To be trying to find a job I love

[edinburghoreo]

I am in 25 and decided to resign from my job as a teacher because I was miserable. I am aware while typing this may sound 'snowflake-y'.

My degree is in education. I went straight into teaching from university and immediately realised it wasn't what I imagined it would be. I tried a couple of different schools and different year groups and despite excellent feedback / appraisals it was the external pressures (more and more unrealistic expectations beyond job role, lack of funding impacting support for children etc) that just made me feel depressed. Earlier this year, a child in my class died and I think this was the final straw in what I felt able to handle. I lost about a stone in weight over this academic year due to stress and felt I was losing myself to the job - despite being being told I was performing as an outstanding teacher.

I -naively- resigned before getting another job (living at home), with my last wage coming next week as it is the end of the 6 week holidays and my contract.

I feel completely burned out. I thought this was the career I wanted and genuinely can't think of anything else I would 'love' to do. I just want something that is less emotionally taxing but I wish I could think of another career path that excites me.

I have spent the summer applying for admin type jobs that I'm not particularly passionate about but would just be grateful for a job at this point. Getting rejected for minimum wage jobs that I have the transferable skills to do has been humbling since I was paid very well for my age as a teacher at 35k. I thought I would be able to find something but have since realised it was stupid to leave my job without an idea of another career / path.

I just feel depressed really and wanted a reality check - am I being unreasonable to try and hold out for a job I want or do the majority of people work at jobs they don't like? At this point I'm thinking - if I'm going to be unhappy in my job regardless maybe I should go back to hating it on 35k rather than trying, and failing, to get minimum wage jobs that I don't particularly want.

Sorry to be depressing x

But UK taxes are lower than in many European countries.

Swings and roundabouts.

Would you consider teaching in prisons?

Could you do some type of corporate trainer role? Use your knowledge of teaching but in a different way.

@edinburghoreo

I’m sorry for the loss of one of your pupils, and can appreciate how this has affected you. I hope you have been given access to free mental health support if you feel you need it. The Education Support Helpline are available 24/7, Google their number if ever you need to reach out to someone who really understands you.

You have done the right thing - do not look backwards unless it is to remind yourself of the awful conditions and what you’re not willing to put up with, in order to help you move forward. I truly wish I had left the profession much earlier than when I did, but I have to tell myself it wasn’t part of the plan for me, or else I beat myself up about it. I moved to a high number of schools in my career as I refused to put up with so many things I was experiencing, and some schools were definitely better than others, but I couldn’t envisage working any longer than a few years even in the one that I like the most as while everything else seemed fine such as behaviour, the expectations and pressures that come with the job were far too much for me.

Are you on the Facebook group ‘Life after teaching - exit and thrive.’ If you are not then I strongly urge you to join - this group pretty much saved me and then kept me going last year. There are many useful tips for job searching and ideas for careers outside of teaching - within Education or not. The people who established the group and the group members are so supportive and you can post anonymously - and trust me when I say that no question is too small or is silly. Once you see the sheer amount of others in the same or similar position to you all asking similar questions this will spur you on to realise you’ve made the right choice I’m sure.

Perhaps you could take a further qualification such as something within counselling or Psychology-related to enable you to work within children’s mental health services.

If you are interested in Social Work, Local Authorities and Front Line offer good levels of pay or bursaries while you train, although this is also a very stressful role with a lack of resources.

I was a Secondary School Teacher for 15 years and I’d tried several times to leave the profession to do something else Education-related. I didn’t have any idea what to do, but I knew I needed a role that paid the same or very similarly, which becomes harder the longer you’re a Teacher and if you take on responsibilities as I did due to the increase in pay. I ended up becoming very ill as a direct consequence of that profession and not being able to listen to my body and rest, and going on long term sick leave propelled me to finally find something else - I would no longer be alive had I had to return to teaching.

Search your local council websites for education related jobs such as within the Virtual School, Oak National Academy and Teach First. If you haven’t already, make a list of what you liked and disliked about teaching, and whether you prefer dealing with curriculum or the more pastoral side for example. Also you must identify your transferable skills and how to sell yourself in non-teaching applications - there is great help available for this on the Facebook group I mentioned. I would say to think carefully too as to whether you could envisage yourself working with adults all the time or if you would still like to be able to work with children some or all of the time too.

Please feel free to PM me, such as if you’d like to know what I do now and what it’s like.

My daily life has been so much different for this past year, and for the first time in my adult life I have actually felt like an adult - I never did when I was teaching.

I wish you all the very best.

It doesn’t make you sound snowflak-ey - better to figure it out now than be like those of us wondering what retraining at 45 looks like! Sorry to hear about the child who died, that was a lot to deal with x

I fully understand how you feel. I've been teaching for 20 years and trying to leave. It's also very difficult losing students. I think a PP gave a helpline number if you need to speak to someone.

I left once before and wish I had made more of tutoring full-time before accepting a new teaching job. It's so hard to get a new job when you're teaching, with a notice period up to 7 months.

I'd give tutoring a go while you figure out what you want to do. It can pay very well. You're young, with your whole life ahead of you. Don't settle for a job you don't like.