How to get a business lecturer job

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The House of Lords Youth Unemployment Committee have stated that “skills gaps and shortages are a major driver of youth unemployment and poor labour market productivity.” There is a very pressing need for business lecturers in FE that are on top of their brief and can help combat the ongoing skills gap.

The UK will business teachers who can relay their expertise to their students and support and encourage them towards success. A college business lecturer stands at the threshold of a new generation of talent that the UK economy will rely on to drive growth and build a bright new future.

What experience and qualifications does a college business lecturer need?

You will be expected to hold a degree in business or equivalent relevant qualification and a teaching qualification or else have a willingness to work towards one. Most FE institutions will ask for evidence of recent successful teaching of A-level business or similar.

Caroline Condliffe, lecturer and subject lead in business studies at Stoke-on-Trent College, states that an “industrial background with considerable business experience” will stand you in good stead for the college business lecturer role. She adds that “gaining a part-time Bachelor of Education (BEd) qualifies applicants to lecture in business studies in college”. Should you wish to teach beyond level 3 you will require a degree in a relevant subject.

Business lecturer salary

Talent.com states that the median salary for the business lecturer role stands at £37,230 in the UK or £19.09 an hour. Entry level positions start at £29,982 a year, although some of the most experienced workers bring home around £48,701 per year. For comparison, the Office for National Statistics puts the UK’s median annual pay for full-time employees at £31,461 for the tax year ending April 2020.

Why teach business at college?

Business lecturers find the role very rewarding. Mel Miller, deputy head of business at Weymouth College, is motivated by the “flexibility” of the subject and “the huge difference you can make to your learners”.

“For instance, I taught a high needs student this year whose mum didn’t even think they’d be able to get to school but we helped them get a level 3 qualification at merit level!” Miller says. She adds: “It’s also just the day-to-day work of supporting the students, who might be homeless or have serious issues at home.”

Condliffe says that the reduced restrictions faced by students at FE institutions compared to secondary schools helped her make her decision to get into teaching business at college.

“I liked the greater autonomy enjoyed by FE students compared to schools. I did not want to spend loads of time chasing up students on matters of school etiquette or uniform; I just wanted to teach my subject,” she explains.

Day in the life of a college business lecturer

Miller explains that half of the battle is won if you have a genuine passion for the subject and want your students to succeed. “I love what I do, particularly the interactions with students and seeing them develop and go off to uni,” she states. “I work really hard to ensure students have lots of enrichment on the course as we are slightly isolated on the south coast in an area of serious deprivation.”

Describing a typical day, Miller paints a picture full of variety. “I’m a working mum, do a daily school run and then go straight into teaching, delivering three 90-minute lessons normally to two or three different classes spread over the morning and early afternoon. Each lesson is from a different unit, so it could be finance followed by marketing and then team building. I finish in time to do the afternoon school run and then work in the evenings marking and planning lessons after my children are in bed.”

If you’re willing to think a little outside the box, Miller reels off a range of off-campus course enrichment activities that her students can benefit from at her college. These include “visits to 'Business Live' events and an annual trip to Harry Potter World in Watford, where [students] visit the studios and attend an hour’s marketing class delivered by studio staff”.

She also outlines a link up her college organised with the bankers JP Morgan. “They organised a six-week work experience project for our students — not on the syllabus but something I helped organise in my own time,” she reveals. “Students were given a mentor every week offering one-to-one support. But for lockdown, they would have given their final presentation to the chief executive and gained an extra tick on any application to get on to the bank’s graduate training schemes.”

A chance to progress

Condliffe was a fast riser. Charting her career progression, she states: “Three years after starting college I became a course team leader. In 2005, I'd qualified as an advanced skills lecturer (my official title in college). The promotion brought a substantial pay rise and my college sponsored me to gain a three-year, part-time masters.”

She adds: “I’ve not really moved away from my subject lead role as the job is constantly evolving and I want to stay in the classroom with the students. I also do a lot of work for the Pearson exam board; in the past, I’ve been a standards verifier and examiner for the board. Last September, I took on the additional, substantial college role of Business and Technology Education Council (BTec) coordinator, although most of it so far has been about helping people out by answering questions, ensuring the process is correct, and training teams.”