Sick of working long hours and want a job that offers more work-life balance for family commitments?
Ready for a change, but not necessarily wanting to start a brand-new career?
Why not use all the knowledge and skills you’ve learned during your career and pass that on to others by becoming a vocational trainer and assessor?
TAFEs like Chisholm require teachers across various industries, from trades and hospitality, to health, beauty, community services, early childhood education and more.
TAE Education Manager Jody Marotta explains how to become a TAFE teacher.
Why consider becoming a TAFE teacher?
Jody says there are loads of benefits to becoming a TAFE teacher, including:
- Great working environment
- You can make a real difference to the lives of your students
- Flexible and supportive workplace
- Opportunities for personal and professional growth and development
- Work with varied cohorts of students, whether domestic, international or industry-specific courses.
“It’s a very rewarding job,” says Jody.
“When you go to graduation and see your students in their gowns being presented with their qualification, it’s a very rewarding feeling to be part of that.”
Steps to becoming a TAFE teacher
1. Decide if TAFE teaching is right for you
Jody says a career as a TAFE teacher would suit someone who has:
- Been in their current industry for several years and is confident with their skills and knowledge of the industry.
- Good communication skills. You have to be able to tailor your message to a varied cohort. Teaching 17-year-old students who are still in high school is different from interacting with mature-age people with life experience.
- The ability to build relationships with people.
- A desire to support, encourage and develop other people’s potential skills.
2. Gain experience and qualifications in your industry
To become a TAFE teacher, you’ll need to have some industry experience and qualifications.
Trainers and assessors must be able to demonstrate vocational competency in their teaching area. Vocational competency is defined as broad industry knowledge and experience and may include holding a relevant unit of competency or qualification.
Keep in mind that on-the-job experience can be just as important as qualifications. This experience helps you to become a well-rounded and insightful teacher with industry knowledge to share.
Many teachers continue to work in their vocation even after starting their education career, as this helps them to keep abreast of what’s happening in their industry and ensures their skills are current.
3. Study a training and assessing course
To become a TAFE teacher and work as a vocational educator, you’ll need to hold a training and assessment qualification.
The Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, known as “the TAE” in the industry, is the perfect qualification to launch your TAFE teaching career. It’s a free TAFE course.
During the course you’ll learn to facilitate group-based learning programs in classrooms and workplaces, develop learning programs, provide work skill instruction, use training packages and provide adult literacy and numeracy skills support.
Chisholm’s Diploma of Vocational Education and Training is the next level up. Possible job outcomes include becoming a registered training organisation (RTO) trainer or assessor, senior training officer, training manager or compliance officer.
4. You’re ready to teach
With the training and assessment qualification under your belt, backed by your own skills and experience, you’re on your way to finding a job teaching or assessing.
And the good news is the career prospects are extremely promising, according to Jody. She says often students from the TAE go on to become teachers at Chisholm.
TAFE teacher salaries
As a ballpark, the starting salary for a TAFE teacher with a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment is around $83,000 to $85,000.
According to seek.com.au, the average annual salary for TAFE teacher in Australia ranges from $95,000 to $100,000.
If you have a Diploma of Vocational Education and Training, the earning potential is higher, says Jody.
Sessional teachers earn around $82/hr for teaching, or $55/hr for administrative support (marking and assessments, for example).
Ready to get started?
To find out more, check out Chisholm’s training and assessment courses page. Otherwise, reach out and we’ll answer your queries.
