What’s next for your career?

Considering your next steps in your career? This year has been one of change and many of us are considering new career paths and how to find new opportunities for our existing skills. As an assessor, trainer, or tutor there are many opportunities you can explore.

Did you know you can gain your Level 3 Award in Education and Training without being in a teaching role? If you are interested in teaching in post compulsory education this is a must have qualification for most colleges and employers.  

If you are working as an assessor/trainer on one-to-one basis with learners, you can still complete your Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training. You can use your hours towards the teaching requirements in this qualification which would set you apart for many other applicants for a teaching role.

If you are a qualified assessor, then completing your Internal Quality Assurer qualification is a great way to enhance you career options. To do this you would need to carry out internal quality assurance for two assessors. If this isn’t possible you can still take the first step by completing Level 4 Award in Understanding the Principles and Practices of Internal Quality. This includes the first unit of the full qualification and means you are halfway there to the full qualification and make you more attractive to future employers.

If you are an IQA with responsibility for a team or a lead IQA have you gained your Level 4 Leading Internal Quality Assurance qualification?  This demonstrates the leadership role you are undertaking and supports your application for any new role you may apply for.

If you are an experienced IQA then you may be interested in exploring the External Quality Assurer role. All qualifications require external quality assurance and there are over 200 awarding organisations. To complete the full EQA qualification, you need to be in practice and working for a Awarding Organisation but you can complete the first unit as a standalone qualification Level 4 Award in Understanding the Principles and Practices of External Quality Assurance.

If you have good occupational competence, then you may be interested carrying out End Point Assessment for the new apprenticeship standards. This new role is an exciting development in training and with potentially over 700 standards and millions of apprentices; there is a growing demand for this role. Requirements vary across the standards but if you want your application to the End Point Assessment Organisations to stand out then you should consider the Highfield Level 3 Award in Undertaking End Point Assessment. This qualification is great preparation for the role and excellent CPD of anyone working with apprentices.

Finally, if you are updating your CPD have you thought about safeguarding updates? If you are freelance or self employed, you will be expected to take responsibility of your training which should be renewed very three years at level 2 as a minimum. If you want to take on more responsibility such as Designated Safeguarding Officer, then you should be looking at a level 4 safeguarding course for designated officers and leads.