If you’ve left teaching what do you do now?

[Volcanoexplorer]

Just that really. I’ve been teaching for 15 years. I’m currently part-time working as head of Geography in a secondary school. After Gavin’s latest ‘possibly’ on Andrew Marr this morning I’m seriously considering a career change. I enjoy the teaching part and I’m really good at it, but it is becoming clearer every day that the government think of teachers as robots and not actual people. This isn’t a thread about the current situation or an opportunity for more teaching bashing (so walk on by and post on one of the hundreds of other threads). I genuinely would really like to know what other people have done if they’ve left teaching. Thanks very much.

I left when I had DS (and still loved the job mostly) I had 18 months off work completely and now work as a part time receptionist for a tourism based company. I still feel a thrill at being out and about on a school day or even taking a holiday in term time!

I am considering going back but it would have to be 2/3 days a week and that’s it. I’ve learned that I’ll have to be a lot firmer with my boundaries (in my last job she collared me for teacher governor, cluster rep AND person responsible for the 10% support for the attached community playgroup. I was on a mornings only contract but often in school from 7.30 - 6pm for no extra pay!)

College tutor here - trying to escape! The pay’s nowhere near school pay anyway, but I will miss the holidays and that time with my daughter. But I can no longer do this. Am crossing fingers for redundancy tbh as we’re just not getting the students.

@AlohaMolly I’m already part-time, but the problem is that I spend so many of days off doing school work. This means I feel guilty that I don’t get all of the home type jobs done properly. But then if I do the home jobs I don’t get enough school work done so feel guilty then too.

@BugsAndBeesAndBirdsAndButterfl I think working in a library sounds like a lovely idea. I don’t think we’d be able for me to take such a pay cut though unfortunately.

I left 18 months ago after 17 years teaching. Lucky to have a family business that I was needed for and enjoy (and that I can work around DCs), otherwise I think I would have retrained in something medical.

Had you thought about career coaching? I know a few ex teachers who have gained professional qualifications in this field and are working in schools/colleges. Your teaching experience provides good transferable and related skills.

@Volcanoexplorer yep we're pretty stuffed financially.I can't manage teaching though anymore and cant work out how to break into something new.

I'm tutoring online. It's lovely.

@lookdeepintotheparka no I hadn’t considered it, but I’m off to have a look. Thanks very much.

Could you go down the international school route? There are plenty of U.K. curriculum ones...

I had an exit plan from my second year! I bought investment properties to let out which now subsidises my wage as an event planner.

@Volcanoexplorer it’s hard isn’t it? Before I took the last teaching job I worked full time which obviously meant all evenings till 10pm and then all day Sunday too. Once I went to mornings only, I worked all day in practice until 6pm BUT had my evenings and weekends free. For part time pay.

Once I had DS and went back from mat leave, I needed to leave after my contracted hours to pick him up from childcare. As a result, there was bad feeling from the staff at school and I had all the work to do at home with DS. I felt like a bad teacher and a bad parent, and something had to give!

I left analytical work to undertake a maths PGCE in my early 30s. I lasted 2 years (1 year post NQT year) before going back to analytical work, now within a think tank/social change organisation. Whilst I enjoyed the actual teaching part of the work, it was so draining. I have much less holiday now, and ironically earning more for much less stress.

A friend recently left a senior position in a school and now works in the passport office.
Teaching to civil service seems to be quite common.

Sahm

I left 5 years ago - set up my own business. It didn't work out, but I learned so much from the experience. I now work as a school games organiser, pay is poor, but its flexitime, I get all school holidays and there is no stress whatsoever. When my kids are older I plan to move into a marketing type career in which I will be able to earn similar/more than I would have full-time teaching.

I left about 5 years ago after 5 years on the chalkface. I went back into industry since I was still in demand, being an engineer/physicist. I significantly out-earn my teaching wage. If any training needs delivering, my employer often asks me so I get still get the fun classroom part!

@Volcanoexplorer

I’m sorry so many of you are feeling the same as me. Burnt out, with no more to give. *@Flipflops85* I don’t think they can afford to pay us more, which is why I think they’ll just change our contracts and expect us to work more hours for no more money.

The government won’t do this. The unions would go ape shit and they would have massive strikes on their hands.

To follow up on @lookdeepintotheparka's suggestion, I became an HE careers adviser. Much better work/life balance, similar ish pay for me (probably a drop for you if you have TLR, I was on M6 when I left), holidays are still pretty good and I definitely don't miss the 'extra' days I used to have teaching. They got eaten into by working and had to be taken in school holidays- I don't work weekends now either so I don't feel the same need to 'recover' every 6-8 weeks!

There's a good crossover with skills- I create and deliver workshops, which is familiar. The one to one appointments are like the best bits of teaching, asking open questions and helping people consider other possible ways of looking at something and what the next step might be. (Obviously focused on their career, rather than a subject)

Civil service and local government have good crossover as well, and civil service recruiting is set up to look at what skills you've developed rather than if you have relevant experience. (I'd never worked in an office and found that was a barrier to some jobs.)

Definitely have a look on jobs.ac.uk at the professional services jobs, you could probably do a lot of them thanks to transferable skills. Also charity job.co.uk

Funded PhD - massive massive pay drop (was UPS + leadership) but I love it (mostly) and work very flexibly around toddler. Also teach on an undergrad course. I hope to do university teaching when I’m done or maybe teacher training🤞

Following! I taught for ten years and left after having my second child to be a sahm. I just couldn't do it anymore, and I don't ever want to go back to teacher high school. No idea what I do want to do, and I've lost a lot of confidence I think, as I was so unhappy and anxious by the time I left teaching. It's interesting to see what other jobs it's possible to go into.

I was a teacher for 14 years before leaving to work in HE learning support. I already had the required specialist PG quals from my time as a SENCO.

I love my job and I wouldn't go back to teaching for all the money in the world. I don't miss anything about it - nothing. The holidays are only needed because you work so hard during term times. I don't feel I need all the holidays now and my 30 day annual leave is perfectly adequate. The pay isn't as good (I left on UP3) but the job is so much more manageable and enjoyable.

I know an ex teacher working in HE administration and another teaching PGCE students.

Left after 14years when had first baby. (Had ended up as HOD in large Secondary.)
Retrained on job as financial advisor, then area/ regional manager - earning considerably more than as HOD, car, mortgage paid etc.
Left to set up as Independent Financial Advisor own company, lots of women clients - teachers, nurses, lecturers, civil servants etc.
Worked at home am ( paid mother's help to look after children) afternoons off then out in evening max 3/4 nights week / later when children at school saw clients while children at school.
Almost no women in job , not sure why as very flexible. ( I used to go to training days where I would be the only woman among 100 men.) Earnings lot more than teaching. Clients used to say - you must be very good at Maths! No it's a people job and many women are good with people.