Hello All,
I am a translator/ interpreter of over 12 years looking to change careers and get into L&D. I know that in order to do so I'd have to retrain, and I am happy to invest the required money and time to do so (I'm thinking of signing up for Level 3 Diploma in L&D). What I am not sure of, however, is where do I get from there. As a freelancer, I have no organisation to go back to and ask for a transfer and, as a mature career changer, I do not qualify for any apprenticeship programme. I did have a look at job ads for entry level positions for trainers but they all asked for at least one year of experience on top of the qualifications. It begins to look like Catch 22 to me :).
To get a bit of experience in L&D, I started volunteering as a coach with the Parent Gym, a charity parenting programme run by the coaching company Mind Gym. And I loved it! I also have previous teaching experience (I am a qualified ESOL teacher) and background in psychology (but no degree).
Do you have any word of advise for me? I would hate to complete a 6-month course only to find out that this is as far as I can go. Thank you!
Gosia
Replies
Hi Gosia
Mike has shared some really useful resources. I would back that up with a focus on using Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with ideas being shared and also to connect with other people. You have prompted me to create a list of people that are worth following so will share that soon!
Are you familiar with using hashtags on Twitter? If so, look at #ldinsight and #chat2lrn for starters. If you are not sure about how to use hashtags then let me know and I'll create a how to.
Thank you, Mike. Very helpful tips about Twitter and LinkedIn. I'll be watching this space for your list of people to follow!
Also, thanks for suggesting hashtags to follow on Twitter, now I know where to start.
Gosia
Hello again,
Do you have any other thoughts? I feel like I'm going in circles and would really appreciate your input. Thank you!
Gosia
Hi Gosia - there was a related post a few months ago on a similar subject.
I'm sure you will find it useful
http://community.dpgplc.co.uk/learning-professionals/starting-out-i...
We will also include this discussion in our weekly message which goes out to all members
Mike
That's great, Mike! Thank you. You've been very helpful.
Gosia
Hi Gosia
Great post and great questions. The post below is probably a good place to start - hope you find it useful and I'm sure others will have some advice for you as well :)
http://community.dpgplc.co.uk/blog/advice-you-d-give-to-someone-sta...
Great link, thank you, Mike!
Gosia