As a career changer, how do you plan to bring your previous work experience into the classroom?

When I went into my final year of university I was not sure what career path I wanted to take, the only thing I did know is that I enjoyed learning and wanted to continue this in my career. Having studied maths and chemistry at university it made sense to pursue a career in accountancy where I could apply mathematics, continue to learn and gain an accountancy qualification with a Big 4 organisation. I also knew I wanted to do a job where I felt I was making a positive difference so focussed on working with public sector organisations, most notably supporting the Department for Education in creating their end of year accounts. I have a passion for learning so after 5 years in finance and 2 lockdowns I was finally persuaded to take the leap into teaching.

Working in finance consultancy means working with a wide variety of different professions, and a wide variety of people with differing skillsets, much like in a classroom as my first half terms experience has taught me! Presenting ideas to client stakeholders, seniors in the team and new finance trainees means being able to explain one thing in a multitude of different ways, with often surprising lines of questioning. This has prepared me well for my first experience in a classroom – expect the unexpected! Though I must admit no adult has ever been playing the drums on the table or shouting across the room as I have been presenting…

Maths is a subject many students (and adults) are not confident in and can be very vocal about. Demonstrating how maths could be useful to a student throughout their career after school is something I am really passionate about. I want to be a teacher where students find an enthusiasm for maths and are excited to come to lessons. I hope to show that maths can be useful outside of the classroom and used in the real world using my experience outside of the education environment. I’ve worked with real estate teams calculating the most efficient use of space, project managers determining savings and efficiencies to be made. You have to be able to vouch for your subject in the classroom and I believe my experience prior to teaching will help me do this. 

I can use my experience to help guide the young people within the school make suitable choices in their progression through to life post-school. I can help to shape the future work force.

By Charlotte Lucas