Category: Jobs

Many teachers find themselves in the position of working as a supply teacher either because they are between jobs or because it fits in better with their family life.

There are advantages to the flexible working patterns that come hand in hand with supply teaching. Should you have young children of your own at school you will be free to attend their school events without having to negotiate time off work. It also enables you to fit work around other family commitments such as caring for an elderly relative.

Some schools will employ supply teachers to cover planned absence of teaching staff. In this case you may know in advance the year group you will be teaching and the subjects you will be required to teach. This is usually easier than having an early morning call to cover absence due to teacher illness. If unplanned cover is not suitable for you this can be made clear when you visit schools to promote yourself.

It is always a good idea to have a range of age appropriate resources to hand that you can call on if necessary. Although most teachers will leave planning and resources it is always good to be well prepared.

You may have been in the same career for a long time but feel that you are already for a change. Often as people get older they are more reluctant to change jobs often because they have more commitments so may find that they simply cannot afford to have the time off work to retrain for something else or that they have children that they need to fit their daily schedule around

If this is the case, then all is not lost. You can still look to study in the evenings or find a job that will allow you to train whilst earning such as an apprenticeship. You may be entitled to help with childcare costs and often once you are through the initial training you can earn a lot more money and might be able to be more flexible with your working hours. If you feel that you need to gain more experience before applying for a new job, then you could try doing some volunteer work in that industry first. This can look great on a CV and also allow you to experience what the job may entail and what the industry is like before you decide to make the switch.

If you are looking for work then you may consider a job in an office. This is often a very popular choice as there is a huge number of jobs in different industries that involve working in an office situation. It is also very popular amongst school leavers as there is often a large amount of these types of roles available and some require little or no experience. It may be that you start off in a junior position and can quickly progress in to a more senior role. Office jobs can vary widely depending on what industry they are in. If you chose to take on an office job that is based within a company that deals directly with the public, then you may find that much of your role is customer facing and dealing with customer enquiries, complaints or taking orders. If the job is working for a company that deals with other businesses then you can expect to be talking to suppliers and business customers.

Working in an office is a great way to get a feel for a work place. You will often get to liaise with different departments and get to understand how the company works.

If you are thinking about what your next job venture is going to be then you may be interested to know what the top paid jobs are. Some industries are known for higher paid jobs than others but within any industry there is often a wide range of salaries. For example a solicitor may be on fifty thousand pounds plus a year whereas the receptionist that works in the same office may only be on fifteen thousand pounds year. Depending on the company you work for, the hours you work and even what part of the country you work in can have a massive impact on your salary. 

In the UK the highest paid jobs are usually found in London. You may get paid a lot more for the same job in London as in other parts of the UK but you do also need to bear in mind that also the cost of living in London is much higher than the rest of the UK so unless you commute there from out of the city, you may not end up taking home much more money.

The financial sector often offers quite well paid jobs. Also jobs that require a number of years training such as doctors, accountants and vets often come with a good salary package. You may need to have a degree to apply for certain jobs, but even if you do not attend college or university you can still earn a good wage by working your way up the ladder.

The role of an equality and diversity office can be very challenging but also very rewarding. The main role of the job is to aim to reduce workplace discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation. Some Equality officers may choose to specialise in one or more of these areas whilst others are more general.
Over the past few decades equality has become more and more recognised in the work place. You should not be discriminated again because of your sex or religion for example. This means that pay should be equal as well as working rights etc. This is something that the government has worked on for many years and recently some great changes have happened which may this even more important and ensure that businesses comply.
As an Equality officer you will probably undertake tasks such as training, record keeping, reporting and liaising with other organisations to sort out issues that arise. You will need to be organised and open minded and have excellent communication skills. You need to ensure that what you say to people is correct, so keeping up to date with old and new legislations is vital.