A Teaching Moment: Boosting Your Career In Education

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“If you’ve chosen a career in the development and education of young minds; you’ll understand how rewarding a job in teaching can be.”

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Two focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and General Education. While very important and rewarding, a career in education can be very, very challenging at times. Some teachers burn out and leave the field altogether, while others ascend into administration. No matter what your aspirations are as an educator, it’s important to think about your career in depth and set yourself up to succeed. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, A Teaching Moment: Boosting Your Career In Education.

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If you’ve chosen a career in the development and education of young minds; you’ll understand how rewarding a job in teaching can be. However, education also brings its challenges, and sometimes, you’ll have to deal with stressful situations. If you’re keen to work through the various highs and lows of your job role; you have longevity in teaching and enjoy your career until retirement. Some people find themselves wondering how to boost their career further, due to job dissatisfaction and lack of prospects. There are ways to push ahead with your career in education; you just have to know where to look and what to do. The following are some tips and ideas for those who want to give their job role a helping hand for a long and rewarding career in the educational field.

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More Learning

The more adept you are to handle your class; the better you’ll be able to gain their respect and influence their educational choices, and you’ll be an appealing candidate for an academic recruitment firm. Therefore, if you’re feeling a little stagnant in your teaching role; consider furthering your qualifications, utilizing those skills, and start the next step in your job journey. Take a look at the information available online to understand how specialized courses and qualifications will help to open all sorts of career doors for you. The more strings to your bow you obtain; the better chance you have at a promotion or a fresh job placement altogether.

Perhaps there are certain areas of your job that you do not feel as strong as you’d like to; research into courses you can complete and all the avenues that are in place aimed to strengthen those elements of your career. You’ll be able to walk into the classroom with confidence, and your head held high, knowing that you’ve worked hard to get where you are and to have the knowledge and expertise that will benefit your class of students.

Another great way to continue your learning is to learn from others who have experience in teaching. Christopher M Hardin is someone who has decades of teaching experience that he wants to share with others.

New Methods

If you’re struggling with your current teaching methods, and the information isn’t sinking in with your class; don’t be afraid to try something new. As long as you are teaching the required lesson, and sticking to school guidelines; you should experiment with tried and tested techniques that may seem unconventional. Do your research so that you can look for some innovative ways to teach kids, and get some inspiration to take into your own classroom. Everything from role play, to playing classical music during lessons has been utilized in the education of young minds; so be the teacher that people remember and start seeing the improvements to your pupil’s education and grades that can happen as a result.

Social Connections

If you’re struggling with one particular individual, that doesn’t seem to want to learn or be there; it’s worth investigating into their life outside the classroom. Look for significant behavioral changes and issues that may have arisen that has led to difficulties, and let them know that you’re a friendly ear if they need help, or simply to talk. The more time you put into your lessons and the welfare of your students, the better your relationship with them will be, and the quicker they’ll learn what’s needed.

Knowing and Upholding Your Rights in the Workplace

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Career Discussions. Employment is not a one way street and no matter which career you choose, you do have certain rights when you start. It’s important the know what those rights are when you start. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Knowing and Upholding Your Rights in the Workplace.

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When you work for someone else, you are essentially allowing them to profit from your hard work. However, there are so many benefits that come hand in hand with being employed that the majority of us are happy to take on this kind of position within a company. You have contracted working hours which means regular, stable wages that you can build your life around. You receive pay when you are sick or when you need to take parental leave. You receive annual leave, so you can have a little time off each year without worrying about losing money. Perhaps the most important benefit is having rights as an employee regarding your health and safety that must be upheld, meaning you can feel safe each day when you head to work. Now, most employers keep up with this of their own accord. But if your employer isn’t sticking to rules and regulations, you need to speak out and ensure that your rights are upheld. This can be daunting, but you cannot be punished or reprimanded for demanding what you are entitled to. So, here are some areas to focus on!

A Safe Workplace

First and foremost, you have the right to work in a safe space. Your workplace shouldn’t pose any threat or risk to you, your health and wellbeing. Your employer will have to conduct all sorts of checks to guarantee this. If potential threats are present but can’t be changed, measures should be taken to alert you to them. If there’s a low ceiling, a sign should be fitted ahead of it in order to warn you to mind your head. If there’s a small step that can’t be removed, a “mind the step” sign should clearly be displayed.

Relevant Training

Regardless of what role you are carrying out, your employer should ensure that you are fully trained to be able to carry it out safely. If you work in retail and need to lift heavy items and move them from store rooms to the shop floor, you should receive training in how to do this. It may sound like something straightforward and basic, but if you lift things in the wrong way, you could become injured. If you work in construction, you should have training in every aspect of the jobs that you need to carry out. If you don’t and are then hurt during construction, you will be able to seek legal aid and receive compensation.

Regularly Updated Risk Assessments

Your employer should carry out risk assessments associated with every aspect of your role. If something is a “risk” it means that there’s a chance that you could be injured or harmed while engaging with it. Your employer should then take measures to remove this risk before you are put to work.

These are just a few of the different rights that you have in the workplace. Make sure that your employer is upholding them at all times! This is for your own sake and others’ sake!

Everything You Need To Know About Working Remotely

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Career Discussions. Some careers allow working remotely which is a very helpful option to have. There are several considerations for this privilege which can be very advantageous also be abused. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Everything You Need To Know About Working Remotely.

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There are many opportunities in working remotely, so if this is something you’re thinking about implementing into your routine, it could ultimately change things for you for the better. However, there are a few things you should know first.

Yes, you can work from wherever you want as long as there is an internet connection, and you may also be supported by the great technological advances in things like collaboration tools, cloud computing, improved communication tools, and so on. However, there are drawbacks. This is a trend that isn’t slowing down anytime soon, as people are no longer content to just work inside of a cubicle – so read on and you’ll get a feel for the main benefits and drawbacks.

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Benefits of Remote Work Include:
When you work remotely you can take advantage of flexible working hours. You can spend more time with your children if you have a family, and you’ll usually be able to work around your hobbies and anything else you have going on. You will need to be able to draw a clear line between your work and personal life, but if you can do that, then it will be an ideal way of life for you. There’s no dress code, and you’ll learn new skills, such as bookkeeping, management, etc. You’ll likely save money from not having to commute to a place of work, which is also better for the environment. Then there are the great tools like microsoft rds to help you get the job done to a high standard. There are also more places to complete your remote work, with coffee shops welcoming remote workers and co working spaces popping up all over the place.

The Drawbacks of Remote Working Include:
Unfortunately, remote working offers limited social interaction. This can be fine for introverted workers, but maybe not so much for those extroverted workers who enjoy some company and conversation during their working day. Meeting new people and making friends is pretty impossible, and you may get lonely or stuck in a rut. Plus, there’s usually no assistance – everything is on you. If something isn’t going right, it’s likely that you’re the one to blame. Of course there can be lots of distractions, too – you must be able to self manage if you’re going to do this successfully. The fridge is usually just a few steps away, as well as your phone, social media, and the TV. You have to be able to control yourself if you’re going to get as much work done as you can. It’s all too easy to give yourself regular breaks (which can be great if you’re actually working), and end up not getting a lot done at all. There may also be communication problems with other members of your team if you don’t have the right software.

Working remotely is certainly not for everybody, but it’s something you should probably try if you’ve been considering it as an option. Figure out solutions to the drawbacks here and you might just find that it’s a positive new direction for you.

Signs You Are Ready To Move Abroad

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two key focuses are Career Discussions and Health and Wellness. Whether due to life changes or career changes, some individuals eventually have the option of moving abroad. Sometimes there are signs that you’re ready to make this change. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Signs You Are Ready To Move Abroad.

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When you become an adult the world suddenly becomes your oyster. You are no longer bound to staying in the same city forever and you can choose to go and live wherever and explore wherever you want. Moving abroad is a big step towards freedom and it is something which not many of us do for ourselves. But today we are going to have a look at some sure signs that you are ready to take that leap and make a move.

You need a change

Every now and again life will fall into the same patterns and this can make it hard for us to see past our little bubble into something new. When we get stuck in a rut with life it can be hard and we can often end up feeling under appreciated and like we aren’t reaching our full potential. A change in lifestyle is always a good thing and if you need a big change in your life, moving abroad can give that to you.

You have a flexible job

One of the things which modern workers can enjoy more of these days is flexibility. Life isn’t all 9-5 and in fact there are lots of jobs online which can allow someone to work from home or travel while they work. If you have a job like this or you are able to get one, this can free up your life and allow you to move wherever you want in the world with no issues.

Your family want to come too

The biggest issue you might have with moving away is leaving family or not being able to go because the rest of your household doesn’t want to make the move. Think about making sure that you explain the merits of moving abroad and take a few trips there with your family so that they can see what it’s like and make a decision. If everyone gets on board then you have no problems!

You have no big commitments

There are a lot of responsibilities in adult life, and if you have a pet, a child, a specific job and a mortgage to pay off it might seem like a pipe dream to move away and start fresh. However if you don’t have any of these commitments right now it is the ideal time for you to make the move and start a new life somewhere else. It will allow you to either travel around before settling back at home or to settle somewhere else.

You found a great property

Obviously the main thing you need to think about when moving home is the housing market. Different countries will be vastly varied in their market and if you can find the best properties for sale in your chosen country this could be what sways your decision. Take a look and see what’s on offer within your budget and compare this to what you can get back at home. You might be surprised with what you find.

What It Takes To Be A CEO

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) wield a lot of power and control whole industrial sectors. Their decisions greatly impact the lives of those under them and their influence even rivals that of politicians. They must possess a select collection of skills to ascend to their positions and be successful. The following contributed post is thus entitled, What It Takes To Be A CEO.

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To be a CEO is one of the biggest responsibilities in the world. You have a whole company relying on you, and you have your own lifestyle to support through it. But everyone thinks that’s just as easy as setting up a business, figuring out how to run it, and then helping it along its way. Oh no, this is far from what it takes to be a CEO. To be a CEO you have to have so many qualities and skills, that this article truly won’t cover it. If you’re not a CEO at the minute, and you’re just thinking of becoming one, then you really do need to have a general insight of what it takes to be a good CEO. There’s no point setting up your own company if you’re not the right person to do it. If you have your own company at the minute, there’s also no point in moving forward if you don’t know what it takes to be a good CEO. So, let us enlighten you, and show you what we think it’s going to take!

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The Right Skills

You definitely do need the right skills if you’re going to be the best CEO for your company. We’re talking skills like communication, problem solving, and working under pressure. You might think you have all of this at the minute, but we think there are always areas that can be improved. To make sure you have all of the necessary skills, and that you perfect them, we think you should take some business management courses. Don’t think there’s just one that will tell you all, there’s so many different management courses you could go on to make sure you’re the best. Even if it’s just you at the minute, the courses won’t be teaching you how to lead, they’ll be teaching you how you can run a business more than anything!

The Right Vision

The vision you have is essential, and please don’t tell us it’s focused around putting millions in your bank account. Of course this is going to be the end goal, but it shouldn’t be the vision. The vision should be what you think your company should be doing in a few years time, and how you want it to expand. Jos Opdeweegh is a businessman who has been successful throughout his career, and has now wrote articles on the vision that business owners should have, and what they shouldn’t have. If the focus is always on money, the bigger picture of the business could be lost sight of.

The Ability To Lead

The ability to lead is definitely something we want to finish the article with. You have to be that person that your whole team can come to in a time of need, not just when it’s to do with business. We think that’s really what it takes to be a true leader. If you can’t be that person who anyone can come to, you’ll be the person that anyone turns against. There really are some terrible CEOs that bring a company down because they just can’t lead.

Managing Your Employees’ Workflow

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and two key focuses are Business/Entrepreneurship and Career Discussions. When one transitions over employer/manager/supervisor, they now become responsible for managing the work of others. This is a skill and a task all. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Managing Your Employees’ Workflow.

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When you become an employer, you take on a whole host of responsibility over your employers. At the end of the day, you are making money from their efforts and they are helping to build your dreams. So, the least that you can do is manage them effectively so that their working days are as comfortable and positive as possible! One area that tends to go relatively neglected when it comes to managing employees is monitoring and adjusting their work schedule. Here’s a little information on the subject!

The Importance of Workflow Management

Workflow management is extremely important for your business’ progression as well as your employees. It is essentially a means of ensuring that employees know what they need to do in order to keep your business moving forward and a means of ensuring that this happens. You should provide your employees with set projects so that they know what tasks they need to undertake and how long they have to do this. Most of us will do this anyway. However, you also need to remember to let employees know why they are working towards this objective and what they are likely to do once the project is completed. This gives them more of a sense of purpose. They will see where their work is heading and they will feel that they are working towards something rather than simply completing tasks and checking boxes. If you’d like to learn more about this, you can find out more on the subject through Umlaut.

Conducting Regular Check Ups

It is important to maintain regular contact with your staff. Try to arrange meetings part way through projects to ensure that everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing and to see how they are progressing. This will provide you with the opportunity to ensure all work is being carried out as you hoped and also gives employees the opportunity to raise any queries or concerns. If you fail to do this, problems will generally be kept quiet and you may come to the deadline of a project only to find that it needs to be extended or altered due to problems that could have been confronted and cleared up earlier.

Meeting Employees’ Personal Needs

It is also a good idea to have one to one meeting with employees to check whether their personal circumstances have changed. Health complaints or personal problems could mean that you may need to reduce particular employees’ workflow for their wellbeing. Improvements in personal conditions could mean you can increase their responsibilities.

These are just a few of the basics when it comes to managing your employees’ workflow. Make sure to look further into the subject to ensure that everyone is working effectively and comfortably!

3 Signs You Might Be A Workaholic

One of the focuses of my blog is Health/Wellness. No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, it’s important to maintain some semblance of health and balance in your life, and not overwork yourself. How do you know if you’ve become a workaholic? The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Signs You Might Be A Workaholic.

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Entrepreneurship, endeavor, hard work. They’re all admirable qualities. They enable one to transcend the limitations of their career path and forge a new business and a new career on their own terms. Yet, while the path of entrepreneurship is a worthy pursuit with a range if personal and professional benefits, it is not without its pitfalls. Entrepreneurs are notoriously at risk of workaholism; their hours are long, their duties are many and various and their investment in their business is intensely personal. While dedication and diligence are essential ingredients for success, they must be carefully managed, lest they lead to burnout which benefits neither an entrepreneur nor their business.

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The trouble with workaholism is that like any addiction it can creep on you unawares. Rarely do we know that it has begun to affect us until we are in its thrall. The only way we can break its hold over us is by recognizing the signs in our behavior and in how those around us react to us. If you value your work / life balance and your relationship with your employees, family and friends it’s in your interests to be wary of the following…

You have to do everything yourself

When you start your own business, it’s more than just another job or career step. Your business is your life. As such, you understand that every aspect of your enterprise reflects on you. Hence, you apply rigorous control over every aspect of your operations. While there’s certainly value in having a certain way of doing things that is allied with your brand, there’s a fine line between insisting that things are done your way and micromanagement.

If you refuse to lighten your load by outsourcing your Business IT Consulting, your digital marketing campaign or your HR function you could be spending needlessly and missing out on invaluable professional support. When you’re the kind of boss that hovers around doing everything for your employees instead of with them, you also stunt their professional growth.

You’re eating a lot of takeout

How often do you call your partner to let them know that you won’t be home for dinner? How many times have you come home to an empty refrigerator? How often do you get takeout delivered to the office rather than cook? Has your partner stopped bothering to leave you a plate of leftovers because you’re never home on time for dinner?

If you notice that you’re almost constantly dining on take out food this is most assuredly not great for your health, nor is it sustainable.

You’re more stressed in your down time than at work

In many ways a business is like a child. You worry about it constantly and you can become very reticent about the prospect of leaving it in the care of anyone but yourself. Thus, it’s not uncommon for entrepreneurs to become stressed and agitated in what is supposed to be their down time.

However, living like this is an express ticket to burning out. If you genuinely fear for your business when you’re not at the helm, you need to focus more of your efforts in training your employees so that they’re able to pick up the slack when you need to take some time off.

The better you know the signs, the easier it is to put measures in place to prevent your workaholism from impacting negatively on your business and your life.

A Look at Careers: The Federal Government’s General Schedule Pay Scale and Salaries Revisited

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“When I first moved here, a couple of men told me they had achieved their ‘14s’ when we first met and I didn’t know what that meant.”

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The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and some of its focuses are: Career Discussions, Education, and Financial Literacy/Money. I originally published this piece in 2015 on the Examiner as I started to understand some of the nuances of being a federal employee. While the employment in the government is relatively stable in comparison to the private sector, there are some other unique differences which I thought were worth discussing. If you or someone you know is considering a federal career, this is a good and insightful read.

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My last article gave an overview of my experience as a federal employee in a general sense. This article will talk about one of the more intriguing parts of being a federal employee; the General Schedule (GS). The GS is particularly relevant when one is looking to get hired into the federal government and it takes on more significance when seeking promotion within one the federal government’s many agencies.

The General Schedule is a payroll scale which dictates the salary of each federal civilian employee. The scale spans from levels 1-15, with 15 being the highest paid and most senior. The only levels higher than the GS are the Senior Executive Service (SES) and then becoming an elected official.

Within the GS some promotions to the next grade are automatic without competition. Within grades, there are ‘steps’ where one automatically gets a raise periodically. There are 10 steps to each grade, and the first four step increases are automatic annually. Afterwards they are every two years. This seems like a really good deal right?

Reaching the GS-14 and 15 levels from the 13 level involves competition. That’s assuming that there’s money in the federal budget or ‘continuing resolutions’ for those promotions to become available in the first place. Another caveat is that one cannot jump to a higher grade without proving that they adequately performed the functions of the grade below it – going from a 13 to a 15 for example. A 13 must first become a 14 before reaching a 15.

While the GS is standard across the board for all federal employees, the cost of living for geographic location varies. For example, a GS-14 in my hometown of Buffalo, NY would make slightly less than a GS-14 in the Washington, DC metro area due to the vast difference in the cost of living.

What does all of this matter? As with everything, it isn’t a perfect system depending on your point of view, and there are pros and cons to working in the public vs. the private sector vs. academia. As described in my Earning a Ph.D. series, ascension within the federal government isn’t entirely dependent on one’s degree level. Having a Ph.D. for example doesn’t guarantee a promotion or even favor within an agency, and there are scenarios where Ph.D.’s can end up being supervised by master’s and in some cases bachelor’s level staff, something that would almost never occur in the private sector or in academia.

“We have Ph.D.’s.!!! We shouldn’t be making the same amount of salary as those filing records or who are doing administrative things,” a former colleague who has since gone to the private sector often lamented. That’s another caveat, tenure is an important component to federal employment. Specifically, there are instances where someone with a lower level of education who has been in the system longer, can make equal or more salary than someone with greater academic credentials who has been the system for less time. Ponder that.

“I wanted to move to Washington DC, so that I could get my 11,” a friend with a background in Human Resources who was a GS-9 said upon moving to the Washington, DC. Because the federal government is centralized in Washington, DC, the opportunities to get promoted are more plentiful there. Likewise, once promotions are achieved, that level is typically maintained wherever one goes afterwards throughout their career.

“When I first moved here, a couple of men told me they had achieved their ‘14s’ when we first met and I didn’t know what that meant,” a female acquaintance shared with me about her early dating experiences in the area. A funny but true and in some ways disturbing aspect to all of this is that in the DC Metro area, your GS-level can have huge social implications. In the minds of some, it represents: power, prestige and status in addition a considerable salary, the latter probably being the most important though they are generally lower than comparable private sector positions.

In closing, none of this information is confidential so I won’t get in trouble for sharing any of this. The salaries of federal employees are readily available to the general public online. Thus, when you know someone’s GS-level, you have an idea of what they earn, unlike in the private sector – an unsettling thought in terms of privacy to some degree. Nevertheless, it’s one of the cons that come along with being a public servant. The bonuses tend to also be more robust in the private sector.

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There are other aspects to being a federal employee such as the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is the retirement plan/system for civilian employees. I will probably discuss it in a subsequent post about retirement as it’s something I didn’t quite understand when I started my federal career.

I’m going to close by going back to stability, but in a different way. In some instances, federal employees may perform at low levels for their given duty for any number of reasons. This likewise can earn consecutive poor ratings at their annual performance appraisals. This is difficult for supervisors because it’s classically hard to fire federal employees as there’s a long and involved process for letting go of them once they’ve passed their probationary period – again something very similar to academia.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. If you enjoyed this one you might also enjoy:

• Perspectives of federal workers caught in the middle of the 2013 government shutdown revisited
• The myth of the stability of being a government employee revisited
• Father’s Day 2018: Dad’s doctor and his lawyer, and a discussion on careers
• Applying School To The “Real World”: Turning Subject Knowledge Into a Career
• Staying Relevant In The Workplace: The Tips To Help
• Common Mistakes When Choosing A Career
• Making The Most Of Your Education

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at [email protected] . Best Regards.

Out Of The Office And Onto The Farm: A New Take On The Tech-Takeover

Three key focuses of my blog are Career Discussions, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. With today’s technology, working and generating and income doesn’t always have to happen in the traditional office setting. In many instances it can be done independently and remotely. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Out Of The Office And Onto The Farm: A New Take On The Tech-Takeover.

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In case you hadn’t realized, business has gone to the tech dogs. Nowadays, more of us than ever are working on the cloud and staring at computer screens. But, this isn’t a lifestyle we’re all happy with. For some, this ever-encroaching tech takeover is encouragement to take a step towards careers out of doors.

Let’s say you’re at the stage where the mere thought of another day in the office drives you wild. It’s past time to quit your job because you need a total change of scenery. The trouble is, you can’t think of a single outdoor-based career you’d be suited to. Everything you’ve ever done has been office based. Could someone like you ever make a go of things out and about?

Of course! You don’t need to entirely retrain to do so, either. In reality, you may be more qualified for outdoors jobs than you think. Keep reading to find out which positions would give you the best of both worlds.

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Remote work

Okay, you got us; remote work may well mean doing the same job. But, the benefit with this is that you can choose where you complete those tasks. Forget sitting and staring at office walls; you could work in the garden as often as you fancy. Even better, you may find your current position allows for this. If you’ve already taken the plunge and quit, don’t panic. There are plenty of remote opportunities out there. All you need to do is search for them. The chances are that the ideal role is ready and waiting for an applicant just like you. All without a jot of retraining!

Sales

Sales are also a fantastic option here. While large portions of this work would be computer-based, most sales people have to travel to clients. As such, you’re sure to spend vast amounts of time out of the office. By embarking on a sales job in something like agriculture, you would even get to spend time outside on various country farms. Companies like Hansen Agri-placement advertise all manner of jobs like these, as you’ll see if you visit their website. Even if you fancy staying on a more familiar footing, you can bet there are plenty of sales positions going. Hey; you could even walk between clients to make the most of your floating post.

Real estate

Real estate is not what most people think when they consider outdoorsy jobs. Still, the possibilities here might surprise you. Think about it; rural real estate is a prime market. And, a realtor’s day mainly consists of hosting property viewings. Put the two together, and you’ve got at least some time outside. Plus, your experience with computer programs means you’re well qualified for the office side of things. You would need to consider where you applied of course. A city-based company would be as useless for fresh air as your office life. But, applying in the right area is sure to bring just the breath of fresh air you’re after.

Applying School To The “Real World”: Turning Subject Knowledge Into A Career

The first principal of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two of its focuses are General Education and Career Discussions. Sometimes early on in school we wonder about how our classes will be useful in the real world. The further we progress it likewise becomes important to know where can apply what we’ve learned in a practical way. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Applying School To The “Real World”: Turning Subject Knowledge Into A Career.

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As kids, we all remember complaining about school. And those complaints often extended beyond a mere dislike of homework. Often, children ask themselves why they’re bothering to learn certain things. “When will this help me in real life?” That’s a question many students ask, even when studying technical subjects such as mathematics. Unless you want to become a teacher, the knowledge isn’t important. Right? And technology has made human talents redundant. Spell checkers remove the need for grammatical skills, and calculators remove the need for numerical skills. And, in fact, any piece of knowledge can be gained online. But this is too cynical an approach. There are more ways to apply school to the real world than you might realize. Whether you’re a recent graduate or somebody who’s rethinking their job role, here’s how to turn your subject knowledge into a career.

Science
STEM subjects are valued very highly in the job world, so you probably feel quite confident that there are plenty of career opportunities for somebody with scientific subject knowledge. However, you can use your qualifications for more than obvious options. You don’t have to become an academic researcher in medicine or marine biology. You’ve gained more skills than you realize if you’ve studied for a scientific subject. You’ve learned to critically think, problem solve, organize multiple projects, and adapt on a continuous basis. Those skills could suit you well in the business world if that was a route which interested you.

You could start your own business or become a consultant for other businesses. Science is an incredibly vast field, so your subject knowledge doesn’t limit you to a select few career options. You can take alternatives to the traditional route. Even a student of medicine doesn’t have to become a doctor or a surgeon. Your knowledge is valuable in the “real world”, so don’t dismiss the importance of your qualifications. If you’re not interested in the traditional career routes related to the subject you’ve studied then do some research to gain an understanding of the other options out there. You might just find something totally unexpected that fits your personality perfectly.

Geography
A geographical understanding in the modern world is also highly valuable. There’s more to this subject than knowing where places are on a globe, as you well know. Otherwise, geographical studies would be made obsolete by Google Maps. You can use your degree for more than simply teaching geography to the next generation. If you’ve studied in geographical information science then you could even consider pursuing a career in surveyance. You might want to look into land surveying jobs in your area if that type of career route appeals to you. It could be an exciting opportunity to make a difference in your community with your subject knowledge. A qualification in geography can lead to plenty of vital professions, so don’t diminish the technical weight of your subject knowledge.

History
Much like the other subjects we’ve discussed, history is a topic which is often pigeonholed into a very limited range of career options. You would probably imagine that a history graduate either has to become a teacher or a historian. But research and education aren’t career routes that appeal to everyone. Luckily, you can do more with a history degree than you might think. You could even consider a career in politics. Historical knowledge is incredibly valuable because it outlines mistakes of the past. By working in government, you could advise as to how we could avoid repeating those mistakes again. You could also look into media-related jobs. This is worthwhile subject knowledge for many career routes.