to ask you to help me figure out my next step in life?

[howmanymorenamechanges]

I know IABU to post this in AIBU because it's not REALLY an AIBU but I can't think of a better place to get a wide range of opinions from other women of different backgrounds who don't feel the need to beat around the bush. I want bluntness and womanly wisdom!

Have namechanged, obviously, as this is very identifying.

I am living abroad where I have been teaching for ten years. I am a teacher full time, but basically like working a lot and also work part time in a management role for the education company I'm employed by where I'm responsible for various things like interviewing, working with schools and then assessing skills and experience of teachers to place them in appropriate schools, helping teachers with any problems, training new teachers, assisting with cultural issues and complications etc. So my background for the last ten years is education and management.

Prior to moving abroad I worked with an educational based charity as a Volunteer Officer [I wasn't a volunteer, but was responsible for volunteers] and also worked as a Mental Health Support Worker. I did these jobs alongside each other too.

I have a degree in Anthropology, and am qualified as a TESOL teacher, but don't want to teach back in the UK [I only like teaching English as a foreign language and don't want to teach in mainstream schools, but I don't think that there are many good, salaried opportunities to do this in the UK. From what I've seen mostly seasonal or part time work.]

I'm thirty, and a mum now, and so considering a move back to the UK but I can't even begin to imagine what I should try and get into when I get back there. I am going to take a year or two off to finish the home we have built [in my husband's country, where we will visit often due to his family being there] and also will use this time to study, maybe? I was thinking of an MA to specialise in something, but I have no idea what. So basically two years to retrain or choose a new thing to get into/specialise in, or even just figure out where to go from here.

So, based on what I've said, is there any jobs, or general fields, that you think I should look into as a potential next step in my career? I don't care if it's a very logical next step from what I've already done, or whether it's a total wildcare just random suggestion thrown out.

In terms of personality I'm friendly, I really like working with people, I like to generally feel like I'm helping or making a difference in some way. I like stability but also enjoy change/a bit of difference.

Please help me!

Sorry for my weird brackets by the way. It's my keyboard - I can't find the normal ones!

Perhaps a job at a uni within student services or the nternational office etc? Jobs.ac.uk is a good starting point.

You say you don't want to teach in UK but most of your experience is in teaching and education. If you wanted to teach in a school in the UK you would need a PGCE but might be able to work in a college with TESOL.

You could try the Civil Service with your management skills. They have competence based applications. You might need to enter as a D band but promotion comes quite quickly. In a year you could apply for C band. They are mostly flexible working and some WFH roles too.

HMI or OFSTED related work perhaps

Have you thought about becoming a careers adviser? You can do an MA full time in one year or part time over two years.
There are loads of jobs at the moment including at universities which pay quite well.
It's a great career for people with your skill set and there's a skills shortage at the moment which means employment prospects are good!

Thank you so much for the replies, all of these are great suggestions! I'm a bit embarrassed to admit i'd not heard of HMI before, and didn't know much about the civil service either, but I've done a little Google and both look like interested options to research more!

I especially think I'd enjoy the university work and also careers advising. Actually, these both seem perfect and I'd not considered either before, so thank you! I like that I can do MA degrees which can help me get into both of these things, because it makes me feel better to have steps I can take now to improve my prospects for later.

Thank you again for the advice!

@howmanymorenamechanges i wouldn’t rush into spending loads of money on a MA in careers advising, you can get roles within careers first to try it out and see if it’s for you. If you apply for roles under the careers group they pay for it too

The Careers Group do employ people without qualifications but they will expect you to get qualified asap - they will expect you to do a PGDip or MA and they might fund it. However, TCG are London based so it only really works if you live in London.

You can get careers adviser jobs unqualified but at a university these would be mainly entry level and progressing to careers consultant will require a postgraduate qualification.
In schools and colleges you need to be qualified ( preferably to at least a L6) or the school will not be meeting the statutory requirements for personal guidance.

I work in university careers without the qualification and earn over 40k, I don’t see that as entry level money. There are also other roles in uni careers that aren’t coaching.

Are you a careers consultant?
Some universities will take people without the qualification (partly because there's a lack of people who have it! and a lack of places that offer it!) and some universities go through phases of not being bothered about it ....
There are also lots of roles which work within a university careers service but aren't careers advisers/consultants.

Bigger university careers services have entry level roles such as assistant careers adviser or employability adviser.

I work with university careers teams on their recruitment and most will ask for a postgraduate qualification or the ability to do one while in the role.

TEAP - teaching international students at university in U.K.

There are some good short term courses at places like SOAS that offer an introduction so you can see whether you like it or not.

Basically, you work with students to get them inline with the U.K. expectations of them to graduate here so, essay writing, presentations, etc.

It is well paid once you are in, they will like your TESOL experience and you could manage a particular cohort (students from Qatar, for example) and move up the departmental management level quite quickly.

There are lots of roles related to education and training in the three major exam boards in the Uk - Pearson Edexcel, AQA and Cambridge University Press and Assessment.

Both Pearson and CUPA also have ESOL qualifications offers so have roles that develop the support and training for teachers around those. You could be an examiner, a developer or on the staff managing those people with your background.

Or education recruitment companies?

Thank you for all the advice everyone! I feel really excited and positive to have some many things to explore, and they're all great ideas. I'm going to do my research into everything and see what happens. I think I'd be happy (and maybe quite good!) at doing all of the things suggested on this board, really interesting suggestions that I'd not have thought of by myself!

Have you thought about Speech and Language Therapy? I think it will fit really well with your current skills and interests.

Some universities offer a 2 year pre-registration masters course.