No STEM jobs - a career in safeguarding??

[WiseFinch]

Hi MN, first time poster here. I did post a thread on this in chat earlier but no responses and I’m wondering if there’s more traffic here, but if this isn’t allowed do let me know 😊 I’m hoping some of you lovely clever people can help me figure out what to do with my life career wise!!

Context - I’m a recent STEM graduate, I’ve worked in nurseries and with young children for a few years now during my degree, running holiday clubs etc and as lunch cover in nursery. No childcare qualifications except the standard safeguarding, DBS, and specific qualification needed to run the holiday club. I’ve also done hospitality but I will not go back to that industry for various personal reasons.

I cannot find a STEM job, and to be honest, I don’t think I want one. I’ve only got a bachelors and have zero interest in going back to university. Interviewed for multiple corporates think graduate product management type roles, had straight rejections from several and waiting lists for a few, but my heart isn’t really in it.

I adore working with children, but I’ve heard primary teaching isn’t great at the moment re pay and conditions, and an oversaturated market. I also really don’t want to pay to do a PGCE and go back to university. I’m considering a career in safeguarding or something to that extent, but I’m not quite sure what that would look like. I’m pretty sure I could manage the stress and tragic circumstances you’d encounter in a job like this, I think I’d be quite good at it. But I have no idea about this industry and how to get into it!

I love the nursery I work in, but even if i got my childcare qualification the pay is too low and doesn’t justify the money I’ve spent on doing a degree, if that makes sense. Not trying to be snobby at all, but I’m aiming for a higher paid position.

What sort of thing should I look for? I’d love a job working directly with people, I love working with children, but I’m not keen on doing further study. Would love some recommendations!😊

I'm stunned you only found unpaid internships. All the big corporates offer paid internship programmes as standard! Lots aren't related to your degree but would have given value to you having done it - whereas roles in safeguarding/childcare you basically will earn at levels more comparable to a non graduate.

OP i can hear loud and clear you hate biology/STEM and it sounds like work with kids suits your lifestyle more. Sure, it might pay less but please do follow your heart. There ARE hugher paying roles with children out there if you do want to earn more. Its nice to have a science degree tucked under your belt, it wasnt a waste of time.

I don’t think I was looking hard enough. In all honesty I was completely burnt out after second year and could think of nothing worse than going straight into full time “work” in the city. I was quite happy with my local jobs to keep me occupied over the holidays. In hindsight and without knowing me it sounds like a terrible decision but I don’t regret it. I very nearly dropped out at the end of second year so for me I needed time to recharge and do something I enjoyed.

A 2:1 s a 2:1 - just call it that. Not a scraped one, a high or a low one

You’ve applied for 20 jobs - that is literally nothing in today’s environment. I have met lawyers who applied to 200 different firms before getting one offer for a traineeship. Accept the trial that a job hunt will be - in any industry.

you had 5 interviews so people are biting. maybe at that stage your lack of enthusiasm starts emerging?

your desire to earn decent money is at odds with wanting to teach in primary school. You just won’t ever earn much. Having said that, if you do want to, you should go for it, commit, and get relevant qualifications, including PGCE, otherwise it could be a barrier later on. Teaching STEM? That could future proof you

Thank you. These job applications all involve assessments, personalised CVs, cover letters. Some take upwards of three hours per application. Doing that for 200 alongside the final year of my degree wouldn’t have been doable, but I appreciate the insight.

Own business? Start a nursery or school? Premises seems to be the main issue. Theres high high demand.

If not following STEM (and I understand why - pure biology will need a more applied Masters I suspect unless you move sideways into data science).

Then:

Social Work
Teaching- a PGCE is a good standalone qual in itself
Charity work - with children or in STEM
Royal Colleges often do internships which are worth considering
Children's residential care

With your STEM background though I wouldn't rule out teaching, even if only for a few years. You will be in demand and can then move sideways into things like the civil service, social care etc from there.

Teach. Do the PGCE. Any child care role without a teaching qualification is very poorly paid.

I teach in an inner London primary in a very tough area and I love it.

Get some experience in a Primary School. For a large part of my career I was a nursery teacher and just loved it. But if you don’t get a teaching qualification you’ll find yourself in 10 years still earning a pittance.

If you're passionate about working with children and feel switched off from biology why do t you pursue primary teaching with a view to upskilling and looking for progression/ diversification type roles wherever you can. Education is huge as a sector and you're just starting your career - there's so many different areas you could spin off into - research into children's learning, development, safeguarding, you could focus on science teaching and learning at primary level, or side step into social services work, SEN, or just go for the straight vertical progression route into leadership roles and then wider management, academy trust roles etc etc.
If you've found your passion then it would be a shame to suppress if for the sake of a theoretical few £k which might not materialise. You're more likely to earn more working in your passion but just keep learning and taking qualifications to certify what you're learning to help secure your professional development and earn more. Easy to forget that I expect in a busy role like teaching where the day to day work is so draining but with effort and an eye on your next role you could still progress and earn good money.

I have a 2.1 STEM degree and work in supply chain management in a pharmaceutical company. I don’t have a masters and have never been asked to do one.
You don’t have to get in through a grad scheme. A fair few of the supply planners in my company have no experience in the industry or even degrees / stem degrees. You can get an entry level role and work your way up

Primary teaching isn’t saturated at all

It is, in plenty of areas primary teachers struggle to secure a job, and due to budgets and increased supply supply work is rare a lot of areas too.. Secondary teaching however...

OP in reality it's unlikely you will secure a decent paid job in a childcare/education related field without a PGCE or a masters. Safeguarding roles are invariably filled by qualified teachers (and there are plenty of teachers looking for roles outside of teaching to fill them). As has been said biology is the least in demand STEM subject aside from pure biology jobs as it were, so although you could probably find general grad jobs that don't specify a degree further training really is your best bet for a decent career.

You're probably right about not getting a biology related job without masters. That would be minimum for most roles, and most lab work want biochem or pharma, so they're out. Biology consulting is precarious and badly paid, plus normally requires a masters or PhD because there's too much competition for jobs. That really does just leave teaching that's directly linked to biology, which is what most of my biologist friends ended up in.

To get a company job, you need to widen your net for applications and just apply to everything. Chances are you'll eventually be able to find a role in a 2nd tier company and work up, even if it wasn't an industry you fancied originally. I did a degree not dissimilar to biology and classmates now work for airlines, unions, recruitment consultants, children's charities, all sorts.

Another alternative would be nannying for a year or 2. It doesn't require formal qualifications if you work in someone else's house, the pay is ok and it would confirm if small children were your thing before committing.

Not sure what your salary expectations are OP but you could perhaps consider a career in social care/residential children's care, these are paid quite well and there is career progression. (I am doing a healthcare degree so I'm comparing to those salaries 😀). You'd probably need to do some extra studying but some of these could be done while you're working or via an apprenticeship.

Aside from Scotland, I don't know of any areas where primary teachers simply can't get jobs at all. You might need to do a number of interviews but there are generally roles around and in many, many areas the number of applicants for roles is low and the quality poor. If the OP is in tbe SE, it's unlikely she will struggle to find something as teaching roles are harder to fill in areas with higher house prices.

I was with a small charity last year and had funding that specifically required a review of safeguarding - any number of consultancies out there advising on safeguarding practice - and very process / policy driven, not sure how much actual safeguarding experience you'd need.

Teach First?

Most people who have a safeguarding role have it as part of another job. I'm
A safeguarding officer!

I wouldn't describe it as a career, more a pain in the back side by the way! In our org the only full time safeguarding roles (there's 3) hired professionals with related experience, think former social workers, police, probation officers, teachers - it's pretty niche and you need years of relevant experience.

As to stem jobs, they tend to hire once a year for grad programmes but it's competitive, instead dad got an entry level job and is working her way up. Her dp is on a head programme, took him over a year, started a year after graduation but he'd applied initially whilst at university but was rejected

OP I know you said you don't want to study any more but many jobs require study anyway in the form of industry exams.

I don't know the ins and outs of things but is there some social work/psychology/neuro psychology/speech therapy/ SEN specific course type masters or short courses you could do with a biology bachelors? Part time maybe

That could put you in a position to work with children in a more specialised role.

I do think your issue with stem is your location and inflexibility to move, unlike financial services jobs, biology jobs are not likely to be in central London and larger firms are likely to require flexibility. Dsd's dp's contract (not biology) requires worldwide flexibility, could be sent to the USA, Canada, mainland Europe, Australia etc with 3-6 months notice, that's why they pay better

It is incredibly challenging in a lot of areas for people to secure primary ECT posts, that is not a lie. Also disagree on posts being harder to fill in more affluent areas, have found the opposite to be true.

Thank you so much everybody. Some really good ideas here. My gut feeling when I read people telling me to teach makes me feel quite happy - I think this is what I really want to do.
I need to look into pathways for primary more - I know teach first and ITT (which I think is just for secondary) would suit me - is primary at the moment solely PGCE then secure a job? I’d ideally love a Teach First kind of programme but worried I’ve missed this Septembers intake while dawdling about corporate jobs!
I’d be very open to a part time PGCE and work in my nursery. I’m just fed up of being full time broke student!

Do a secondary pgce. £30000 bursary for stem subjects.

Or if want to keep working early years there's a funded early years teacher qualification for anyone with a degree.

I have inboxed you.

“I’ve applied for about 20 grad schemes and only done in person interviews for five of them (all have knocked me back or ghosted).”

^ Hi OP, I just wanted to say getting to face to face interview stage for 5 out of 20 grad roles applied for is really good! I think you just need to carry on applying to more opportunities.

I got a 2.1 recently but in humanities not STEM, did an industrial placement year, and then worked part time as an intern during my final year. It was stressful but I had to apply for a lot more than 20 roles just to land something.

It’s so frustrating how time consuming applications are these days, especially for junior roles - wishing you good luck!

I’ve applied to over 100s of roles, have a job but it’s not my desired role yet.🫠 Have been ghosted by ‘prestigious’ employers even after getting to final stage interview, and also rejected from jobs where I exceeded criteria.

Tried secondary - could not do a year with teenagers! 🥲 they are scary - and too close to me in age!!!!
The funded EYFS looks good - I’ll look into that. Do you know if there’s scope to teach different key stages after having done that?