Considering change of career but….

[Semiforthewin]

I’ll try and keep it short

20 year + Qualified teacher. Middle level management. Lots of training and people management experience. Salary of upper £40k and not unhappy at work per se. Itchy feet is more where it’s at.

Main breadwinner. Husband lower earner (not the point of this thread) and he does all the school run stuff so no scope for increasing. My job means holidays are largely covered so childcare costs are £0 between us. This obviously has value.

I would like to make a move to something else possibly in the charitable field where I’d feel like I made a difference. Don’t get me wrong I’m a teacher I know we make a difference but in the 20 years I’ve done the job it’s become such a hard won battle and work life balance isn’t great at all.

I’ve tried many times to make a start but all entry level salaries are £30k or less and I simply can’t afford to cut our income so much, especially when it also impacts the school holidays. I joined a FB group about leaving teaching and promptly left as it was unhelpful (lots of whining and not much in the way of actual suggestions).

Am I just being unrealistic? Has anyone done this and if so how?

I made a change into the charity sector and was very happy for a long time. But the trade-off is job security. Funding streams are always fixed term, so you could be happily making a difference and then get made redundant on the dot of two years. Salaries are low and seem to be getting lower if that’s even possible. The last couple of roles I considered were barely breaking £30k, whereas I had been on the leadership scale when I left teaching fifteen years prior! I have now changed direction entirely as I realised that I was unlikely to get another job. The better paid roles have been significantly cut back as funders don’t really like to pay for core costs.

I would also say that charities can be very competitive with quite a well-trodden path from Oxbridge to Whitehall and then on to the third sector. Plus the legions of people who turn to the charity sector from other careers in search of better work life balance - it seems to be suggested on any MN thread about work or career issues!

I would stick if I were you, or look at LA roles like Virtual School.

Teaching is secure, has decent holidays, decent pay & a great pension. It’s very hard to find other careers to match that unfortunately

CQC inspection. Transferable skills. Similar pay but you'd feel your contributing to improvements for vulnerable sectors.

Depends if you’re focusing on large or small charities - the former paying more than the latter. I’m the director of a smallish charity (turnover of circa 250k) and my salary is £30k - I can barely afford to work there and will probably have leave for something that pays better in the not too distant future. I essentially pay about a 30k penalty (average salary for my skill/experience in the private sector is about £60k) for working to a charity.

There’s a lot to be said about working in the 3rd sector (now known as civil society), and you often do feel like you are making a difference - but job satisfaction does not pay the bills. There’s also a section of the public that think you should doing your job for free and are disgusted that you take any salary at all.

I had similar in my last role. The FTE salary was ok, but I was expected to do it on very part time hours each week!

If you have worked 20 years plus and have another 35 working years left, your retirement age must be very late 😁

I work in the charity sector in middle management and earn around £55k, it’s hard work though and the feeling of completeness you want I never get. Some days I want to give up and others I really enjoy it.