Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Work

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

trained for one career.........thinking of doing something else

3 replies

angelfire · 31/07/2010 15:03

I am mid 40's. Trained for years to get where I am (lawyer). Now thinking of doing something else (teaching). Probably as stressful, nowhere near as well paid. Please give me your stories and chaning track and doing something you really love. Did you regret it?

OP posts:
MmeRedWhiteandBlueberry · 01/08/2010 08:28

I switch careers in my 30s to teaching.

I think it is difficult to know whether you love teaching until you try it, but you certainly have to be passionate about it in order to get onto a PGCE course and get your first job.

Going back to university was a bit of a culture shock to me. The PGCE was pretty easy when coming from a high-pressure blue-chip environment, but it is best to keep quiet about these kind of opinions.

As a lawyer, you will already possess most of the transferrable skills (eg time-management, dealing with paperwork, stress management, presentation skills) that you need to be a successful teacher. The unknown is what you will be like in a class of children.

I gave up teaching after a year and a half (had another child and decided to SAH) because, if truth be told, I didn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy the unknowns that came with the job - what mood would specific difficult pupils be in that day and would this wreck my lesson and impact on the learning of others, etc. A lot of teachers thrive on this, though. I didn't regret leaving my old job and trying out teaching, even though I became a quitter. I simply moved onto a new part of my life which I loved at the time. If I stayed at my old job, I wouldn't have had any more children, and certainly not the ones I have now (which is hard to think about).

I returned to teaching many years later and now love my job. I'm only just earning more than my previous job which I left almost 20 years ago.

When you leave a lucrative job to become a teacher, you are not doing it for the money. It is a career that gives you time off with your children in the holidays, is something you can come back to after a career break, and offers promotion opportunities if you want it.

angelfire · 01/08/2010 13:36

Thanks for being so honest and pragmatic. I really am grateful for your comments.

OP posts:
MmeRedWhiteandBlueberry · 01/08/2010 18:29

Pragmatic - that's me.

I hope you get some other opinions. I re-read my post and it sounded a bit cynical. I really do enjoy my job though - and it being August has nothing to do with it

In the new school year, try to visit a wide variety of schools and see what you think.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page