Explore & Discover

Role Description

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need experience as a training officer. 

A degree or postgraduate qualification in business studies, human resources or communications might be useful.

Other qualifications which may help are:

training qualifications offered by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)
qualifications in teaching or lecturing in further education (FE)
skills assessor or verifier awards
You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

Skills required

You’ll need:

the ability to relate to staff at all levels
excellent communication and negotiating skills
the ability to coach people and give constructive feedback
presentation skills
IT skills

What you'll do

You’ll design and coordinate training that covers your organisation's present and future needs.

Your day-to-day duties could include:

identifying priorities and drawing up training plans
producing training materials
working with external providers to develop specialist courses
managing and leading a team
updating training records
writing reports, keeping records, and working within budgetsmaking sure training is cost-effective
In a smaller organisation you may also deliver some of the training.

Salary

Starter: £18,000 to £22,000

Experienced: £30,000 to £40,000

Highly Experienced: £45,000 or more

These figures are a guide

Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You may need to be flexible, to cover things like residential courses or workshops, or work shifts.

You’ll be office-based, but may travel between company sites or to training venues like hotels or conference centres.

Career path and progression

With experience and contacts, you could become a freelance trainer or consultant.

Role Description

You’ll support senior finance officers and finance managers to prepare and develop accounting information.

• Your day-to-day duties could include: 
• recording financial transactions on computer systems 
• producing financial forecasts 
• dealing with payroll, invoices, expenses and VAT 
• carrying out financial audits 
• creating monthly, quarterly and annual budget reports 
• presenting report findings to finance managers

Role Training

You’ll usually need GCSEs, including maths and English. 

A levels in maths, business studies or economics may also be useful. .

Some employers may ask for a relevant degree, or an accounting or bookkeeping qualification, like those offered by the Association of Accounting Technicians.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

You'll need to be over 18 and hold a full car driving licence.

You can apply for a job as a trainee with a freight company or complete an LGV course with a private training provider. You'll also need a Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC).

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

2. Skills required

You'll need:

excellent driving skills and road safety knowledge

the ability to work alone and concentrate for long periods

a polite manner with customers

the ability to complete record sheets and paperwork accurately

3. What you'll do

You'll drive commercial vehicles over 7.5 tonnes, including articulated lorries, tankers, transporters and trailer wagons. You'll work from depots, distribution centres and warehouses, carrying goods all over the UK and overseas.

Apart from driving, your duties may include:

planning delivery schedules and routes with transport managers

supervising or helping to load and unload goods

making sure loads are safely secured

following traffic reports and changing your route if necessary

completing delivery paperwork and log books

You may also deal with basic maintenance, like oil, tyre and brake checks before and after journeys.

4. Salary

Starter: £18,500 to £22,000

Experienced: £23,000 to £28,000

Highly Experienced: £27,000 to £35,000

Overtime may be available.

These figures are a guide.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You'll usually work up to 42 hours a week. Overtime may be available but there are strict laws about the amount of hours you can spend driving between rest breaks.

Most of your time would be spent on the road, and you would drive day and night in all weather conditions.

Overnight stays may be necessary.

6. Career path and progression

You could take further training and gain an ADR (Advisory Dangerous Goods by Road) Certificate to drive hazardous goods like toxic chemicals by tanker.

With experience, you could train to become an LGV instructor, freight transport planner or move into management.

Role Description

Your day-to-day duties might include:

• assessing the environmental impact of agricultural production methods
• supervising construction projects, like land drainage, reclamation and irrigation
• solving engineering problems, like designing all-terrain vehicles to move over uneven ground in different weather conditions
• testing and installing new equipment, like harvesters, crop sprayers and logging machinery
• using  GPS, weather data and computer modelling to advise farmers and businesses on land use
• planning service and repair programmes for machinery
• You may also manage and coordinate sales, marketing and technical support.

Role Training

You’ll need a foundation degree, HND or degree in:

agricultural engineering

environmental engineering

electrical or mechanical engineering

If you’ve got a further education qualification in a land-based engineering subject, or relevant experience, you could start as an agricultural engineering technician. You’d then complete further study to qualify as an engineer.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

The Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) has more information about becoming an agricultural engineer.

Role Description

Your day-to-day tasks could include:

• measuring the work area and setting out the first rows of bricks (courses) and the damp course
• mixing mortar by hand or with a mechanical mixer
• laying the bricks on top of each other and applying the mortar with a trowel
• shaping and trimming bricks using hammers, chisels and power tools
• checking that courses are straight using spirit levels and plumb lines
• You'll work on a particular section of a building alongside other bricklayers on larger jobs.

Role Training

Some employers may expect you to have GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) in maths and English. 

You'll also need a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card.

Labouring or experience on a building site would be helpful.

You could complete a college course, but this isn't essential.

You could get a bursary, if you want to work in heritage conservation.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

Go Construct has more information on becoming a bricklayer.

Role Description

Magazine Journalist:

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• going to meetings to plan the content of the magazine 
• suggesting ideas for articles 
• interviewing and researching to collect information for articles 
• writing articles to suit the magazine’s style 
• keeping up-to-date with developments and trends in the magazine's subject area 
• working as a critic, reviewing things like films, food or concerts

Newspaper Journalist

You could be reporting on council meetings and school fêtes for a local paper, or on general elections and world events for the national press.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• investigating a story as soon as it breaks
• following up potential leads and developing new contacts
• interviewing people face-to-face and over the phone
• attending press conferences
• recording meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand
• coming up with ideas for stories and features
• writing up articles in a style that will appeal to the reader
• sub-editing other reporters' articles for publication
• writing up articles for online publication

Broadcast Journalist

You could be reporting on council meetings and school fêtes for a local paper, or on general elections and world events for the national press.

Your day-to-day tasks may include:

• investigating a story as soon as it breaks
• following up potential leads and developing new contacts
• interviewing people face-to-face and over the phone
• attending press conferences
• recording meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand
• coming up with ideas for stories and features
• writing up articles in a style that will appeal to the reader
• sub-editing other reporters' articles for publication
• writing up articles for online publication

Role Training

There are no set requirements, but most new magazine journalists have an HND, degree or equivalent qualification. 

Paid or unpaid work experience is a good way to build up your skills and a portfolio of published work to show employers. You could gain this with magazines or other publications, including student papers, fanzines, charity newsletters, websites or blogs.

You’ll usually need knowledge of the subject area your magazine deals with. 

You may be able to get into this job through an apprenticeship.

The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) and the Professional Publishers Association (PPA) run courses and have more information about careers in magazine journalism.

Role Description

You might work in a supermarket, a department store, a garden centre, a small independent shop or one that's part of a chain. You'll be:

• serving and advising customers
• arranging goods in displays and on shelves
• rotating and replacing stock
• promoting extra products
• taking cash and card payments and making sure the till balances
• dealing with returns
• meeting sales targets

Role Training

There are no set entry requirements, but it will help if you:

• are confident about selling
• have a positive, helpful attitude
• can get on well with a wide range of customers
• To get experience, you could:
• take a temporary job in a store at Christmas
• take a weekend job
• volunteer in a charity shop

Some stores, like mobile phone or DIY shops, may expect you to have good knowledge of their products before you apply.

You could get into this job through an apprenticeship.

Role Description

1. Entry requirements

You’ll need a degree or postgraduate qualification and several years’ relevant experience, for example in engineering, chemistry or medicine.

You’ll also need to understand research methods, data analysis and development processes.

2. Skills required

You’ll need:

the ability to solve problems

leadership and motivational skills

project management skills

communications skills

IT skills

3. What you'll do

Your day-to-day duties may include: 

recruiting staff

assessing staff performance

coordinating the team’s work

analysing data and presenting results

making sure work meets safety standards and other relevant legislation

managing budgets

reporting to senior managers

4. Salary

Starter: £25,000 to £32,000

Experienced: £34,000 to £50,000

Highly Experienced: £55,000 to £65,000 or more

You may receive a bonus and profit share on top of your basic salary.

5. Working hours, patterns and environment

You’ll usually work up to 40 hours a week.

You could be based in a factory, laboratory or a university. There may be some travel to meetings and conferences, and this could be overseas.

6. Career path and progression

With experience in industry, you could become a senior project manager or research director. 

In higher education, you could become a senior research fellow or professor.