Any teachers who have left teaching?

[TooMuchSaidAndDone]

I've been a primary teacher for around 25 years. After a really stressful few months that I believed would resolve positively, but didn't, I've finally come to the decision that I need to be out of this.

I love my job but I can't face going in on Monday - I'm dreading it - and it's the first time I've felt like that about teaching for about 10 years. I just don't want to go in.

Of course, I will go in on Monday. And I will do everything I can to do my best for the children, as usual, but my trust in and respect for the HT and DHT has gone.

The last time I felt like this was 10 years ago.and I left that job and did supply teaching for a few years before taking this job. So I'm not really looking to go back into that.

I've also considered tutoring and, whilst I'm still open to it, my confidence has been shattered and I'm just not sure I'm ready for it yet.

So I wondered what other people who have left teaching have done and, more importantly, where do you look for jobs?

Thank you.

I was a secondary school teacher for 20 years. I was bloody good at it, but slowly it sucked the life out of me. It sapped all of my energy. For me, it felt a bit like being a stand up comedian - the best bits are when you’re on stage, but you spend the rest of the time preparing, worrying and stressing, imagining every possible scenario and working out how you’ll deal with it. Then sometimes, you get a bad show and it knocks you for six, but you have to get up and go again. Only it’s 7 shows a day, 5 days a week. It’s no way to live your life!

I left and now work as a library assistant. I was lucky - as I only worked part time, I was able to change jobs and up my hours. Obviously you can’t up your hours if you’re already full time. By doing a bit of tutoring I was able to make up 3/4 of my teaching wage. I now work double the hours, for half the money and get 5 weeks holiday, which sounds tough, but my god it’s a breeze! Zero stress. I’m so much happier.

I left teaching in Dec 2013, after 16 years of solid classroom teaching. I’d had enough and resigned one day with no plan.

I was unemployed for 8 months, and then started temping which I did for about 9-10 months. I got a temp to perm job with Vodafone in a call centre. My secondary school negotiation experience was very useful at times, bringing people down off the ceiling when they were in arrears and at risk of having their service disconnected.

Then 7 1/2 years in the complaints department of a major food manufacturer. Wording responses to complaints can be a very delicate process at times.

Since last August, I have been working with my local county council. I work on a team that sends out invites on behalf of Social Workers to all professionals and family members for any persons that have a SW - CiC, CP, children with disability, adults in social care. It’s an incredibly busy job but these meetings need to take place and the last thing we want is SW’s sat in front of the computer all day sending out those letters.

Keep an eye on your local council’s job board for any “business support assistant” or similar. It’s not massively well paid, but I am about to start an apprenticeship paid for by my council. The first certificated training I have had in over 10 years.

Following as my partner is in the process of leaving the profession.

Thanks for the replies.

They've certainly given me a lot to think about!

I had a look at Indeed and my LA website yesterday but there's nothing on there! I'll keep looking.

I just don't even know where people look for jobs! 😄

I'll join that fb group today...

Left teaching and became a Project Support Assistant for not much money. However 3 years later am a Project Manager on ~£50k so would recommend.

I left after 23 years and now love life again and have time and energy to spend with my own children!
I looked on Indeed, LinkedIn, NHS, Civil Service, Charity Jobs and local uni and council pages. Set up a bookmark for each page and check regularly.
You can also use AI as a virtual careers coach. Identify what you like in your current or previous roles and think about where your interests lie. Roles I looked into where Business Improvements, Organisational Development and one- off type roles.
if you sign up for a 30 day free trial with LinkedIn Premium, you can do some of their free courses. I did a yellow belt in Lean Six Sigma which gave me a huge boost in my first role.
Also look at how to write a Skills based CV - first page demonstrates and highlights your skills-data handling, leadership, stakeholder management etc and your teaching career history is almost the last thing people read on the second page. First impressions count!

You can also look into Skills Bootcamps- they are free and give great experience and an interview with a business.

Get ready for the next chapter/module in your career. In the world outside of education, it is seen as being quite normal to have a squiggly work history.
In the company I work in now, we recruit for skills and train people to do the role.

I handed my notice in without any idea of what to do next but spent 6 months planning and applying for roles (decided to leave in Jan and left in Summer). I was very prepared to work in a Supermarket rather than do supply.

Good luck!

I joined the civil service in a higher paying role, I’m very busy but very well paid and I work at home 2-3 days per week and not having the daily commute makes a lot of difference. Friends who have left teaching have taken up council jobs on around the 40K mark and another now works for an assessment company on 30K which is less money than teaching but full time WFH. There’s a lot out there. You may need to take a pay cut initially but only you can decide if that’s possible for you and how much work / life balance trumps salary.

Job stability is not great though with cuts everywhere in the higher education sector.

Husband moved from schools to FE college. He was happier.

To answer OP, I am doing supply now but Im have been in and out of teaching over th yeears. I love teaching but hate what the job has become now, the Mumsnet/DoE campaign to encourage people to teaching is pathetic. I would not recommend anyone go into the profession, stear clear anyone reading this.
Schools are underfunded, many turned into toxic establishements where bullying is rife, pupil behaviour is low, parental engagement dropped since covid.
It's really not worth the stress and hours you need to put in, and whatever you do it is never enough.

My DH is a virtual head (for children in care) and frequently has teachers apply for roles in his team - if you have some leadership experience and/or inclusion experience they can be great roles to apply for. OP just to say I think you thought about social work - just to say as a sw frying pan and fire comes to mind.

Join ‘life after teaching’ on Facebook. There’s loads of info and support on there.

i applied for civil service jobs. I was offered 4 different roles. CS is fab compared to Teaching.

I left teaching and now work in admin /HR in the charity sector. I lead on recruitment and most of our staff are young (early 20s), so organising stuff for them does seem that different to teaching really. But I work 8-4pm, have never had to bring work home, can take holidays when I like and manage my own flexi.
I've just taken the CIPD level 3, and interviewing next week for a similar position with a different charity but a grade higher

Universities ate cutting jobs massively.

My child taught in different Academy schools for many years and eventually became an empty shell. They didn't want to give up what used to be their passion and have been HoD in a boarding/day private school since last September. The difference in their MH in that short time is amazing, they feel valued, listened to and appreciated. The students have boundaries (and everyone knows where they are and the consequences of overstepping them!). I was sure they would look for a different career path but, fingers crossed, still doing the job they love.

This is really helpful, thanks.

I could afford to drop down to around £30k (possibly a little lower) and would be happy to do so if the opportunities for progression were good.

But, tbh, a lot of the jobs around £30k ask for very specific skillsets that I'm not sure I'd possess!

I'll take up some of these suggestions and rewrite my CV today.

I always used to think that the a teacher’s job advert made it sound very challenging but it was part and parcel of our day job. Remember that a job advert is the wish list .

Yes, I do try to remember that.

I need to spend today getting a few things in order I think to organise myself and come up with an action plan.

I'm feeling quite motivated by these responses though!

This is the thing.

My partner works in a role in a completely different industry. He earns the same as me. Works 8am - 4pm, has breaks during the day, doesn't even think about it once he's left and it's a job with almost zero stress on a day to day basis.

There's no toxicity, everyone is valued for what they do, no one complains about him, he's supported by leadership and he gets paid overtime. Imagine that! 😅

I left teaching. Initially worked for the exam board I was marking for as a curriculum advisor. Found my way into Product Management. Took a career break, retrained as a holistic therapist to spend more time with my son. Am now back in Product Management with an educational publisher. I have taken a big step down in seniority. Money isn't everything but I do earn more than most primary headteachers. I am an individual contributor, so have no line management responsibilities and I work really flexibly. The company I work for is amazingl. The work is hard sometimes, but interesting, but I have a life! School makes you feel trapped, but you can do anything you set your mind to, or at least work towards it. Don't be under any illusions that corporate life is easy though, the challenges are just different.

Have you thought about prison teaching? Same holiday allowance but you can take holidays when you want. All work done onsite- don’t take any work home. Set hours- probably something like 8am till 4.45pm and usually Friday afternoon off.

I left teaching (and SLT) last summer after 31 years. I was an English teacher. I took early retirement as I was 55 and took the biggest chunk I could on top of my lump sum. Apart from just investing it I used it to help buffer me in setting up my own consultancy. I initially thought I’d be doing g school improvement but it’s taken a different and very interesting turn and I e ended up with 3 jobs, working very flexibly and I’m super-happy.

I deliver NPQs for a teaching Hub, which I did before I left teaching, but now I get the money instead of the school. This is nice as it gets me working with other people and is very sociable. The second job I have is working as a freelancer for an educational company that create STEM projects for industry that need to be made suitable for children. I map them to the curriculum and create content. I’m also delivering in schools in a few weeks. Because I had lots of experience in curriculum design, in doing school developments plans and supporting teachers, it’s been very straightforward despite it being in STEM and me being an English teacher!
the last thing I’ve done is to pay to take a course to qualify me as an executive coach. I’m taking an ILM level 7 qualification (masters level). I’ve really really enjoyed the coaching and I’ll be able to take paying clients on when I finish in September.

this all sounds super-busy but compared to teaching it really isn’t. I can work on one thing at a time and FINISH THINGS, which you never get to do in teaching! And I work now in my garden office which I love. I honestly don’t miss teaching one bit even though I thought I would. Do it!

I left teaching last month. I was a primary school teacher for 12 years. I was utterly sick of trying to teach children who had been dragged up by utterly useless parents. It became an impossible job and destroyed my mental health.

I'm currently working as a tutor but it's not my long term goal.

Interestingly I started flying lessons a couple of years ago for fun, scraped every last penny I could find to pay for it and now I'm qualified, I'm seriously considering training to go commercial.

We're very lucky we have a lot of savings. I appreciate not everyone can have such an opportunity.

My point is, the world is your oyster now. Teaching doesn't define you, and I've realised after creating a cover letter and application for a job recently out of education, I have a lot of transferable skills and my personality and drive alone will be attractive to any employer in any field.

Teaching was the worst thing for me, but also the best. You have a lot of desirable skills, you just need to think about what you're interested in, what your passions are, what you like doing, and seek out opportunities. Think about how your skills translate to other jobs (the usual planning, communication skills etc you have reams of).

Definitely join that Facebook group and watch the 'Pit Pony' video. Trust me on that - was a game changer for me.

Good luck.

One more thing, how did people manage the notice period? How did it feel asking your HT for a reference for a non teaching job?

Not quite the same and not always possible for everyone but I left teaching "in England" about 7 years ago. We moved abroad. I still teach (just about to go back after maternity leave and have reduced to 0.8 for now) and I enjoy going to work. I've never had that feeling of dread here, I've felt supported and "my kids" are lovely.
I'm working my 40 hours a week (now 32) and not much more. I get loads of prep time (I'll have only 20 teaching periods across 5 days when I get back, but I'm going back as class teacher...not returning as HOY) and I earn more than I did in England. Even on my reduced hours, I'm on 50k+. We are quite low key in regards to planning and marking. There's no Ofsted and lesson observations tend to be few and far between. Book looks and learning walks aren't really a thing.
I'm currently looking into moving back to a state school here and responses have been quite positive so far. I'll be on more pay then, and I'll have tenure.