To take a massive pay cut

[CaptainChannel]

I am a very unhappy teacher earning just shy of 37k. The job is making me ill and unhappy and I plan to leave at Xmas.
I would like to change careers completely but to do so involves a large paycut. I have applied for and been invited for an interview in my industry of interest, but the role is advertised at 23k. It's a job I'd love to do but the salary isn't great and obviously by leaving teaching I give up the school holidays with my DC.
DH is tentatively supportive as he knows how miserable I am as a teacher, but obviously 23k is a low starting salary for a graduate in her mid 30s. If I was to be offered the job

Pros are almost no commute, my 2 Dc will not have to attend breakfast club anymore, it's well away from teaching but still linked to education, hopefully I wouldn't cry on the way to and from work every day.
Cons are obviously the lower salary, loss of holidays, loss of teacher pension.

I could attempt to negotiate the salary up a bit but it's not something I've done before!

So do I stick with teaching as it's relatively well paid and just suck up my feelings on it, or take the financial hit and follow what I want to do. As a family we can afford it although it would dent our disposable income.

My DH was a Teacher, he did 12 years and was earning £40k when he hit the wall. He had 6 months off with work related stress, then the school paid him off, as they admitted they had been negligent in their lack of support. He spent a further few months recovering and then took an entry level Admin role, in an industry he was interested in - despite having 2 excellent degrees, PGCE and a Masters Degree.

DH did every course going and after 18 months, he was promoted and his salary increased to £23k. We moved to a new city and he was able to secure a new, more senior role in the same field. He has now been with this organisation for 4 years and is qualified in it (work have paid for all his courses and exams). He has been promoted twice and is now only a few £k short of his final teaching salary. He is likely to match it in the next 12 months, and when his boss retires in a couple of years, he's hopeful that he will be able to interview for the role, which comes with a £55k salary - which would have been difficult to achieve if he had remained in teaching, without becoming a Head.

DH is far happier than he ever was as a Teacher, it was slowly destroying him. So although PPs make a good point when they mention that you'd miss the long school holidays, having to arrange childcare for some of these periods is so much less stressful than spending every working day (and your evenings, weekends and even some of those long holidays!) planning, marking and feeling the pressure of a role you no longer enjoy.

Of course I don't know the ins and outs of your financial situation, but I do know that if you are finding the role even half as stressful as my DH did, then taking the pay cut and sacrificing the lengthy school holidays will be well worth it - good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I honestly would try another school before leaving the profession completely. The gulf between those toxic schools and managements that we know and 'love' and schools that are actually run on the basis they are populated by human beings is widening every term.

I nearly got out a few years ago, tried another school, I'm still there and happy (nearly all the time 😂).

I think its important to be happy at work so you should consider this job. But I worry a little you haven't indentified why you don't like teaching. You would have had to train - did you always not like it? If yes, than thats a no brainer. But if you did at one point what has changed for you? I worry its the school rather than the job.

That’s a big, big drop and presume even more so once you take account of holidays and pension.

I’d keep looking for better paid alternative options with prospects for earnings to increase.

And do everything possible for your mental health. Changing jobs isn’t a ‘silver bullet’.

What grade are you?
I would try another school before I gave up the pension & holidays.

I’ve just done the same (I’m 33) but for a civil service apprenticeship. I’m on a program that will give me a good qualification in a few years and whilst the starting salary is low it will quickly increase. They encourage flexible working after 6 months and have been supportive of me having a family. They also encourage career mobility so moving around within the organisation is fairly easy.

Eg no alcohol, sleep, eating well, exercise, counselling (if you’re considering a job change that will cost you/the family tens of thousands of pounds, private sessions would likely be good value)

100% try another school before you give up your career and salary. I've worked in schools that caused me to cry every day too- my current school has reminded why I went into teaching in the first place and I LOVE it- my work life balance is amazing now. It's all down to the difference in SLT!

Would it be possible to work from home in the school holidays? I've negotiated it for myself and it works really well, though kids do have lots of screen time on those days!

Slightly different situation but during the recession I dropped 50% in salary as contracts in my specialist area of HR dried up and I went back to being a generalist. As I was a couple of years out of that, I just couldn't get a role at my usual level. It's taken a few years but I'm now back at the old level - it was tough for a while but worth it, and I've enjoyed the different focus.

If you can manage on the lower salary, I'd say go for it. It won't be low forever.

I would also be cautious considering what the economy may look like in the next 6 months

With a foot in the door of a new industry and already having tried to change then I think yanbu.

I think the people saying they wouldn’t do it have never been in a shit job. I have and my advice is to do it.

Out of interest (as I just left an incredibly stressful private practice job and took a massive pay cut to teach at higher level) what is it about teaching that you hate so much? I must say, I love it so far

I certainly have but I moved to a different company & it was so much better. Sometimes its not the job but the place

I left the police on £40+k, took a trainee job on £29k (exceptionally well paid but dull). Stayed 5yrs, got to £40k again but hated it. I'm now back in my area of passion on £32k with no prospect of a pay rise, but I'm happy, WFH, not stressed and love the work.

Life is too bloody short to spend it stressed and crying in the car before work every day. I did that for 18mths in my last role. And more in the police.

Time to get out. Ask if there is room to negotiate salary in the new role. What is the new industry?

I'm an ex teacher and the thought of losing the holidays kept me in teaching for a while but actually my kid loves going to her friend's house or to holiday club and when you work in a job you leave at the office and that you enjoy, you don't need the holidays.
I went from 9k 2 years ago to £34k this year. Starting low doesn't mean staying low

Hi OP,
Our family life was a nightmare when my husband was a full time (primary KS2) teacher. It was basically non existent - we got one day of the week with him if we were lucky and he was usually stressed out. He ended up off sick with stress and applied to go back part time “to manage his health and balance his family life”. He’s been 3 days for 8 years now and our home life is transformed. I never want him to be full time again.

Instead of deciding whether to stay as you are or take the new job perhaps deciding whether to go 3 days in teaching (which will pay you 20k + and you will still have all of your school holidays) or take the new job is a more balanced decision. So not “do you prefer the new job to full time teaching?” but “do you prefer the new job to part time teaching?” You could even do something else on your other days if you want to and test the water in a new career/study and take exams for a new career - or just enjoy the break!

If you want part time teaching you could obviously look for a part time job but could equally put an application before the head and governors applying stating that you need to go part time to manage your well being and family life and they will find it hard to refuse if you indicate teaching is affecting your health (which it is if you are crying on the way to work)

My husband now works 3 longish days (in school before 8am - leaves around 6pm) and probably about 4 - 8 hours at some other time). It is night and day to full time teaching.

For whoever asked about why I hate teaching, I did used to like it when I was younger. My subject is practical and the students largely consider it a doss. Classes are massive and I can't get to know the students properly as I teach so many classes. SLT are nice but fixated on Ofsted. Behaviour management takes more time than actual teaching. I find that I am held more accountable than the students themselves for grades. Sometimes I feel like an unqualified social worker and I'm always in meetings that are dealing with issues way outside of teaching. I spend all evening planning lessons for the next day that the kids don't care about.
I hear what people are saying about the sacrifice that I am making about the holidays, perhaps I need to just try a different school rather than take a low paid job.

I was really unhappy in my city job and just kept sticking it out for the good money. I tried changing industries thinking it was that, but ultimately I just hated my job.

I retrained whilst working and now I'm able to say I absolutely love what I do. I'm even at uni part time, furthering my new career with a degree.

It isn't all roses though. I've gone from to employed to self employed, and all the pitfalls that comes with that. This past covid times nearly broke me - but I'd still do it all again. I was miserable in my job, and looking back it was so detrimental to my health that I should have got out a long time ago. Good luck!

Could you try a different school and/ or dropping down to 3 or 4 days a week? The salary drop probably wouldn’t be as large plus you would still get all of the school holidays.

@CaptainChannel I can understand now that you have explained. I teach at higher level (postgraduate) so behavioural issues don't exist and students are very motivated to learn, which makes it a pleasure. Could you try teaching at a different level or maybe at a private school where classes are small?

On a complete side note, just in case your subject is Art - it was my absolutely favourite subject at school and I take it extremely seriously. I get very cross with my daughter when she doesn't put an effort in and she dreads showing me her art homework Sorry, if it's not art. In my fantasy life I would be an art teacher

Life is short and you need to be happy.
I have a parent who was a teacher and know how stressful it can be, particularly when faced with kids who you have to be social worker to and/or having to spend most of your time in meetings/dealing with bureaucracy.

I'd say take the cut and work out the holidays and pay thing.

Hey Op,

I'm 38, and an ex teacher. I became a teacher at 22 and loved it (to a point) but began to hate it so much for many reasons. I was head of department in a secondary school for many years.
After 10 years I was done. You don't need to justify why it's shit. It's totally shit.

It was scary because I'd always assumed this was my job for life and what the hell would I do??? And would I be employable.
Well the good news is teachers are extremely resilient.
Honestly having a normal job where you are allowed a loo break and a coffee is bliss.
I packed teaching in and got a job working in assessment (it was a sort of admin job but it got me into the world of assessment). I took a pay cut of 5k and it was definitely worth it.....32k
This role was amazing because for the first time in my life i could go home and relax or have weekends to myself
I'd never experienced this before. Or you could socialise with friends after work.
After a year of this and with my foot in the door I got a job internally as a product designer for syllabuses in my subject. This was around 45k after 5 years I'd had enough and now work at a university looking after programmes etc.
I'd never have this job without leaving teaching and working my way up and gaining experience. Yes I had to take a pay cut initially but once you get your foot in the door and gain experience it becomes much easier to look for a job you really love.

You definitely need to change your job but I would explore the possibility of a different school, maybe 3/4 days a week instead of full-time so you have some more time to yourself and/or to consider alternatives if you decide to move out of teaching completely.

A few years ago I left a school whose new SLT was toxic. I moved to an independent school for a more part-time role for salary that was ridiculously low. It got me out of the toxic school and I used it to buy myself some time to find a teaching job in a different sort of a school. The SLT and the culture it encouraged was the issue, not the job itself.