If there is one person who we owe a lot to in life that isn’t in our direct contact network right now – it could be that teacher who changed it all for us. The one who bent the rules of life a little bit, the one that told us how things go. Teachers aren’t just there to recount a textbook, but truly – to teach.

Teaching is an age old profession, from the church followers who taught others how to read and write, to the followers of philosophers like Socrates who developed their own theories right through to your history teacher; they have been around forever and have been vastly important in our development.

If you are a bank of knowledge, have great people skills and are looking to get started in a career or are looking to change careers into a respected profession. Teaching could be for you.

Where do you get started off with teaching? Well – firstly you need to graduate with a degree (of at least 2:2) in any area. STEM subjects are valued, but other degrees such as Media and History among others are also useful. If you want to teach in a different subject, you’ll need to take a course that will supply you with the knowledge that will allow you to do just that. 

Then you’ll need to actually train your teaching skills with a postgraduate qualification. Unless, of course your degree was based in the area of teaching. No matter what though, you will need to pick up experience before a job – so a month-long training stint will need to happen whether you find it yourself or do it as part of a qualification. You’ll also need to determine what age group you want to work with as each age group will require a particular set of skills that will be taught to you as part of the qualifications.

Jobs in teaching are not too hard to find. With schools around the country asking for teachers on general job boards and companies like Zest Education helping schools fill holes in their teaching staff, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a role if you are qualified. The job market is quite open for teachers right now.

We shouldn’t act like teaching is this charitable thing – it is a paid role, but it is still an enormous way to give back and is a generous thing to do. Do not get into teaching just for the cash – it’s hard work and isn’t the easiest role.

Teaching is such an important role and it needs amazing people for the future of not just the teaching industry – but for the future development of youngsters (and adult learners) worldwide. Whether you are developing plans for company training, teaching the alphabet or delving into the philosophy of Zizek and others in a lecture hall – you are going to be needed. You have the chance to inspire the next generation, so why not get out there and do it?

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links.