Student Profile: Mark Webster

BA (Hons) ICT Secondary Education with QTS

Graduates: 2009

It was third time lucky for graduate Mark Webster when he embarked on a teaching course at Edge Hill three years ago.

Having started his career as a 17 year old YTS trainee, Mark worked his way up to a senior sales and marketing position in an IT distribution company. Then, seven years ago, he took the plunge and retrained as a financial advisor.

“I’m no stranger to career changes,” laughs Mark. “I thought financial services would be right for me but I eventually became disillusioned with the sector. I was fed up with the constant pressure to sell, meet targets and work long hours. I felt there was more to life than money and I wanted a more worthwhile job.”

Mark had always enjoyed running training courses and, with his computing background, teaching IT seemed a logical choice for his next career change.

“It was quite daunting, particularly the first few practice sessions in the classroom,” says Mark. “For a while I felt out of my depth and was convinced I’d made the wrong choice, but suddenly something clicked and I started to really enjoy it.”

The real turning point, however, came during his second placement at a school in a deprived area. “I’d been placed with this particularly challenging group that no-one else wanted. The placement had been tough but on my last day this boy came up to me, shook my hand and thanked me for everything I’d done. That was the biggest buzz I’d ever experienced in 16 years of working so I knew then I’d made the right decision.

“My previous job had been all about money and the biggest concern was getting a bonus every year. With teaching the bonus is seeing a class perform well or an individual child achieve something.

“It’s been hard work – I was working 45 hours a week as a taxi driver on top of full-time study, and my second child was born in my first year – but I don’t regret a thing. As the golfer Gary Player said “the harder you work the luckier you get” and I feel very lucky to be doing what I’m doing.”