Would you rather work as a GP receptionist or a teaching assistant?

[Whitefeather13]

I have had two job offers and I cannot decide which one to accept.

A receptionist at a doctors surgery or a Teaching Assistant at a small village primary school.

Do you have experience in either? Which would you rather?

AIBU - GP surgery
YANBU - Teaching assistant

Thank you!

I love children and would find TA stressful but more rewarding (I have done some work with children long ago) where receptionist I wouldn't find the rewarding aspect so much. I think it depends what you think you would like more as it's personal!

Teaching assistant if in primary school

Teaching assistant. You won't get adults shouting at you daily.

Both would be my idea of hell, but really it depends what your long term goals are and what you think you'll enjoy! Is the receptionist job term time?

Are you sure the ta job is higher pay you need to check the pro rata wage, ive been a ta for 10 years and am only on pennies over the nmw 30 hours a week and bring home 1100 a month

Depends on what your TA role would be. Is it a general TA or 1:1? If it’s the latter why does the child need 1:1? At the little village school I’m in, TAs working with certain children get bitten, hit and have things thrown at them regularly. It’s not fun 😬

I read this the title and assumed this was a hypothetical question, acknowledging the hassle that both groups must put up with, for very little thanks.

Both jobs will expect more of you than originally stated, and require you to be empathetic, organised and flexible, so I guess it depends on your professional interests.

Working as part of a class, with regular children, in partnership and with a shared goal might give more job satisfaction. Being part of the progression is rewarding.

Seriously? Schools are struggling to recruit round here. We've only just recruited for a vacancy we've hand since July.

Would you say you are a cheerful soul?

TA jobs used to be gold dust, when I forst started in school 15 years ago, we would only advertise for a week or we got unmanageable numbers of applications. Now they're practically impossible to recruit. We often don't get any applications at all and very rarely any of any quality.

Yeah I am, thanks. Y'know, you can still be upbeat and recognise that, especially since covid, people very often talk to other people like they're shit on their shoe. Especially Drs receptionists!
I can be a generally happy person and still not take your shit 🤷🏽‍♀️ in fact, the two go very well together!
I don't work customer facing anymore because I've got more sense, frankly! And I'm simply ecstatic about it.

I'm a GP receptionist , I absolutely love it there is not one day where I haven't wanted to go to work. People presume we get a lot of grief , we get frustrated people yes and it's frustrating for us ( all nurses appointments were gone after 6 minutes this morning) but the majority of people are polite . Obviously your work colleagues make a massive difference to the working day , do you know anyone at either place that can give you some inside info ? X

Gp receptionist by far. You can sit down. It's less exhausting. You can take time off for school events.... and you'll be paid better.

TA is crazy unless a stop gap job or "for fun" when you don't need money and can leave when it's too much.

Please take it from someone who works in education: GP receptionist. Teaching assistants are being shafted by schools, despite their pay.

Is this one of those “would you rather lose a limb or have an eye poked out?” questions?

TA - 100%

GP receptionist strikes me as a really hard job and very repetitive/ rigid.

TA would also be hard but I think there would be more positive moments. The TAs I know all seem very happy. Plus you get the holidays which would be invaluable with your children.

Another one here who thinks you’ve possibly misunderstood the TA salary you’ve seen. You won’t get paid for school holidays so it’s nowhere near the amount advertised. It’s a common trick!

Drs receptionist- judging by my Drs it would be a phone job only!

Seriously, I worked as a Drs receptionist (albeit some time ago before society changed!) & I absolutely loved it. I really liked all the lovely old people & got to know them really well. It’s great to know you might be the only person they speak to that week & I found them all so lovely & grateful.

For you, TA in your children’s school seems like a complete winner. No worries about wraparound or holiday childcare.

Gp receptionist by far. You can sit down. It's less exhausting. You can take time off for school events.... and you'll be paid better.

It’s NMW at ours. Shocking pay for the stress and the grief they get.

Before or after pro-rating?

TA , it's what I do and it fits perfectly in with family life.

I've experienced similar to both and would go for GP receptionist. I think it depends if you're a people person or not though (I'm not!).

As a TA, I'd say run in the opposite direction. Education is not a happy place right now for loads of reasons. I adore the kids in my care, but not sure how much more I can take. Think - no money, no support for kids who really need it, no job security, poor wages, kids that are out of control because we can't meet their needs. The list is long OP.

GP surgery.