Forgive the boring title. I’m hoping to get a bunch of opinions on this. I’m at a crossroads and I want to explore new opportunities. It would be great if you could educate me on potential opportunities the following interests may lead to, besides academia. I’m open to all ideas, though I should add that I’m particularly interested in the sales aspect (ethical of course):
I’m interested in education, but I do not want to enter academia. To narrow it down a bit, I’m interested in online tutoring technologies (or literacy-promoting technologies), and I’m brainstorming ways to get involved in promoting such technologies. (A company like Qualtrics comes to mind, which is statistical software for universities). What kind of options might this lead to? Any ideas or general thoughts are fully welcome!
Secondly, I have a life-long interest in anthropology, and human evolution, and I a masters degree in the latter (from a good uni). How viable is it to get involved in selling, say, textbooks and education materials for these subjects? Perhaps I should get in touch with publishing houses?
Many thanks for reading. My next step is to learn as much as possible; I’ll take on board everything you have to say
There are a couple of huge relevant trends in adult education (particularly in the corporate world) that may work for you. Online, always-available learning is a huge deal at the moment, as is the management of social and informal learning.
There are a number of niche providers, and some of the larger technology companies are getting in to the same spaces. I don’t know Qualtrics per se, but I’d certainly consider similar organisations if I were you. Learning and assessment technologies are becoming increasingly important to commercial organisations. There are a number of companies selling learning management systems, content development tools, a couple of assessment companies and so on. The big technology companies are also continuing to pursue learning and development technologies.
My own experience is similar to yours, but simultaneously very different! Without giving too many identifying details, I work in user enablement for a major software company. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’m also a qualified Business Psychologist. I consider myself an education professional, but I very clearly work in a commercial environment. To me it’s a good mix - I absolutely believe that education is the way that you make a difference - to individuals and to organisations. I’m good at my job because I understand people, how an organisation is just a bunch of people trying to work together, and I understand the technologies my own company offers to help people learn to do that stuff. It’s a good job to have and it’s very lucrative - I imagine my sales colleagues make more than I do, as well.
Charley, cheers for the awesome reply.
Couple of follow up questions, if you don’t mind.
Could you direct me towards examples of these learning and assessment technologies?
I’m very interested in these companies you mentioned selling “learning management systems, content development tools”, and I’d like to get my teeth into some specifics. Could you give me the names of a few companies, or some examples of these technologies, so I can research them further and get a better idea of what they involve?
(I know the question is somewhat rudimentary; there’s just so much out there about this topic, it’s a bit overwhelming knowing where to begin, and I was hoping to get some opinions from a person who knows the ropes) 