‘Preparing students to go straight into industry is very satisfying’
REWARDING CAREER: Andy Graham
Bishop Burton College is holding a recruitment event this week for engineers who might be interested in a career in teaching. Andy Graham, Curriculum Area Manager for Land-Based and Foundation Studies, discusses why it can be such a rewarding move…
I’d always worked in industry and hadn’t really considered a career in teaching.
I worked for a couple of companies in mechanical engineering and coach building before I set up my own business, which I ran for 10 years.
I thought I’d continue working in engineering but my wife’s a teacher and she encouraged me to think about making the move.
There was a role coming up at Bishop Burton and what really interested me about it was that they were specifically looking for people with industry experience. So, I went into the college, had a few meetings and went through the interview process.
I was successful and started teaching as a Lecturer in Engineering at Bishop Burton five years ago this month.
When I was in industry, I got a lot of enjoyment from working with apprentices, seeing them improve and progress.
That side of it is even more rewarding in teaching.
The college attends quite a few trade shows throughout the year and we always see former students who can’t wait to tell us where they are and what they’re doing. It’s always great to see them making a success of themselves in industry.
You can’t buy the experience of individuals who’ve worked in industry. Learning out of a text book is all well and good, but having that experience of actually doing the job is invaluable.
It also helps you gain the respect of the students, because many of them come from a working background with family in industry.
The majority of our students are looking to go straight into industry after college. We do get some who want to move into higher education and there are some who make that decision when they’re with us, but most want to go into industry, so we prepare them for that.
Personally, it’s been a great move for me to come to Bishop Burton.
The college is keen to support you, if you’re willing to put a bit of time and effort in.
You train on the job and the college helps you through your teacher training. I found the training really interesting and enlightening, to complement the knowledge and experience I had from working in industry.
An opportunity to work at management level came up within four years of me starting teaching and I managed to put myself in that position. I’ve been able to push myself and progress my career – and I haven’t looked back.
Bishop Burton College is holding a recruitment event for engineers who might be interested in a change of career between 4pm-6pm on Thursday, December 1. Booking is open on Eventbrite here.