What more can be done?

Bogalot

That's a really good post from YouAsked. We should have a sticky for cv help and that should be the first one on it.

If he wants to retrain has he looked at graduates schemes? They're unlikely to offer an immediate start but most are open to older graduates and it will give him the opportunity to get train and get paid. I expect the accountancy firms would welcome someone with his experience, and they're more than aware what teaching has now turned into so his wish to change shouldn't be held against him. Have a look at Milkround and Prospects.

(Ernst and Young has a January intake in some areas if you're quick.)

Takeaway_Addict

YouAsked wrote: »

I was given a CV to look over recently from an ex-teacher and the first thing I noticed was that there was no attempt to draw out experience from teaching which could be transferred and it was full of things which would only make sense to other teachers.

I say this all the time, but don't just send the same CV off to each job - tailor it (and covering letters/applications) accordingly!

We all know teachers have an ever increasing amount of admin - your husband should be highlighting what he did in a way that makes it transferrable to any environment - reconciling data, looking for trends, keeping accurate records, preparing reports for management etc.

If he's going for customer service roles then he should be highlighting the experience from teaching - communicating, disemminating information at appropriate level, handling sensitive situations, diplomacy etc.

Don't say things that are specific to teaching - so instead of saying "experience of SIMS" , say industry specific software such as SIMS or quite simply "database which contained individual records, used for management reporting" or whatever. Make it relatable.

He'll be DBS checked, have had safeguarding/Prevent training etc - highlight this as commitment to CPD, keeping abreast of sector developments etc.

I also say this a lot: don't assume that a recruiter will read between the lines. If a CV says "managed a budget", I want to know how big the budget was, HOW you managed it etc. SImilarly, bland statements such as "motivated individual" do nothing for me - HOW is that motivation demonstrated. Hit me in the face with the "how" and the evidence - because if you're not doing that, someone else will be.

Oh and lots of job sites have maximum characters for covering letters - think of what the 2-3 key things are that can be concisely stated in a small character limit.

But keep going. There are LOADS of skills that teachers acquire that would stand them in good stead for any job, the trick is to highlight them.

Good luck!

This really is a great post.