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Using Transferable Skills of a Driving Instructor to Find Alternative Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The lockdown and social distancing measures put in place by the UK government are important to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, however it has meant most driving instructors are suddenly out of work.

Luckily, the skills that make you great as a driving instructor mean you have a wealth of knowledge and expertise that are easily transferable to other industries.

Photo by Markus Spiske

Here is a collection of jobs where driving instructors skills can be transferred into as a temporary source of income during self-isolation.

First however, let’s list the traits and skills you have as a professional driving instructor:

  • Patience
  • Risk-awareness
  • Self-motivated
  • Coaching techniques
  • Teaching techniques
  • Customer service skills
  • Time management skills
  • Driving skills
  • Traffic management skills

Any others? Let us know and we’ll update our article!

Now onto the types of jobs that are still active during this pandemic.

Opportunities

Delivery Driver

Let’s get the obvious one out the way first. Deliveries are still one of the key roles still in place and the most direct in terms of replaceable skills. You’re driving, you know your way around your town/city and you know how to interact with other people.

Local supermarkets need drivers to deliver groceries.

Delivery companies like DPD, Hermes and UPS are bringing entertainment and essentials to people across your city.

Amazon is still bustling, as it’s one of the least hit businesses in terms of the lockdown. It is perhaps more essential now, than ever. You can use your own vehicle to deliver goods.

Training Driving Instructor Trainees Remotely

With many people being laid off from their jobs during this tough time, there’s a good chance that, come the other end of the pandemic, we’ll see people consider self-employment.

Now might be a good time to advertise your ability to teach people to become driving instructors themselves. Teaching soft-skills, like coaching techniques and the processes involved in becoming a driving instructor (the 3-part test and what’s expected from them along the way to qualifying) is something that can be started remotely.

You could use applications like Skype, Zoom or even over the phone and you can get paid for each session via a simple bank transfer.

Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) Driver or Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Driver

Now, an HGV or PSV licence is required, but if you already hold the licence, these roles are still being undertaken.

If you don’t have your licence, there are training organisations now offering online courses as alternatives. It’s worth noting that the government guidance states the “traffic commissioner does not accredit training providers but may be persuaded to accept online courses as alternatives”.

Check out the government's full guidance for HGV and PSV Operators.

Postal Worker

Another lifeline role at the moment with direct connection to your existing skill set. Like delivery workers above, Posties are still delivering, still driving throughout town. It’s also worth noting that you never see a grumpy Postie — they’re always so cheery! Got to be something in that!

Mail Sorter

Since we’re talking about the post, another related role is the mail sorter. Although not as connected to your existing skills, this may be a good place to exercise your patience.

Support Worker

Not quite obviously related to your transferable skills, but working in a care home, hospital, hospice and similar places requires many skills you already possess: Patience, customer service, risk-awareness, being self-motivated and good time-management.

Understandable, it takes a lot of strength to do roles in these fields, but during this time, where locations are locked down, they’re needed more than ever.

Supermarket Staff

Some of our front-line workers at the moment are on the tills or stacking shelves in your local supermarket.

These are roles that require patience and good customer service and supermarkets are doing a great job of controlling the amount of customers in a store at one time, as well as marking out where to stand in store.

Cleaners (Supermarket/Hospital)

Depending on the time of day, cleaners require customer service and patience skills too. Supermarkets, hospitals, etc all need to be cleaned and cleaned well, so it’s not uncommon to come across these roles right now.

Consider Your Past Skills From Previous Employment Roles Too

The list above is not exhaustive, but it’s also based on the skills we previously listed that you’d have as a driving instructor. Perhaps you had a previous career in I.T. or another industry. Take a moment to reflect on the work you used to do and if the skills from that time could be transferred into other jobs that are still being hired for at the moment.

If we’ve missed any roles or skills you think your fellow driving instructors should be made aware of drop us a message and we’ll be happy to update this article mentioning what you told us.

In the meantime, while you can, take a spare 10 minutes to complete or update your GoRoadie profile so your driving school is in a great place to be promoted when the lockdown lifts.

Good luck!