Well-Educated? A Woman? Confident?

Feb. 6, 2014 - PRLog -- •    Teachers who are very professionally fulfilled are most likely to be well-educated women at the start of their career
•    Confidence, positivity, and determination are all characteristics shared by the UK’s most fulfilled teachers
•    £20,481 is the average salary of a very fulfilled teacher in the UK
•    Take the test to measure your degree of fulfilment

One in four UK teachers (24%) describe themselves as very fulfilled, but what does a very fulfilled teacher look like?

As part of their research into Fulfilment@Work, Randstad analysed the characteristics and views of over 2,000 UK workers to better understand professional fulfilment and profile the UK’s most fulfilled staff.

The education sector findings show that it is ambitious women who are getting the most from work. UK teachers who describe themselves as very fulfilled in their professional lives are most likely to be well-educated women. They are also likely to be confident, with a positive personality. They generally have a strong sense of determination and the belief that if something doesn’t work out, they will persist in trying to make it a success.

Profile of a very fulfilled teacher – is it you?
•    Well-educated to degree level
•    Female
•    Earns £20,481 a year
•    Confident, with a positive personality
•    Is relatively determined and if something doesn’t work out, they will try to make it better

Jenny Rollinson, managing director of Randstad Education, said: “As the debate about equal opportunities at work continues, it’s inspiring to see that women in teaching have come out strong in terms of fulfilment. Clearly, not all teachers in the UK can be a well-educated, confident, ambitious woman. But you don’t have to fit the typical profile of a very fulfilled teacher in order to reach your full potential and feel more fulfilled in your career.

“Our research has shown that the majority of UK professionals who describe themselves as fulfilled feel the key to achieving it is firmly in their own hands. It’s up to us to determine how engaged we are in our day-to-day work. Naturally, employers play their part, but adaptability is key for employees as is the ability to be flexible in a range of different situations. Passion is an essential ingredient to a successful career and the desire to proactively make changes to increase our fulfilment.”

The findings also showed how the profile of the average UK teacher compares to their most fulfilled peers. A typical member of the UK education sector is likely to earn £25,300 per year and feel moderately fulfilled. In contrast to those who say they are very fulfilled, the average UK teacher says they are occasionally confident and are more likely to place importance on their employer’s role to helping them achieve their full potential.

Jenny Rollinson continued: “It’s interesting to note that the most fulfilled staff have a lower than average salary. We know teachers aren’t necessarily motivated by pay, but the results also suggest that those with less managerial responsibility may get greater satisfaction from their work. Those in higher paid positions further up the career ladder may be more exposed to pressures from education boards and the government, and under pressure with their workloads as a result of spending cuts.”

Profile of the average UK teacher
•    Likely to feel moderately fulfilled in their professional life
•    Earns £25,300 a year
•    Occasionally confident
•    A positive thinker
•    More likely to believe that their employer holds the key to achieving potential.

How fulfilled at work are YOU?
Randstad has launched an interactive quiz to allow people find out how fulfilled they are in their work and see how they compare to the UK average.

Each person completing the quiz will be asked a series of questions to reveal where they sit on the fulfilment scale. To find out how fulfilled you are and what that means for your career now and in the future take our quiz (http://www.randstad.co.uk/education/fulfilment-quiz/).

Fulfilment by industry
The research also explored levels of fulfilment by industry sector and found that the industry with the highest proportion of very fulfilled workers is construction, property and engineering. Over a third (34%) of those working in the sector say they are very fulfilled in their jobs, more than twice the UK average of 16%.

Nurses and social workers both recorded lower levels of very fulfilled workers than teachers (22% and 20% respectively). See table 1 below.

Jenny Rollinson said: “The people skills involved in education such as the ability to listen and teach young people can bring about a real sense of satisfaction. Teachers certainly have a strong sense of vocation and derive satisfaction from helping others. All of these characteristics fit the typical profile of a very fulfilled worker.”

Table1. Industries with the highest proportion of very fulfilled workers

Source: http://www.randstad.co.uk/education/news/well-educated-a-...

Randstad recently launched the How I Became platform, inspired by the real stories of real people who are fulfilled at work. The platform contains films from people who work in a range of business sectors, from education to finance providing key pieces of advice designed to help future candidates on their path to professional fulfilment.  To find out more, visit the How I Became site: http://www.randstad.co.uk/howibecame