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Original poster

Any careers in particular that are in high demand now?

48 replies

MauraMC · 02/01/2019 04:28

So, long story short, I'm moving from NYC to London with my husband and two girls (7 and 2) in April. I have degrees in English Lit, Speech Language Pathology and Linguistics and have been working in education (as a Speech Path and a Reading Specialist) on and off for the last 10 years. I had originally planned on going to law school in the states but decided I wanted more work-life balance, so I didn't pursue it. However, I've been wanting to career change for some time now - with interests spanning the gamut from social work to law to nursing - and I'm viewing this move as an opportunity to refocus my efforts. So, my question (which is a difficult one, I know) is are there any careers that are in particularly high demand over there now? In NYC, all of the related services, for example (Speech, OT, PT) are eminently hirable, as is nursing and tech, etc. Just wondering what the job market is like over there, if one could even attempt to proffer an answer to this. Eek.

OP posts:
PenguinPandas · 02/01/2019 05:09

Parts of tech growing very rapidly - Fintech, ethical hacking etc.

A lot of industries are bracing themselves for Brexit so will be cautious.

Shortages in some areas of NHS and education though there's reasons for that and funding is tight. Pay may well be low compared to US.

Shortages in some engineering fields.

dellacucina · 02/01/2019 05:14

I would advise against becoming a solicitor. There is a surplus of people who have gotten their degree in law and there aren't enough training contracts to go around (this is necessary for becoming fully qualified).

jarviscockerslover · 02/01/2019 05:18

Data scientist!

Loveweekends10 · 02/01/2019 05:25

Nurses are in high demand. Mainly because of vacancies in the NHS. You can’t just apply to be a nurse you would have to study for another 2 years at the most look for a pg dip nursing programme ( as you already have a degree). I presume you would be happy to do that as you were planning on going to law school anyway. You need to be aware that nurses do not earn the same here as they do in the States.

Original poster
MauraMC · 02/01/2019 11:39

@penguinpandas what areas of education and NHS have shortages? @jarviscockerslover is data science in high demand? Good to know! I had heard that that was a good field to pursue there. @loveweekends10 I’m absolutely ready to return to school if that’s what it takes. How poorly are nurses compensated there? Nurses make great money here, so I have to completely adjust my expectations I suppose.

OP posts:
Original poster
MauraMC · 02/01/2019 11:51

And how about social work? Would that be a career that would offer lots of opportunity in London? I’ve looked into the step up to social work programme and am very intrigued by it, but it’s so hard to gauge the outlook for careers not having lived there.

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Ponsietta100 · 02/01/2019 11:56

The starting salary for nurses here is around £23k. The pay is crap but you get enhancements for weekends and nights and are on a pay progression scale. If you can cope with the rubbish pay it’s a very rewarding career and there is loads of opportunities for progression and for working in different areas of nursing in the NHS. The degree is a hard slog with no funding and no bursary. But if it’s something you really want to do then go for it!

Ponsietta100 · 02/01/2019 11:56

Also should add if you’re looking at living and working in London the pay rate for nurses is slightly higher to factor in higher living costs!

Original poster
MauraMC · 02/01/2019 11:58

@ponsietta100 thanks so much. Very helpful info. Any idea way the prospects are for midwifery?

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aimingfor2019 · 02/01/2019 12:03

There's demand for Conversational Designers / VUI specialists in London. Working on voice assistants (Alexa, Google Home, etc).
You would probably need to having some training in User Experience first though.

Cherries101 · 02/01/2019 12:04

Linguistics in the design of AI is a growing field. With your qualifications plus a little technology experience (try project management) plus a masters you may even be able to apply to the likes of Google / Apple etc.

Original poster
MauraMC · 02/01/2019 12:07

@cherries101 and @aimingfor2019 my husband works in tech and he’s constantly trying to convince me to somehow marry my language/speech experience with tech, but I’m just totally unclear as to what kind of a masters programme would facilitate such a transition...

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Holidayshopping · 02/01/2019 12:14

Wow-have you done three separate degrees?!

I would say that we are crying out for social workers, teachers, nurses and midwives but they pay is crap, you’ll have to pay fees to retrain and the work life balance/job satisfaction afterwards might well not be what you’d hoped.

What about speech therapy if you’re already trained?

Original poster
MauraMC · 02/01/2019 12:23

I did an undergrad and two masters degrees Confused. What can I say, I like school? Or maybe I’m a terrible decision-maker haha? I left speech therapy to transition into a literacy focus a few years ago, as I didn’t really like speech, and I’ve heard the NHS pays very poorly for speech. Do they hire speech teachers in schools full time as they do here?

So the pay is crap for all of the things that interest me. Perhaps some kind of AI/conversational tech field is the way to go, given the rental prices we are seeing in London Hmm

OP posts:
Ponsietta100 · 02/01/2019 17:35

I don’t know a huge amount about midwifery but I think the general consensus is that the courses and much harder to get onto as they have much smaller intakes. However the NHS still needs plenty of them!

PenguinPandas · 02/01/2019 18:09

I think there's general shortages in teaching and nursing especially science, languages, maths but if you join late on pay is low. It's not so bad if enter as young graduate. I wouldn't particularly recommend it now but not an expert and maybe niches. Something like educational psychologist maybe but really needs someone who knows more than me to advise. Private pays better, with a school some live on site I think. There's a in the staffroom thread people on there might know better.

chumbal · 02/01/2019 18:19

Don't forget there is a shortage of social workers, nurses & teachers because the job is poorly paid and undervalued Sad

BonnesVacances · 02/01/2019 18:32

Not sure about nursing, but in education you don't have to start at the bottom of the pay scale, if you can demonstrate what you are bringing to the job from previous work experience. DH started on point 3 because he was able to show how his experience in industry directly related to the curriculum.

WeightWatching2019 · 02/01/2019 18:39

By the time OP has qualified the starting salary for nurses will be closer to £27k won’t it? Due to the recent changes.

PenguinPandas · 02/01/2019 18:53

I think its up to the school and you to negiotiate if your experience is relevant - knew someone who did 10 years in publishing before being English teacher and she had to start at bottom of payscale but another school might well have taken that into account. Does tend to be long hours - at my kids school teachers do around 8am to 6pm then marking etc after or at weekends. Do get long holidays (13 weeks) but again called in to work through some of it. Not that family friendly unless you can get part-time though some schools are better than others. The nurses I have known do 12 hour shifts but 3 day weeks so better for family time though very long days.

If you can get experience taken into account for teaching pay is OK, especially if you are rural. In London the London allowance for teaching is nothing like the average general increase in wages for working in London so not so good there.

Holidayshopping · 02/01/2019 19:00

Do they hire speech teachers in schools full time as they do here?

Ha ha, no. Not in mainstream.

Educational psychology pays well but you’d need a degree in psychology then possibly a masters and definitely a doctorate.

@WeightWatching2019 what are the changes that are being made to nursing pay scales?

Holidayshopping · 02/01/2019 19:04

I think its up to the school and you to negiotiate if your experience is relevant - knew someone who did 10 years in publishing before being English teacher and she had to start at bottom of payscale but another school might well have taken that into account

20 years ago, this could often be negotiations but with current budgets, heads tend to be forced to go for NQTs because they’re cheap.

GodknowsIwanttobreakfree · 02/01/2019 19:08

There is more demand for teachers in London. In my county outside London there has been a major reorganisation and mass redundancies and I know that is the situation in neighbouring areas too.

Hadehahaha · 02/01/2019 19:09

You can be a speech and language therapist here and work only in schools, but you might need a few contracts in different schools to make up full time. Some people in this area work for all the schools in a London borough or an academy chain (group of schools).

BlaaBlaaBlaa · 02/01/2019 19:09

Your skills would be suited to being a careers adviser. You'd need additional training ( preferably Pgdip or MA) but there are jobs out there at the moment and a bit of a skill shortage.

Schools don't pay very well but universities do and given current government policy and the challenges faced by HE at the moment lots of places are recruiting in large numbers.