Where am I going wrong?

V2-Schneider wrote: »

Hi OP:

As a young (25) teacher myself, I will tell you now, do not enter the profession if it's a half-hearted decision. Teaching is difficult in a multifarious amount of ways; I won't go into detail, but as another user has pointed out, there's a reason why so many teachers drop out. During my training year, it wasn't uncommon for maths and science trainees to wait until February, by which point they'd received the majority of bursary payments (the largest being up to £35k), and then would quit safe in the knowledge that they wouldn't have to pay back the (tax free) money. What a joke. Going into teaching for the wrong reasons harms everybody, but ITT providers have no choice but to take a punt on candidates owing to the lack of options.

That said, teaching is also one of the best careers I can imagine there being - if it's for you and you have the motivation. I love my job and can't imagine doing anything else. Really. I work incredibly hard and have made substantial sacrifices for it, but I love it and am successful at it. And that makes all the difference for learning outcomes.

So that's my two cents: definitely consider teaching. If you can do maths, you'll be almost guaranteed a position if you can talk and show some kind of interest in children. But get some work experience, and have a really hard think about if it really is for you. Don't just dive in because chances are it won't work out, and that harms children's learning.

Thank you for that it's nice hearing from someone enjoying a vocational career. Quite shocking about the bursary situation! I wouldn't be able to enter as a maths/science trainee due to my undergrad course so not sure how accessible it would be?

greenbee wrote: »

There's a huge shortage of data scientists, so given your masters topic, if you have analytical ability start looking for those kind of roles and see whether they appeal. Research the topic - lots of articles on Infonomics and the growth of the Chief Data Officer role. Don't limit yourself to a particular sector at this stage. But whatever you do, make sure that your knowledge and passion for the subject come across at interview. Enthusiasm counts for a lot.

Yes! Data science is my dream career. I was going to enrol with the data incubator as I don't know how to break into the sector without doing further training or doing a PhD. I live up north, too. I need to take another look at which roles will help. I wish I'd done IT at undergrad, but on my masters I used a few statistical packages (R, Python, SPSS) and processed large datasets that gave me a thirst for it.

I'm really grateful for all the replies thus far. Thank you :beer:

V2-Schneider wrote: »

No problem; I can't imagine I'm helping the recruitment drive much, but it used to be so disheartening seeing people drop out or just grind through lessons, heart clearly somewhere else. Children deserve better than that.

Schools are desperate for maths teachers. I've seen plenty of people with psychology degrees teach maths. Indeed, psychology teachers at schools are often required to teach maths anyway (alongside RE and PSHE, most commonly). And Maths ITT is heavily under subscribed at universities, hence the huge bursary as an incentive - the problem with this being that the bursary is tax-free, and students enjoy a lifestyle of a £35k salaried teacher, but upon graduating they plummet down to £22k. They soon drop out.

If your postgraduate degree is even vaguely maths related, then you've got a strong chance with providers and, at the very least, getting an interview. But, like I said above, if your mind is somewhere else you won't last. You need to be passionate about maths to teach it. I love discussing literature, authors, how language works - I have no problem waxing lyrical about Keats, Wordsworth etc. because it's one of the things I enjoy most in life. Is that the same for you about maths?

Cheers It's very good to know psychology grads are recruited for maths! I always dismissed the idea. I wouldn't say I'm head over heels for the subject, but I do enjoy it (masters was mostly statistics and quantitative research) and if it afforded me a career I'd put everything into it. I'm just working very menial jobs and I didn't expect it to be easy after graduating, but to not even have goals to work towards in the workplace is deeply unsatisfying. £22k would be like the jackpot to me as I'm almost £10k under the national average salary and admin roles tend to want you to have done many years of service to assess competency. I don't want to have to work an unfulfilling job for 5 years just to prove I can use Microsoft Office and manage a diary.

steampowered wrote: »

The most competitive roles tend to be entry-level jobs that are tough, involve long hours and are often not well paid, but give you the experience to climb the career ladder.

Stop applying for admin level jobs. The key is to get just a little experience. Once you've got a bit of experience under your belt in a particular industry it becomes so much easier to get another (usually much higher paid) role. It will mean making lots of applications (dozens, at least) given that these are competitive roles but you'll just have to keep trying.

For example if you want to become a data scientist, perhaps there are some data analyst roles you could apply for.

Also, where in the country are you? You could consider moving, even if only for a few years.

In my profession (corporate law firms), it is infinitely easier for people to get their careers started in London than anywhere else in the country. There are very few good entry-level opportunities outside London. Once people have got a bit of experience in London it then becomes much much easier to find a decent role elsewhere in the country.

I could be wrong, but in a field like data science, I imagine you would have a much better chance at getting your foot on the ladder in somewhere like London and Cambridge (perhaps Manchester?) than elsewhere in the country.

Thank you for this. I will try to resist the urge to apply for any further admin roles It's made me feel that's all I'm worth, but then once I'm in these roles I'm bored within weeks because it's not challenging. I wouldn't wish to relocate (I know I'm cutting off a load of options with that choice) but can travel to Manchester and other locations in the north west

theoretica wrote: »

When management see your potential and have you doing stuff that is how you get the experience you need for the next job. Have all these bits ready to draw on as relevant in your job applications and interviews. Have you ever asked any of these managers for their advice in progressing in the parts you find most interesting?

That's a good way to look at it - it's how I got this job come to think of it! The frustrating thing is due to the pay grade and job description, it's a balancing act trying to show how productive you can be without seeming like a busybody. My current manager would probably say get involved with the more social side of the job, but when I'm "living to work" financially and the workplace has a lot of conflict amongst perm staff I prefer not to get too involved as I just want to get in, work and go home.