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.

Don't look at the "now" but the future in terms of if your family life will be better, childcare, career progression. etc. Being miserable in work is no way to live.
It's a leap.of faith but give it a try, teaching will always be thereof it doesn't suit!
Before accepting the post point out your experience and expertise that you are bringing and use this as leverage on the salary. If you don't ask you'll never get!

You’d earn about £700/ month less. How much are you spending on breakfast club and commuting now?

If you can afford it take the job. Now is the time to take the plunge. Or what about the suggestion of part-time. But if you hate teaching that's not really the answer.

A happy mother is worth more than a bit of extra money. You’re no good to your DC if you die of a stress related heart attack or kill yourself because you can’t cope with the unhappiness any more.

School holidays are long and yet go so quickly. If you can drop to £23k as a family whilst having to pay out lots for holiday clubs etc. I would drop to 2 days a week teaching c£18.5K and really enjoy all those holidays with your children for now without having to worry about who is looking after them which could be swapping one stress for another.

Nothing is worth your health. You won’t be on 23k forever and could you do some tutoring on the side (if that wouldn’t affect your health)?

Honestly no amount of money is worth you crying too and from work every day for the next 30-33 years.

I changed direction in my career and took a 26k pay cut (in a low tax jurisdiction too so made quite a difference) but I’m so glad I did. I no longer desire hsving a car crash or throwing myself down the stairs so I can have a few days off work

I’d proceed with caution and like others have said look a bit more longer term. Could you reduce your hours/days in your current job and do a p/t post grad qualification that would help you switch your career without such a salary drop? I work in the public sector and there are a lot of roles that earn significantly more than 23k if you are educated to degree level. If you’re not interested in further study at the mo what about reducing your hours to allow you time to do some voluntary work. This may help balance the time you spend teaching and not enjoying it.

I think it’s important to also look at your outgoings relating to this job and work out what you actually gain/lose from a particular salary.

I’m in a senior role and have doubled my salary in the last 3 years which sounds fabulous on paper but the reality is a bit different. I’m now doing more hours than I’ve ever done. Prob averaging about a 60 hour week. Stress levels significantly increased. V tired so less desire/energy to socialise etc. I’m now seriously thinking about stepping down to a less senior role which would mean a significant salary cut but may be better for my overall well being. The thing I keep coming back to is it feels a bit like going back the way. I’m not sure if this is a factor for you too. We are so conditioned into the moving through/up your career and earning more sometimes we lose sight of what is important in the grand scheme of things. Good luck with whatever you decide x

In your shoes, yes I would take the job change, especially if the £23k was a starting salary and there was the opportunity for career progression and if you could potentially tutor on the side for additional income.

As a PP said it's a drop of around £700 per month after tax so it depends if you can absorb that in your family (not counting savings on breakfast club, commute etc, so possibly more like £500?)

Life is too short to hate what you do all day every day. If you have an opportunity to change it, grab it.

A friend of mine switched to supply teaching and liked it much better - it wouldn't help with getting to know the students better, but does cut out the meetings.
I made a switch to the charity sector (from commerce) many years ago that meant a big salary drop - glad I did it, but didn't quite bring the joy I'd anticipated.
More recently I switched to less senior roles - at a lower FTE rate - but only work 2 or 3 days weekly - life is too short to spend most of your time on something that makes you unhappy.

I could have written this, I have an old pension closed off to new employees, I earn a tad bit more than you.
I'm tired in the morning, tired in the evening, no energy to cook or do exercise. The amount of internal energy it uses to do my job is incredibly depressing, at weekend I'm a different person. I'm planning on leaving to do a job for £9 and hour I'd love. Nobody ever died wishing they'd done 5 minutes more overtime in a job they hate.
GOOD LUCK!

OP, if you went from full-time teaching to 0.6, you'd earn pretty much the same as in the new job but would keep your teacher's pension and the holidays. That might still not be the right choice for you but could it be something to put into the mix?

What’s career/salary progression like in the new industry?

It’s unrealistic to expect to land a well paying job in a new field, but the sooner you move, the more time you have to progress and earn more.

It depends on how the pay cut will effect your family tbh. If you can afford it then it sounds OK.

@GU24Mum

OP, if you went from full-time teaching to 0.6, you'd earn pretty much the same as in the new job but would keep your teacher's pension and the holidays. That might still not be the right choice for you but could it be something to put into the mix?

Definitely worth working out.

I’ve seen a friend almost destroyed by teaching. They were completely worn down. They left & moved into the civil service, initially with a big pay cut. They are a different person. Energised, happy & content & still with a great pension.

There’s a lot more to life than money. If things are that bad, I’d get out.

OP could you share the industry? Some of us might work in it and be able to help on intel on career progression and how to go about salary negotiation!

Comes down to numbers doesn't it. If you can afford and afford to pay for childcare in the holidays if you need it then do it. If you can't afford that then look for another school.

DH is a teacher and was utterly at the end of his rope, a new school has given him much more back and it's not always down to SLT but cohort / behaviour management etc

As a family we can afford it

If you can afford to do everything you want to as a family then this is all that matters. What's the point in having a miserable life just to earn more money?

I'm a graduate and could have gone down the high earning professional route but chose to work part time. My FTE would be less than £20K but I'm happy and can leave work at the door.

I say go for it! I’m about to go back after being on mat leave and it’s made me realise how much of a negative impact teaching has had on my life in recent years. Working evenings and weekends just to keep my head above water. I’ve loved being able to socialise and relax at weekends! I’m going back but will see if I can manage my workload better…I do not want to work weekends when my baby will already be in nursery 5 days a week. If I end up working every weekend like before I will certainly be changing career which will almost certainly involve a pay cut but my own family must become my priority.

I did it. I exchanged a very well paid job with an 80 mile round trip commute for one paying £13k less three miles from home. The difference in my physical and mental health was massive. There’s a lot more to life than money.

Your school sounds terrible, to be perfectly honest. I’m a teacher in the independent sector and I have a very very good salary (at HoD level admittedly) and love my job. I also have friends who work in state schools and really enjoy it. I would try one more school if possible before you leave the sector for good, but research it really carefully and focus on culture / work-life balance as your main priority.

That said, if your subject area is quite niche and jobs don’t come up very often at other schools, leave. I’ve worked in really tough schools before and had to get out for the sake of my sanity. You could always go back to teaching if you really miss the holidays and salary.

I work in HE, so still education, but in Professional Services. I won't kid you that it's any fewer hours, or that you don't get shit from students/colleagues/parents (I kid you not!)

However, if you took a lower level role (G3/G4 on the UK pay spine), there are useful and interesting jobs to be found. G4 starts at just over £20k, and once you're in, there's usually other roles coming up around the Institution. For example, I went into my first G3 job with an UG degree, and just finished a Masters. (Earned £11.5k, but that was 20 years ago!) I then worked my way up to a G6 within about 2 years, and left that HEI at a G8 level, after 11 years. I took time off to complete my PhD, and now work at a different HEI, at G9. Been here 8 years. It's tough, with evening/weekend work, and travel - but I do like most of my job, most of the time, and there are a lot of opportunities.

I have had two ex-teachers work in my team in the last few years - one came in at G4, and the other at G5, just to give you an idea. Sadly the competition is high for most roles, and a first degree is standard, which I think is rubbish for a role starting at £18k....

Definitely try another school before giving up the pension & holidays.

Thanks so much Mumsnet, there is some great advice here and gives me a lot to think about.
I think I will go along go the interview and see how I feel about the job and whether the salary is negotiable or set in stone. I will also keep an eye out for other teaching jobs on a part time basis.
I teach music. Few kids in KS3 like it, and the curriculum in many schools has moved towards pop/rock type stuff to please the kids and tbh it's not really my thing.
I like teaching the GCSE but that's only a couple of lessons a week, mostly I'm wrangling with classes of 30+ kids who seem to hate me and a tutor group with unbelievable levels of social and behaviour problems. It is really hard. I have taught in a private school before and the kids were lovely but it was only a mat cover contract several years ago.
I feel like I need a change to get my well-being back on track, but I do not want to make any move that would impact negatively on my lovely DC or my DH. We can afford it, but keeping the kids cared for and happy in the holidays is obviously much harder if I don't teach.

You should absolutely give it a go. FYI if you're looking for another option, lots of universities are now looking for educational technologists/instructional designers post-Covid - designing, but not teaching, online courses. In my university there are a few ex teachers doing this and we're all still fully remote. Salaries around the 30-35k mark.