areas of interests despite a lack of opportunity for that education to be able to help you pay for it via taxation.

The_Conductor

I still think getting IT/Science/Math qualifications- on top of his current HDip is the way to go. These are disciplines that we need to promote- and have and have a lack of teachers with relative qualifications teaching the subjects. I was shocked when I heard how many secondary school teachers there are teaching Math without a major in a Math discipline- and for science subjects, you'd cry if you saw the stats. If our teenagers of today are to stand any chance in the future- they need to have good groundings in Maths and science- if we are ever to reinvent ourselves as an intelligent economy.

ronanluke

Sleepy wrote: »

Sorry but realistically the problem is that we educate far too many teachers. We should be reducing the numbers of places on HDip Eds courses to the replacement rate of secondary school teachers. In reality, at the moment, this would mean either suspending the courses or qualifying a token number (say 10) per year until the current glut is worked out of the system.

Not everyone gets to be rockstars, premier league footballers or movie actors. Sadly, society as a whole hasn't yet got it into it's head that we'll only ever need so many teachers and that, as such, not everyone that wants to be a teacher can be one either. We could use this as an opportunity to improve the quality of our teachers, making candidates compete much harder for positions on the H Dip courses or (as presently seems to be the preference) by reducing the remuneration package received by teachers until the supply of teaching skills reaches the correct level for our current demands. Of course, this could lead to us having to pay a premium for teachers of certain subjects as, lets be honest, a degree in mathematics or science is harder to obtain and more valuable than a traditional BA in Geography and Irish.

Pursue genuine interests all you like but don't whine if society can't hand you a job afterwards. TBH, your greatest complaint is that our society wasted it's money educating you in your areas of interests despite a lack of opportunity for that education to be able to help you pay for it via taxation.

Number one I'm not whining, two I'm not expecting society to "hand me a job", it's not like I've been sitting doing sfa for the last 7 years. I've put in the work and money so surely some sort of experience should be available without having to upskill. Any person with an ounce of intelligence would struggle to see the sense in upskilling when your fresh out of training. We've always been told put in the hard work to reap the rewards. In respect to this country that's clearly bull****. So does that mean that anyone who isn't a footballer, actor, musician or someone famous can only be suited to a job in IT or science?? Shir how does that make sense? I do agree that far too many teachers are accepted every year. Thanks anyway.

Cuddlesworth

The_Conductor wrote: »

I still think getting IT/Science/Math qualifications- on top of his current HDip is the way to go. These are disciplines that we need to promote- and have and have a lack of teachers with relative qualifications teaching the subjects. I was shocked when I heard how many secondary school teachers there are teaching Math without a major in a Math discipline- and for science subjects, you'd cry if you saw the stats. If our teenagers of today are to stand any chance in the future- they need to have good groundings in Maths and science- if we are ever to reinvent ourselves as an intelligent economy.

I'm not sure if I agree with the concept of having to have a degree certified level to teach secondary school. It's a very large step backwards intellectually. In fairness I've been out of school ten years. I haven't touched a maths book in that time and if I had the necessary "teaching" skills, I don't doubt I could get myself to secondary honors maths level in under a month.

MouseTail

What about something in the policy or advocacy field in the non-profit sector?

http://www.activelink.ie/content/vacancies