Job with 50k salary... Feeling weird...

[Frostysunshine]

Okay so this is a strange one, I've nobody in RL to ask for advice, so I'll give you a brief back story... I'm having a bit of, what can only be described as, a quarter-life-crisis at the moment. I'm 25, I graduated from uni two years ago and have been working as a teacher since then. I enjoy my job, but I always have this niggling feeling that I will get bored of it eventually, and bored of the poor pay if I don't want to become a head teacher. But at the same time, I battle with the fact that relative to my parent and partner, it's decent and stable money (28k) and that I wouldn't be guaranteed this money if I left and did a non-teacher job. So basically I worry that if I leave i wouldn't know what to do or what I'd enjoy doing, and I would definitely have to take a pay-cut and may never out-earn what I do teaching anyway.

So to my feeling weird part... I was staying with a friend on the run-up to Christmas, who was telling us about someone who we went to uni with. We all went to a pretty low-rate uni, this person studied business there. After graduation, they were working in restaurants and bars, alongside a part time office job and applied for a job on a whim. They got the job and have ended up on 50k within a matter of months.
I can't put my finger on why it's impacted me so much, but I can't let it go. Not so much about them, but more-so about what the hell I'm doing with my life. My partner earns less than me, he's trying his best to persue promotion and we are scraping to buy a house together. I feel like I'm failing him and myself because I can't gun for a payrise/promotion in my job. I just can't let go of the fact that I could be earning 50k VS the reality check that I keep trying to give myself that it probably doesn't work that way for most people. I'm feeling like I'm failing to provide at the moment, and I'm worried that if I stick at this job I'm going to reach 30/40 and wonder what I could have done/been earning at this point. My degree is in education and psychology (regret), and so I feel like I'm pretty pigeon-holed.

I need some realistic advice because I can't let this go and I have nobody to ask who might offer helpful suggestions.

^ Soul, not sole

I think the salary reflects the fact that he is probably working long days and has to manage a team of people, which is no easy task! Its very easy to envy someone on a good "screw" as they say ,but its not comparable .Teaching is a job with hopefully some job satisfaction ,a good Career path and a good pension at the end of it!

Some of the responses here are strange. 50k isn't a sign if some stressed out killer role.

Op. I mean this sensitively but surely you knew when you became a primary school teacher it was never going to make you rich or even objectively pay particularly well?

Teaching is a vocation, no one does it for thr glittering salary. If you're not in it for thr love of it, then time to move on.

Don't forget that teachers get very good pensions too. Certainly better than many in jobs that appear better paid. In the long run they may not be.

I think some teachers are fairly passive about their choices in life. It is rare to find a real "go getter" teacher. That is not to say I do not value teachers - I do - but their needs from a job seem different to other people who go out and earn more. Teachers go to the same job every day, in the same place and their job does not require huge amounts of dynamism. Nor many risks. Unless they totally screw up,they have a job for life. If you have the great personaity and are a great teacher, there certainy are good careers out there for teachers who leave the classroom behind. Assistant Heads are not poorly paid and many get these roles in their early 30s. There are all sorts of admin roles in Local Authorities and MATs. Look at what you might aspire to.

Educational Psychology is one (it takes years and years though) but there are other options. Or look at working for an educational publisher, exam boards, professional regulatory boards etc. Or just go out and sell!

To be an Educational Psychologist you have to do a three year doctorate where you get £16000 tax free. It’s really hard to make ends meet.

Jobs start at £38k but most newly qualifieds negotiate starting at £40-41k.

There isn’t that much pay progression, it caps out at about £50k after about 8-10 years. And then your only increase is whatever the union negotiate for you as ‘cost of living’ i.e. 1%.

Principal Ed Psychs can earn up to about £60k but there’s only one principal job to 10-30 Ed Psychs!

Considering the workload, onerous training and responsibility required it really isn’t a job if you want big bucks.

If you love being in the classroom, you need to think long and hard before swapping that for something that you don't love. Job satisfaction is both rare and valuable.

BubblesBuddy I agree with most you say except your suggestion teaching doesn't need much dynamism or risk. Teaching has become (in ways rightly as children need to make progress, especially those with lower starting points if we want to address disadvantage). Yes, some teachers in some schools can get into a nice comfortable routine and get away with it. But many are under extreme pressure, performance targets and with growing pressure to be not just teachers but social workers, parents, researchers, trainers etc etc.

This is an interest thread to read as a newly qualified science teacher. I'm 26 and changed from doing something else to teaching now. I love teaching but like OP something I'm fearful of is being managed out of work or not being able to switch schools at some point due to cheaper teachers available.