Adult son needs ideas on career directions

[ipredictariot5]

Hoping for help! My son is in late 20s. He has done a degree in Spanish and Portuguese and got a 2:1. Then got a Masters in English Lit. Covid floored him MH wise. He has struggled to get full time work that would became a career. A lot of his peers all the same. He is in Scotland. Has had the usual hospitality jobs as a student and did a lot of volunteering during COVID. Since then he has had work on a community magazine and in a library. The problem is all jobs are part time and insecure contracts. He enjoys working with kids. Had planned to apply for PGCE this year but job situation in Scotland for teachers looks dire. Any wise mumnetters have ideas? I feel he needs some sort of professional qualification to progress further - teaching/ social work/probation etc but worried about sinking more money into education when despite a good degree and a masters he is in part time minimum wage work

Civil Service? Lots of opportunities, lots of potential for progression and excellent employers.

The impression I have in England is that there is a shortage of teachers particularly in the South East so I would have thought doing the PGCE and being flexible over job location would be a sensible way to go.

A good degree isn't the same as a degree that's useful for a career though. If he wants to stay in Scotland, then Spanish and Portuguese related roles are going to be limited, and English lit isn't vocational. So doing a more vocational qualification is not to be discounted just because he's already studied a lot. He'll either have to do the teacher or probationer etc training or move or possibly both if there's nothing in the local job market for his current skills.

England - Bursaries or Scholarships for Teacher Training

including Languages.

If his MH is poor then teaching is not for him.

I agree with this. Teaching can push very stable minded people to the brink.

Another one agreeing here - especially if it means moving several hundred miles from home for training and work.

Thanks - yes I agree - his MH is now good but moving across the country wouldn’t be good at all for him

With having done English and kind of connected to the magazine and library, what about Communications/PR?

There is very little call for MFL graduates in the UK. There are definitely roles, particularly in London, with big name companies that require modern foreign languages but they expect a standard that is way beyond the standard acquired on an MFL degree ie they are looking for people brought up bi or tri lingually who have a qualification in another area. And now, post Brexit, it is difficult for MFL graduates to move abroad where they might have found work teaching English or in hospitality.

It's probably best for your son to cut his losses and retrain in an area with job prospects.

PR is very cut-throat so again you need to be super robust. However there is a big call now for content creation in B2B businesses, so perhaps take a look at the marketing route. A short course in digital marketing and some brand training (which you can do via LinkedIn) and start looking at the big Portuguese / Spanish companies that have offices here ...

Translation? I work in publishing and books in translation / selling translation rights is thriving.

The translators I know are all terrified of AI.

Also Scottish. My middle one has gone to Durham for work. Loves the North East and has been made very welcome plus lots of Scots. Would he consider Teach First in Carlisle/Cumbria/Durham for easier visits home (and cheaper housing). He could do his 2 years and then return to Scotland. My youngest had an offer from them (didn't take it in the end) but was impressed by support network. She had the impression that trainees often shared accommodation so you weren't on your own.

Same. It's not a good field to go into now. Better to begin in something more sustainable.

hope they find something, the world is changing so fast its hard to know where to look but Spanish is a great language to have, nearly as widely spoken as English, especially outside UK

FWIW my cousin did modern languages and specialised in Spanish. She helped out with translation at Manchester airport (which was pretty close for her) eventually met a chap from South America and moved there, as an English Translator . . .

Folks like the Customs (ports and airports), police and sometimes local council need on the spot translation. I think she also got involved as a translator with local charities and local Chambers of Commerce but that didn't really go anywhere.

Looking in a different direction, what are their 'transferable skills' like? What stuff are they good at or want to do in their work? e.g my daughter is doing Economics and Politics but doesn't think she wants to work in the field, I am helping her break in to Digital Project Delivery Management because she is a born organiser - for many jobs it is the skills, attributes etc rather than education that organisations really need

Publishing, training to become an editor? Travel writer?

Sorry can’t help, but this thread should serve as a useful reminder to all that all that investment into degrees and a Masters, does not automatically equate to a worthwhile career. So many people would do well to open their eyes to that.

It's a shame that he didn't do a Masters in a vocational/practical subject.

What about healthcare? Not directly related to his degrees but languages and healthcare are really both about people.

Language teachers are like gold dust in England and with English as a second subject he could be a good candidate. Are language teachers really in surplus supply in Scotland?

He would be working with children, there is a career path and a decent pension at the end. Its not for everyone but if he was already interested then its worth pursuing further, even if it means travelling to work. Language PGCEs can also attract bursaries.

PGCE sounds like a solid route, or civil service.

I worked hard on my own MH for years prior to being a teacher- finally felt stable, first year in and currently suffering and off with mental health, I personally wouldn't advise

Teaching English as a second language, Content Writing, IT industry - tech writing, multilingual UX etc.
Teaching Spanish/Portuguese.
Freelance Journalism.
Something completely different?

Might be worth looking at career consultants. The uni careers office was rubbish back in my day.

When I was your DS's age, I used the 'What color is your parachute book' and it helped me focus on my transferrable skills.

This is so helpful thank you everyone and I will look out for that book. I will do some more investigation on the PGCE and Spanish and was chatting about Carlisle to him just yesterday !

What Color is Your Parachute? (shop around if on a budget)
It was decades ago when I read it but it is regularly updated.
You have to work through all the exercises.

There are probably other similar books or websites, but I found that forcing myself to work through the book made me more focused.

He might find that his dream job is something completely different or that it's something he'd dismissed.