My medium term objective will be to go to university, and achieve a degree in English literature, as well as carrying out some work experience as a teaching assistant while I continue with this course, and achieve my QTS. My long term objective is to get a job teaching English in a comprehensive school. I could then try and continue onto becoming head of department at the school for the English department.

Information about the job When I have achieved my degree in English literature, I will need to start to train as a teacher. Ways of getting into teaching The next step I will need to take is to plan and achieve my qualified teacher status (QTS), enabling me to teach across state-maintained schools across England and Wales. This almost always means completing a program of initial teacher training (ITT).

Combining theoretical learning with at least 18 weeks spent practicing teaching on placements in schools, ITT helps will help me to develop the skills I need to become an effective teacher and achieve qualified teacher status (QTS).  By taking a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree with qualified teacher status (QTS), you can study for a degree and do your initial teacher training at the same time.

If I successfully complete my induction year, I can hope to be eligible for a teaching grant. The chart shows an idea of the amount of money I would be able to receive. Which kind of school am I interested in teaching in? The kind of school I choose to work in will make a significant difference to the kind of experiences I will face as a teacher.  As I’m still at school, I have thought carefully about the degree I’m going to take.

Getting some experience of being in a classroom is one way of helping me make my decision of if I really would like the teaching lifestyle , and assure me I’m choosing the right career/age group/subject to teach etc. Although while completing my degree I will get work experience of being in a classroom while I am training so this will help me gain experience of the career.

Pay and benefits Once I have completed my initial teacher training and achieved qualified teacher status (QTS), from September 2007 I can expect to start as a newly qualified teacher (NQT) in England and Wales on 20,133 a year (or 24,168 if I plan to work in inner London).  Here are some examples of job descriptions for English teachers in secondary schools, so I can get an idea of the salary, hours, and skills employers are looking for. I realise that I may have to re-locate for my career, if there are better options elsewhere.

From this vacancy advertised I can see that, I need to be hardworking and have knowledge of the job, and there is a good salary. The downfall of this advertisement is that I will need experience before applying there, and I could not go straight into this job after university as I would have to work somewhere else first. This vacancy is appealing as newly qualified teachers are welcomed meaning I could apply for this job as soon as I achieve my degree.

The bad point of this advertisement is that it’s only a temporary contract, for about a year. Although if I had no work this could be good and provide experience for me. Again the drawback of this vacancy is stating that it’s looking for a ‘well qualified’ teacher which would also mean experienced, which I wouldn’t be as soon as leaving university, meaning I couldn’t apply for this job straight away.

From looking at a selection of job advertisements, I can see that I will have to be willing to travel to achieve a high salary, as the location where I live has limited options, meaning there would be a lot more competition in the area, and it may be easier to get a job in larger cities/towns. I can also see that some of the advertisements require experience which shows me I will need to devote some time to being in a classroom and learning practically. From this investigation, I can see that PDP’s can be useful to both employees/organisations to improve training and motivation. Also I can see how PDP’s can help individuals from completing one myself as it has helped map out my skills, and caused me to think step by step how I will get to my ultimate goal.