{"id":27070,"date":"2020-09-14T12:57:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T12:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/?p=27070"},"modified":"2022-03-29T10:23:30","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T10:23:30","slug":"copywriting-job-after-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/copywriting-job-after-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible Jobs After Teaching: Why I Chose Copywriting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_71 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/copywriting-job-after-teaching\/#Why_Standardized_Testing_Made_me_Question_my_Teaching_Job_and_Purpose\" title=\"Why Standardized Testing Made me Question my Teaching Job and Purpose\">Why Standardized Testing Made me Question my Teaching Job and Purpose<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/copywriting-job-after-teaching\/#Why_I_Prefer_to_Rank_on_Google_rather_than_Ranking_in_Ofsted_Ratings\" title=\"Why I Prefer to Rank on Google rather than Ranking in Ofsted Ratings\">Why I Prefer to Rank on Google rather than Ranking in Ofsted Ratings<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/copywriting-job-after-teaching\/#Teaching_VS_Sanity\" title=\"Teaching VS Sanity\">Teaching VS Sanity<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/copywriting-job-after-teaching\/#How_I_Started_My_Career_As_a_Copywriter_After_Quitting_Teaching\" title=\"How I Started My Career As a Copywriter After Quitting Teaching\">How I Started My Career As a Copywriter After Quitting Teaching<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><em>An honest explanation of what drove me to quit teaching and work online. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Around a third of UK teachers leave within 5 years. I am one of them. And I haven\u2019t looked back after finding one of the best alternative jobs for teachers: Content Writing.<\/p>\n<p>Based on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tes.com\/news\/recruitment-third-teachers-leaving-profession-within-5-years\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">a union poll<\/a>, the most common reasons for leaving a teaching job are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Unmanageable workloads<\/li>\n<li>Ofsted (England\u2019s inspection office for standards in Education)<\/li>\n<li>The pressures of standardized testing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t just that. Behaviour can be a daily battle and schools are embarrassingly under funded. To the point where I\u2019ve been forced to buy my own glue sticks, just to get by. If you\u2019ve ever worked in a school, you\u2019ll know that glue sticks are like gold dust, and there\u2019s never enough of them. Mostly due to pasting \u2018evidence\u2019 for Ofsted into children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n<p>Surely now, after a 4-month gap in children\u2019s education, it\u2019s more important than ever to keep teachers in the classroom. The Department for Education know teachers are leaving and they know why. Even after publishing their 2019 \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/786856\/DFE_Teacher_Retention_Strategy_Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Teacher Recruitment and Retention<\/a>\u2019 Strategy, they are continuing to miss vital points, that are driving teachers away.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/u-KjUs8ygAg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Standardized_Testing_Made_me_Question_my_Teaching_Job_and_Purpose\"><\/span>Why Standardized Testing Made me Question my Teaching Job and Purpose<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The government\u2019s retention scheme promises not to make any more changes to standardized testing in the coming years. This doesn\u2019t really address the issue that standardized testing <em>fundamentally<\/em> doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cIf you judge a\u00a0fish\u00a0by its ability to\u00a0climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every school knows how true this quote is and it rings true when you think about how testing in the UK works.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27076 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Why-Standardized-Testing-Made-me-Question-my-Teaching-Job-and-Purpose-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Why Standardized Testing Made me Question my Teaching Job and Purpose - how to get into copywriting\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>I once sat next to a Year 2 child attempting to complete a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/education\/education-news\/sats-having-damaging-consequences-children-schools-teachers-nut-survey-a7806571.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SATS paper<\/a>, who could barely write her name, let alone correct punctuation in a sentence. But she was forced to sit through it. We had to put her name on a test paper. If you gave that child an art project or a drama performance, she\u2019d have passed with flying colours. Setting up a child to fail isn\u2019t fair on them and it\u2019s denying them opportunities where they could shine.<\/p>\n<p>So much pressure is put on teachers for their pupils to reach certain targets.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ll admit that I was once driven to add full stops to a child\u2019s piece of work, just so I could tick a box and get them over a certain threshold. It\u2019s utter madness, and I can\u2019t be the only one. The frustration and pressure filter down and it\u2019s impossible for the children not to feel it too. It seems that schools are not trusted enough to assess children on their own.<\/p>\n<p>Teachers would have no reason to bluff about their pupil\u2019s ability if you remove the pressures of data-driven testing. In my new role as a copywriter, I feel completely in charge of my workload and expectations. I can work from home or wherever I fancy and I\u2019m my own boss, choosing the projects, hours and schedules I want to work by.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_I_Prefer_to_Rank_on_Google_rather_than_Ranking_in_Ofsted_Ratings\"><\/span>Why I Prefer to Rank on Google rather than Ranking in Ofsted Ratings<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>I\u2019ve yet to meet a teacher who thinks <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/ofsted\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Ofsted<\/a> is helpful.<\/p>\n<p>If I had a pound for every time I was told \u2018You need to do this in case Ofsted come\u2019, I\u2019d be a very rich woman. What I found so difficult to comprehend was how much more I heard this than \u2018You need to do this to benefit the children.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27077 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Why-I-Prefer-to-Rank-on-Google-rather-than-Ranking-in-Ofsted-Ratings-300x191.png\" alt=\"Why I Prefer to Rank on Google rather than Ranking in Ofsted Ratings - - how to get into copywriting\" width=\"300\" height=\"191\" \/>The weight that schools put on Ofsted\u2019s opinions these days is crushing. I understand that the role of Ofsted is to ensure that standards are up to scratch, but does it do more harm than good?<\/p>\n<p>So many Head Teachers seem to put their entire life\u2019s worth at the mercy of it, rather than the happiness of their children and staff. It creates a culture in schools where teachers are given masses of extra work, to ensure sufficient \u2018evidence\u2019 is created to show Ofsted. This means constant marking, assessments, paperwork, and laborious tasks.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the disapproval of so many teachers, there is still an unhealthy culture in schools to be ranked the best.<\/p>\n<p>When a school is audited (usually every 4 years or so), there are 4 possible grades it can receive:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Outstanding<\/li>\n<li>Good<\/li>\n<li>Requires Improvement<\/li>\n<li>Inadequate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It seems that the goal of every Head Teacher is always the same: We <em>must<\/em> be outstanding.<\/p>\n<p>In every school I\u2019ve worked in, there were endless meetings, training and schemes to make the school <em>outstanding<\/em>. A grade which requires an incredible amount of work and criteria to be met, a lot of which, from my experience, does not directly help children learn.<\/p>\n<p>Every teacher wants to improve and deliver the best lessons they can, but not achieving \u2018outstanding\u2019 can leave teachers feeling like they\u2019ve failed.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, I would much rather have a school full of happy teachers who put children\u2019s needs first, than an \u2018outstanding\u2019 school that pushed teachers to the brink of insanity to gain its title.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Education has at least recognised this to some extent. They\u2019ve promised new Ofsted frameworks will \u2018consider whether teacher workload is unnecessarily high\u2019 and \u2018not look at any internal assessment data.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>When I now write articles, I apply SEO-friendly content writing techniques as taught in the SeekaHost University <a href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/courses\/seo-content-writing-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SEO copywriting course<\/a> to rank my pieces in top positions on search engines. And guess what? I\u2019m not stressed out, I don\u2019t feel pressured, because analysing my content using SEO tools is fun and interesting and I can test different strategies. If one doesn\u2019t work, I change it, adapt it and observe it.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Teaching_VS_Sanity\"><\/span>Teaching VS Sanity<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>What really pushed me over the edge was the lack of support I received as a teacher. I begged management to provide additional support for children with special and behavioural needs but was told there wasn\u2019t enough budget. In the end, I became the strictest teacher I could, with a zero-tolerance policy on everything, because I didn\u2019t know what else to do. It was utterly exhausting. I felt as if the kids hated me and I\u2019m sure some of them did, and I hated being that person. It wasn\u2019t good for them and I couldn\u2019t take it anymore. So, at the end of the year, I quit.<\/p>\n<p>I started thinking about why I left and how it was all related.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27071 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Teaching-VS-Sanity-300x203.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When teachers leave at such a rate in the first few years of their career, it\u2019s impossible to achieve any kind of consistency and children become unsettled, resulting in difficult behaviour.<\/p>\n<p>I believe many schools are stuck in a cycle that\u2019s all related to teacher retention and a lack of resources (see graph).<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there are masses of other factors influencing children\u2019s behaviour that teachers can\u2019t control, but it really got me thinking that this theory does make sense. If you\u2019re a teacher (or have your own kids), you\u2019ll know that usually when you\u2019re feeling happy, calm and stress-free, your kids will mirror that.<\/p>\n<p>I now lead a much less stressful life as a copywriter, working on my own terms. I am flexible with how I organise my day, my work and my personal life. This has made me realise how much job satisfaction influences our quality of life.<\/p>\n<p>So, how do we break the cycle of teacher frustration and exodus?<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t risk the children\u2019s and teacher\u2019s mental health by sticking it out. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it\u2019s how important teachers and technology are to society. The government has to start putting more <em>trust<\/em> in teachers, <a href=\"https:\/\/education.clickdo.co.uk\/using-edtech-to-support-remote-learning-and-teaching\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">investing more in school equipment, EdTech, and resources<\/a>, and releasing the pressures put upon them, so they can get on with what they love doing the most: teaching children.<\/p>\n<p>Only then, will those much-needed teachers, perhaps myself included, start <a href=\"https:\/\/education.clickdo.co.uk\/work-online-in-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">teaching or tutoring again online<\/a> or even in the classroom if delivery is fully supported, which is where technology can hugely help.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_I_Started_My_Career_As_a_Copywriter_After_Quitting_Teaching\"><\/span>How I Started My Career As a Copywriter After Quitting Teaching<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I\u2019ve always wanted to be a writer. But somehow, after studying English and Creative Writing at University, I chickened out. Everyone around me was going onto grad schemes and getting \u2018proper\u2019 jobs, so I did that too.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27075 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/How-I-Started-My-Career-As-a-Copywriter-After-Quitting-Teaching-300x162.jpeg\" alt=\"How I Started My Career As a Copywriter After Quitting Teaching - how to get into copywriting\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" \/>When I knew I was going to leave teaching, I applied for endless junior copywriter jobs, but unsurprisingly, no-one wanted to hire me with no experience. At that point, it didn\u2019t even occur to me to start my own business. So, my route into copywriting has been slightly less direct.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always been interested in TV (in my most chaotic moments of teaching, I\u2019d often think, this is horrible, but wouldn\u2019t it make great TV?).<\/p>\n<p>I started off driving a massive van of equipment around central London, eventually making my way up to a freelance Assistant Producer, working on series for the BBC, Channel 4 and Apple TV. I enjoyed it, but I still wanted to write.<\/p>\n<p>In my spare time, I set up an Upwork profile, wrote some example articles, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.seekahost.com\/content-for-blogs-and-websites\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">started writing web content<\/a> for home pages for a few small businesses. I loved it and knew this was what I wanted to do, but I was making no-where near enough to live off it. So, I spent the next 2 years <a href=\"https:\/\/business.clickdo.co.uk\/content-writing-business-from-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">doing digital copywriting as a side hustle<\/a> whilst freelancing in TV.<\/p>\n<p>I kept applying for copywriting roles, but even junior roles with terrible pay would reject me. Then I had a brain wave. Why do I need to convince an agency to hire me when I\u2019m already getting my own clients through Upwork?<\/p>\n<p>If I did it properly, I could create my own copywriting business and <a href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/start-a-blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">start my own blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So \u2018www.bespokecopywriter.com\u2019 was born and I had absolutely no idea how to market it online. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After researching online how to do digital marketing, I found useful resources like Peter Kent\u2019s \u201cSEO for Dummies\u201d, Neil Patel\u2019s tips and some of the digital marketing courses and guides at SeekaHost University. Inspired by these I started:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Writing articles and sending them to guest blogging sites.<\/li>\n<li>Spending hours analysing keywords and re-writing my website.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It\u2019s taken a lot of hard work to get to where I am, and I\u2019ve still got a way to go, but I\u2019m getting there.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes I think how much easier it would have been if I\u2019d started my copywriting business straight after University and how much further I would be with it.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t regret my decisions, because having multiples careers has not only given me experience but actually made me a better writer.<\/p>\n<p>I can therefore only encourage everyone who is unhappy in their current job to do what they love and follow their dreams. There are endless job opportunities online and the future looks very promising for any digital ventures.<\/p>\n<p>You can find out more through these guides, which may inspire you to take on your online journey as I did:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/best-online-businesses-to-start\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Best Online Businesses To Start Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/best-online-jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Best Online Jobs Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/websites-that-make-millions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Websites That Make Millions\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.seekahost.com\/best-remote-jobs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">30 Best Remote Jobs<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-27072 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Ellen-Parker-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Ellen Parker - how to get into copywriting\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Ellen Parker now runs her own business, Bespoke Copywriter, where she specialises in writing website content and blogs, for businesses all over the world after she left teaching. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bespokecopywriter.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><u>www.bespokecopywriter.com<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An honest explanation of what drove me to quit teaching and work online. Around a third of UK teachers leave within 5 years. I am one of them. And I haven\u2019t looked back after finding one of the best alternative jobs for teachers: Content Writing. Based on a union poll, the most common reasons for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15],"tags":[53,110,111],"class_list":["post-27070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-copywriting","tag-copywriting","tag-copywriting-career","tag-copywriting-jobs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28511,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27070\/revisions\/28511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/university.seekahost.com\/guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}