Bank on a job in teaching

When recession hits, people invariably consider their career options, and according to the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), becoming a teacher has never been more attractive to those leaving the financial sector.

The TDA's latest figures show that the number of people inquiring about becoming a teacher has risen by almost 34 per cent since March this year, and they believe this could be a sign that in a time of financial uncertainty people are seeking more secure career paths.

"These are worrying and unstable times for everyone," says Graham Holley, chief executive of the TDA, "and it may be that people are looking toward teaching as a secure, as well as rewarding, career. Teaching offers a competitive salary and enables career changers to utilise talents honed in their current job – from communication and leadership skills to team management."

In June, the TDA launched Transition to Teaching, a scheme backed by a number of FTSE 100 companies which aims to help those who want to change careers to become teachers. During October, there will be events in the City to promote teaching as a career.

"The 1980s were a boom time," recalls Nick Oulton, who worked in a merchant bank during that decade, "so everyone was working absurd hours. But I had no passion for banking. It was something I'd fallen into after university and spending three years in the army. But when I got out of bed in the morning, I didn't want to go to work."

Feeling unfulfilled, he decided to leave the rat race and retrain as a teacher, and ended up teaching subjects that he hadn't studied at university. "It seems like an odd career move," he admits, "and it was a total change from what I'd been doing before, as I got a job teaching Latin and Greek – even though my degree was in history."

His enthusiasm for work returned, and since his career change he has extended his commitment to languages education by producing and publishing teaching materials and textbooks based on his own classroom experience, enabling others to enjoy their work just as much as he has.

"When I became a teacher, I wanted to go into the classroom every day," he says. "You've got children in front of you who want to learn, and they need you to help them do it."

Vanessa Ogden joined a graduate management training programme in a bank on leaving university. "I wanted to work with people, to do projects, and to contribute to the community," she says. Over a two-year period, she realised that she could fulfil her goals more successfully elsewhere.

"I liked working with young people at a local youth club in a voluntary capacity, and I wanted to challenge myself. I began to research the potential ways of moving into education, going into schools and looking at different institutions before choosing where I wanted to train. Intellectually, teaching is a very stimulating profession – not that banking isn't; but teaching is challenging in deeper way."

Now a head teacher at Mulberry School for Girls, London, Ogden is positive she made the right decision. "I'm very happy. I'm challenged, stimulated, and my work is rewarding."

Her deputy, Kelda Stevenson, was also a career-changer, moving from corporate communications to an internet start-up into teaching. Stevenson switched via the Future Leaders programme, which trains staff to go into senior management in inner-city schools, and is working with the TDA to promote teaching as a career.

Ogden adds: "If you've worked in another sector such as banking, you can draw on that additional experience. As a recruiter, I certainly value those attributes."

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