New career for teacher? Real experience please

[MyOtherProfile]

Interested in hearing what people who taught for years found to do as a new career.

Particularly interested in ideas that used your teaching skills and didn't mean a drop in pay / pension.

I was a teacher but tbf I was a journalist before that so probs a bit different.

I left teaching for a comms role. Took a pay cut tho, but it was worth it. I now have a different, better-paid role in the private sector and I still tutor, so IMHO I have the best bits of teaching.

Might tutoring full time be an option? No pension tho obvs. But you could be self-employed or do it through a tutoring firm - esp if you teach maths or English.

I taught for 18 years and am now retraining as a chartered accountant. Slight dip in salary for a short time while I did the first part of my qualification but I now earn more than I did teaching after only 18 months. Aiming to be fully-qualified in another year.

So many people I've seen end up in ta roles, library jobs or "mum" jobs with the council etc.

I think it's hard to move without at least an initial drop in salary tbh.

Wow I didn't realise accountancy paid quite that well that quickly!!!

No use as far as drop in salary & use of same skills but after fifteen years teaching I became a farmer & don’t regret it for a minute.

I'm wondering about civil service roles and just seen a work coach role (30k). It looks like lots of 10min appointments which could be soul destroying but it does give the possibility of helping people and also moving up / career structure there isn't in some roles.

I was a tutor for the OU while I was teaching and moved into a staff development role with the OU. This led to a role in a central unit in a London university where we worked across the university to enhance learning, teaching and assessment. It was very varied and a great job. A colleague from the same school got a job as a lecturer in modern languages and is now a world renowned professor. One of the juniors in his department is on the stand up comedy circuit. You might have to take an initial pay cut but in the long term it’s usually worth it. Good luck.

After 22 years teaching, I moved into the Civil Service for 16 years, working in the Highways department. I started in Facilities Management on the Estates Team, then I became a Health & Safety Officer and finally I worked in Property Management. It was a very interesting career and I worked with some lovely people but my salary was much lower, as I was on top of the scale when teaching.

OP, look at the exit the classroom and thrive Facebook group. There are 150,000 members on there who ask/answer this question on a daily basis!

@thirdistheonewiththehairychest where did you start with your accountancy studies? Did you do another degree?

I'm interested too.

I started with ACCA, studying online with First Intuition.

I spoke to a local college initially who tried to tell me that I needed to start at Level 2 AAT as I didn't have any prior finance experience or qualifications. I'm pleased that I ignored them though as the only entry requirements for ACCA are 3xGCSEs and 2xA-levels in 5 different subjects.

It has been a steep learning curve but I would have been bored to tears going back to Level 2 (which is GCSE level) when I have previously studied at Level 7 (Masters degree).

I second this. It's a great resource.

I work in ITE. Would depend how comfortable you are with that sort of role in terms of the demands on student teachers and ECTs.

I moved from school teaching to lecturing, my wage now is better even though I'm on a part time contract.

I'm actually thinking of taking a wage hit and going back to a pastoral/support role in schools. I miss the contact time with students! The non teaching time (which there is ALOT of) I find quite boring. I was able to stay in the TPS though, which was good.

WTF is a ‘mum job at the council’?

I did go to the Local Authority, as a Housing officer. It was a good move though there was a small pay cut. I only stayed in housing for a year (it was a fixed term contract) but I moved to an environment department and never looked back, 14 years now. I love it, I’m far happier than I ever was teaching. My work life balance is perfect.

I was a teacher for years. I was secondary science. I did my best work with SEN/bottom set kids who were disengaged. I was done with it all when there was a serious incident. I was caught in the crossfire. The perpetrator was only excluded because I got injured, not because of his attempt to kill another pupil. The school was already in special measures.

I worked teaching abroad for a while. That was fantastic and if you're still looking to teach and are open to uprooting your life and becoming an expat, I highly recommend it (just research your destination and schools really well, some are a lot better than others).

We came back due to DCs.

I moved into scientific publishing/editing, and from there, tech marketing. My focus is the midweight copywriting side where I'm conveying facts to customers of a business, as well as copy for social media and advertising, and I manage some of the channels/accounts as well now. There are also the graphic design side and the analytics side. I also ghost write books on the side as I know a few mid-list authors who have more demand than they can keep up with.

If you can get buy-in from 30 disengaged Year 10 set 3's, marketing/selling to adults who are usually already half-convinced is a total doddle.

@thirdistheonewiththehairychest d you mind if I PM you?

This might seem completely off the wall but totally true - train driver, and she wasn’t the only ex teacher in her intake.
Better pay, although the downside is early starts or late finishes. She loves it

Learning Designer at a university

Sure!

My DH was a teacher and is now a police officer

Learning & development role
Trainer for a training company
Adult education
Assessor
Career coach

Depends what pay scale you're on.
Most jobs will be a drop in pay but can quickly go up. I went to cabin crew post teaching and was earning very well, the easiest money I've ever made but it wasn't a career for me. Did it for 3 years and now retraining as a social worker. I love it.

I went to a charity role in comms and then onto other charities but roles I looked at included academy trust central curriculum roles, teach first central roles, and diocesan board of education jobs