Teaching- any other jobs that make you cry regularly?

[Whosaidthattt]

I quit teaching last year, after years in a negative, toxic environment, which I thought was my fault.
Most days, I cried on the way to work, at lunchtime in a cupboard or driving home. I now see that this was the culture rather than me. It took changing a 20 year career to see this.
Is there any other job out there that has staff regularly crying before/during/after work? It's so wrong!

Nice. 🙄

Welfare benefits advisers, the clients are more vulnerable and stressed. The DWP help promised isn’t there. I find the DWP staff are very good but don’t have power to do things and as frustrated as we are. They will get the brunt of the anger as well.

I came in with some MH but struggle so much now just asking the safeguarding questions.
Government rhetoric on cutting benefits is frightening for the people that really need them.

Though it’s not nice hearing what’s happening to others it makes me feel less alone and stupid. Others in my office very stressed.

Yes this. Exhausting and emotionally painful.

And that’s before the unmanageable workloads, ridiculously long (unpaid) hours and cuts to services that impact you being able to offer the help needed.

Then as someone else said, you take a much needed week or two off and you come back to twice as much to do so it never feels worth it.

NHS- scientific role, not patient facing. Toxic, incompetent management.

And client expectations are out of control. If it's not done instantly and perfectly they will kick off. They all think they're your only client and could do it better than you. I try and try and it's not enough. I cry about work at least once a week.

I'm not a GP, but when I think of the number of patients they have and the experience of people I have had, I think I'd be passing them the hankies and pillow to scream into!

I used to be a criminal defence solicitor. I managed 6 years until I got fed up of having panic attacks in the toilets before court or crying regularly on the way to work.
I think for me it was the unpredictability as I would never know who I was going the represent either at court or at the police station and I am much more confident if I can plan ahead. Some of my colleagues thrived on it so they were clearly better suited to it!
At the same time my Dad was on palliative care so I was always worried about him too.

Ironically, a few years later, I have two children now and I have just started a new job as a Teaching Assistant. I absolutely love it but I completely admire the teachers and HLTA’s. I couldn’t go back to having a job which I take home and / or keeps me up at night. I feel like I have the best of both worlds now ♥️

I cried regularly as a teacher. I’ve moved to a civil service role in the MoJ which is working with offenders every day. Only cried once in the last 3 years because of residual stress from teaching. I felt overwhelmed at work and didn’t say anything to my manager. I cried whilst talking to my mum about it but should have just gone to my manager straight away because she was lovely and immediately reduced my workload. A massive change from teaching!

Being a lawyer.
I thought it would be a better move from working in charities with cabals of bitches. Turned out I cried less in charity sector.

2 jobs, one where I was bullied by a bitch and the entire hierarchy just supported her.
One where it was utterly toxic. But I learnt from my first experience and walked out from the second one.

Oh and I meant to add that when I was practising law, I was completely unprepared for the outright misogyny and the way some (mainly older) men treat female solicitors 😡

Pharmaceutical industry. Insecure, toxic, high pressure, politics. I’m only there to get paid. And blamed when things get tough, it seems. 🙄 I used to love it but in a different company, too far to commute now.

I regularly cried teaching in a school in a deprived area with awful behaviour and a blame culture from SLT. I started at a leafy suburb school and haven’t cried at all.

I am mid 60s and in the 80s/early 90s worked on sales/trading floors in American Investment banks. They were tough but I never cried. Certainly 12 hour days, minimum, every day.

For the last 20 years, quasi public sector having retrained. More like 10 hour days. It's quite a tough job but I've never cried. There was one period when the director was vile but they only lasted for a year. Some colleagues do get stressed but I sense they have overstretched themselves intellectually or financially.

I'd never have done a job that made me deeply unhappy - but I've always had the ability to leave if necessary which I never have without another job.

DH was commercial/corporate but a barrister. He worked 14 hour days for decades and loved it. However, clients were unfailingly nice to him - otherwise he wouldn't have accepted their work. Occasionally he worked for an a'hole client but usually quoted a triple fee. He was able to be quite picky by his early 40s.

DD and DS are both in education and are loving it. DD is not working silly hours and evidently loves the paperwork - secondary; DS is thriving and says being able to research and publish is paid for metaphorically by his teaching (HE). Neither understand the meal some colleagues make over prep and marking.

One thing DH and I find hugely helpful is having a dedicated work phone. It provides a divide and means you only see the messages come in when you elect to do so.

If every job is making you cry though it indicates you are the issue rather than the job and you need to look at a different career

Yes, because that's easy.

Maybe everyone just needs to be a bit kinder to one another? Shouting at your lawyer or your kid's teacher or your GP because they aren't doing exactly what you want when you want it shouldn't be acceptable.

Criminal justice working with ex prisoners etc.
Like those who work in social work have said, most of the time it’s utterly heartbreaking. The majority of prisoners have had traumatic and tragic upbringings, and have then gone on to do awful things to others. So it takes an emotional toll.

The rest of the time it’s super stressful as workloads are astronomical.

Another lawyer who regularly cries here!

Really sad reading though this thread as jobs being mentioned (nursing/midwifery/medical, teaching, social work etc…) are, in my opinion, the cornerstone of our society. These aren’t jobs, they are vocations - we need more support for people in these roles - they shouldn’t be feeling like this.
@Gill123789 this is a kind comment and I am going to sound critical of you when I really don't want to be. However I don't think that society viewing these jobs as vocations helps. It's a line that can be trotted out by the unscrupulous (not you, I'm absolutely not saying that!) to excuse horrible working conditions.

Yes, this was my experience too.
The toxicity and being pitted against your colleagues is difficult to put into words but it is so damaging to your wellbeing. I found that I was working all the hours but also had severe anxiety about work when I wasn’t working. It was very lonely with little collaboration between colleagues. I still have bad dreams about past legal jobs.

Yep, corporate law made me cry regularly too. I found myself sobbing on the Tube once (I hadn’t even noticed I was doing it!) and a lovely stranger sat and chatted to me.

It shouldn’t be that stressful, nothing we do compares to the importance of eg social worker, doctor etc.. but the pressure is just so intense.

My mum was dying (weeks to live) and I asked to be able to work from home (I lived 2 hours from the office) to be told that wasn’t possible but I would be permitted to work core hours I.e. I could leave at 530. I was SO grateful for this, this seemed so generous to me.. it was only after my mum died and I got through the grieving process and suddenly thought “WTF?” And actually my boss was lovely and I’m still in touch with her, but such was the mentality.

I am now self employed and work full time from home.. will never earn the crazy money I was on track for but on the plus side I can make every single school concert and don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to take an hour off.

Another Social Worker here.
I love my job because I know i make a huge difference to the kids I work with. However I cry regularly, work 14hr days frequently, the expectations and responsibilities are just huge. I can be all over the country regularly. Paperwork and emails are just too much - I get on average 50-60 emails a day and have to log on late at night so i can go through them with no interruptions. Emergencies and fire fighting every day, threats and abuse (I've been followed), so much court work, meetings after meetings, having to make the right decisions and constant fear if you don't.
I work regularly with lots and lots of schools and without exception they all say to me "I couldn't do your job" Luckily I have the best team and best manager who are so supportive.

Lawyer. Constant.

This is so appreciated. And maybe it shouldn’t be the way but it you’re kind and polite to the receptionist, we will go the extra mile to help you. Obviously we try to help everyone and give the best service possible but for those who don’t treat us like utter shit, we will bend the rules to try and get you seen sooner.

I’m a teacher and I’ve got upset at school twice in the last 12 months - once because of how the head spoke to me, once because of the overwhelming pressure I felt from Some of the parents.

Pre-children I cried fairly often at work and at home about work. Then I went on maternity leave and realised you work as hard as you do and then you’re replaceable! I try to have more of a detachment from work now.

@Whosaidthattt and other teachers, have you seen the Life After Teaching page on fb?
It's quite enlightening.
I left teaching as I couldn't do it all. I was so tired, so much planning, marking, assessment, reporting... and little seemed to benefit the children.