You love working in the education sector, supporting students and helping others to grow their knowledge. But you’re already thinking about the next step in your career.
Whether you hope to bag yourself a promotion within the year or you’re simply setting goals and planning for your future, you need to understand the next steps.
In order to secure that promotion, you need to prove you’ve got what it takes. So, if you’re serious about advancing your education career, here’s what you need to do.
Research the role
Whenever you apply for a new job, it is crucial that you do your research and know the role and company inside out. The same applies when looking for a promotion. If you’re applying to a more senior position, it’s vital that you understand what the role entails and that you know as much as possible about what would be expected of you.
So, if you’re hoping to secure a promotion by applying to a more senior role, then you need to make sure you research the role and prepare thoroughly. This will boost your chances of being interviewed and, ultimately, landing the job.
Take on extra responsibilities
No matter whether you’ve been in your current teaching role for a few years or just a few months, there is no reason you can’t start looking for extra opportunities. It’s important to show your senior manager that you are striving to be the best teacher possible and that you’re happy to continue taking on additional responsibilities and growing your skills.
For example, you could volunteer to run an after-school club or perhaps organise and supervise an educational trip. Alternatively, you might have come up with a new school initiative or found a better way of doing something and decided to take the lead on making the school run more efficiently.
Whatever the case may be, showing willingness and getting involved in different aspects of the school can be an excellent way to impress your manager and move one step closer to that promotion.
Document your achievements
Remember that your managers are likely to be busy too. They could be teachers themselves, heads of departments, tutors, etc. Therefore, they can’t be watching your every move and keeping tabs on how great you are.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to keep notes throughout the year and document your achievements so you can help them to see your contribution. Some achievements you might keep track of include increasing test scores or grades, supporting individual students and signing more students up for your clubs or initiatives.
This can be a very worthwhile activity when your review rolls around, or for when you update your CV and need to show your value. This will give you some facts and figures to show to managers or employers and proves how you’ve made a real impact in the past.
Never stop educating yourself
You might be there to teach others, but this doesn’t mean that your own personal learning has stopped. The best way to prepare yourself for a more senior role is to keep developing yourself and building your own knowledge and understanding.
It’s a good idea to read industry news and stay up to date on what’s going on in the education sector as a whole. You might also wish to take on new qualifications or online courses.
Nowadays, there are lots of other areas of education that can be beneficial. For example, you might wish to take a course that helps you support your student’s mental health. Alternatively, in today’s digital world, why not boost your skills and learn how to teach effectively online? Every extra piece of knowledge and every new skill can help to boost your CV and increase your chances of being promoted.
Think outside the classroom
Finally, it’s not just what you do inside the classroom that counts. To really increase your chances of winning that promotion, you should get involved in work projects outside the classroom as well.
And no, we don’t just mean the aforementioned school clubs or trips. Take any opportunities you can to do volunteer work or run your own initiatives outside of school. For example, setting up a youth club in your local area to give young people a safe space to hang out.
This can help to show that you’re truly passionate about what you do and that you are willing to always be strengthening your skills and supporting others.
So, are you ready to bag the promotion? By following these five steps, you can boost your chances of landing a promotion and taking the next step in your career.
Take your next step with Eteach today
About the author
Andrew Fennell
Andrew Fennell is the founder and director of StandOut CV, a leading UK careers advice website. He is a former recruitment consultant and contributes careers advice to publications like Business Insider, The Guardian, and The Independent.
