Bored at Work? Try Teaching!

Edge Hill University, the largest trainer of secondary school teachers in the UK, is appealing to professionals who are bored at work to consider changing their career to join the teaching profession.

Latest research by the Training and Development Agency for Schools(TDA) has found that half of graduates working in a range of professions are regularly bored at work and those in administration, manufacturing, sales and marketing are the most likely to be wishing their working life away.

According to the first 'Workforce Boredom Index? administrative workers are particularly fed up. Also bored with their job are manufacturing and sales employees, ranked second and third on the index. And the dynamic image of the marketing/advertising industry does not appear to be holding true, as many are tired of the daily grind.

But teachers have identified themselves as the least bored profession - reinforcing previous research by the TDA, which found that teachers demonstrate high levels of enjoyment, concentration and absorption in their daily tasks.

When asked why they find their job interesting, 81 per cent of teachers questioned said it is the challenge of the role, 81 per cent because no two days are the same, and 86 per cent said they enjoy the interaction with people. Sixty four per cent also rate the opportunity to use their creativity.

Employees surveyed say they are mainly bored because of the lack of challenge in their jobs (61 per cent), whilst not using their skills or their knowledge makes life tedious for 60 per cent. And boredom through doing the same things every day (50 per cent) is also to blame.

Half of those employees who are bored have considered changing their profession in the last year, and teaching is the most popular choice - more than one in 10 (12 per cent) identified teaching as their first choice of next career.

Dean of the Faculty of Education Robert Smedley said: "These findings show that one the attractions of a career in teaching is the sheer variety involved in the job. There are many different routes towards a career in teaching and here at Edge Hill we can offer advice on routes to suit individual circumstances.

There is a shortage of teachers in areas such as science, maths, music, design and technology and modern foreign languages and there are still some vacancies for places on these courses. Often those with experience of working in these fields are unaware of the skills and qualities they can bring to the classroom and the rewards associated with the teaching profession."

For further information about teacher training vacancies at Edge Hill University call the Enquiries Unit on 0800 1955063.