if you were applying for jobs then which of these would you most want

[zippitippitoes]

...put them in order with the most wanted first

asylum and immigration case officer
children's information services outreach worker
holiday call centre sales
community arts officer
rights of way (footpaths) officer
teaching assistant
teaching assistant in a secure forensic mental services unit 11-18
speech therapist support worker

teaching assistant in a secure forensic unit
teaching assistant
speech therapist support worker
childrens information services outreach worker
holiday callcentre sales
rights of way officer
community arts officer
asylum and immigration case officer

teaching assistant in a secure forensic unit
teaching assistant
speech therapist support worker
childrens information services outreach worker
holiday callcentre sales
rights of way officer
community arts officer
asylum and immigration case officer

oops i was a bit keenthere zippi!

that's interesting..can you tell I'm still trying to decide what to do when I grow up..I so want to do something worthwhile before I reach retirment age

Can I ask why you would rather do TA than teaching?

none

but possibly the speech therapist one

I would have to retrain as a teacher and I've lost confidence in my knowledge base and I would prefer to work in special needs if I was in a teaching environment (I did intend to do that originally when i initially trained but finding a job was hard)

and I've already spent 9 years as a student since I left school

I wouldn't worry about your knowledge base Zippi, I did when I trained (as a ahem, mature' entrant to the PGCE) You find it all comes back really quickly.

oh yes, go for the teacher trainng if you can, it's only 9 mths or so, insn't it? be bored and frustrated being bossed around by c0cky 20 somethings otherwise..

For me, without seeing job descriptions, salaries etc I'd guess:

teaching assistant in a secure forensic mental services unit 11-18
children's information services outreach worker
community arts officer
speech therapist support worker
teaching assistant
rights of way (footpaths) officer
asylum and immigration case officer
holiday call centre sales

I can't do the teacher training because I'm already a qualified teacher..it's just ancient history now though

and I don't think I want to be one

the main problem with English teaching is that it doesn't have clearcut content and most English departments are lacking in a structured approach and you end up reinventing the wheel all the time as each teacher creates their own resources lesson plans rather than sharing

mind you, I'd be pretty crap at most of those jobs! Haven't got the skills to be an arts officer or a sales centre worker and eventually would find the low status and pay of most of the support worker/outreach/assistant jobs frustrating. I think a lot of people who go into that sort of game end up back as a student having hit a brick wall progression wise. That's why I'm currently a student (social work) anyway! Maybe mb et al are right that you should cut out the middle man and get yourself straight back to college, zippi? Mind you, a good few years in the real employment world really did inspire me and crystalise my thoughts on what I wanted to do before I leapt back into studenthood. Good luck.

Sorry- x posted. You won't hit a brick wall in the teaching assistant jobs then. Pick the most interesting one.

Teaching assistant in secure forensic mental services unit 11-18

Speech therapy support worker

teaching assistant

asylum and immigration case worker

children's information services outreach officer

rights of way officer

community arts officer

holiday call centre sales

i did this without reading the thread, why are we doing this?

speech therapy support worker - because it sounds fascinating and because I believe sometimes it can lead on to getting support to qualify yourself...
go for it!

community arts officer - cause my boss gets tons of money, and we do all the blinkin work

speech therapist support worker

can understand why you don't want to be a teacher but I think that you would find being a ta worse and unsatisfying if you've got QTS.

I've applied already for the children's services outreach worker, the speech therapist supporter is only for NHS employees in the first instance

The one that I'm leaning towards is the asylum case worker but that is the one with the particularly high flying recruitment process and it's also far and away the best paid..but I've spent quite a lot of time researching for it and it would be stressful..also possibly difficult politically.