Another what job could I do thread, all suggestions gratefully received. Help!

[AlphaFoxtrot]

After 16 years as a teacher I have hit the wall with a smack and I have to do something else.
I am also a single parent so I can't just leave or take something voluntary while I decide.

Because of teachers notice periods I would like to start a new job/career on 1st September this year or 1st January 2017, I know I don't have any longer than that left in me.

I am in my early 40s, I have a Masters and lot of professional qualifications, some of them quite specialist.

I have to earn an absolute minimum of £33k, I earn considerably more than this now. I live in the South near some cities so this should be achievable, I could commute to London, Cardiff and anywhere above or below that line within a reasonable distance but the further I go towards London the more I would need to earn to pay for my commute.

I would gladly move to live in a cheaper area if I didn't have DCs at Secondary school here!

I can retrain but I don't have long so Law, for example, is out.
I'm considering doing Prince2, I also wondered about HR.

Currently I manage a team, I love it and I'm good at it not being immodest, I'm terrible at a load of things .
I'm good at problem solving, negotiation, strategic planning, adhering to legislation, meeting targets, motivating people and bringing projects in on time.

I'm not looking for an easy life, I work hard, I'm just burnt out by teaching.

Please suggest careers for me, I'm open to any ideas.

The first thing that springs to my mind is a senior role in University administration/management where they always need problem solving, adhering to legislation, and you're coming from an 'Education' background. Roles such as Programme Administrator etc (see Cardiff University website and Cardiff Metropolitan), are so varied and busy.

And often family friendly/term-time only if you're after that.

Thanks, I'll take a look at the local ones.

It doesn't need to be term time working at all, in fact, I'd rather avoid term times and be able to choose when to take holidays.

Management consultant specialising in education/public sector? Consulting houses often look for industry experience and the transition is fairly easy if you're bright, have a solid educational background and transferable skills which it sounds like you have. I've moved from industry to consulting and back to industry again no problem so far- I quite enjoy the variety! Well paid and nearly every consulting company will pay any travel on top of your salary which could be good for you by the sounds of it.

Project officer in education-type charities; social worker; speech therapist or other professions allied to education?

Management consultant is an excellent idea, I will take a look.

Social worker and speech therapist would both need me to retrain and would take at least 2 years, even if some of my current degree points are transferable.

Preferably I'd like to get away from education.

Although you want to move away from education, for Management Consulting you'd probably need to sell yourself in as an education/public sector specialist initially as they'd be looking for solid industry experience they can sell on to clients essentially- the 'consulting' bit they can teach you! After you've got your foot in the door and learnt consulting skills though you could definitely diversify to other areas if you wanted by getting on non-education type projects and building up experience in a different area.

To earn that salary i think you need to step sideways in education. You'll need to draw and build on the skills you already have.

If you are thinking of a complete change then £33k is not an entry level salary (South East here!).

Thanks Carrie I'll happily use my experience in a job in industry, management consultancy really does sound like an idea worth investigating.

I wouldn't be looking for entry level jobs Jemima. I currently run a large team successfully, I can evidence this and can show evidence of delivering improved outcomes, meeting industry standards, project management, working to deadlines and compliance with regulations.

All of these are transferable skills.

When I say I want to get out of education specifically, I want to leave the public sector.
Using my experience in education in the private sector would be fine.

My challenge is that I've been out of the public sector for so long that I don't know what jobs are around and that's what I'm asking really.

What are your Masters and prof qualifications in?

I found that my teaching qualification and all the transferable skills that went with it were not really recognised outside of the industry very well.

Have been told that my applications showed no evidence of being able to work with children, and no evidence of being able to teach!

Eh?

Following with interest. I can't cope with teaching at the moment- I've just hit a wall. I'm not bragging but I'm a great teacher- I just can't take the constant anxiety anymore.

I've just seen the new messages, I've looked at my finances I either have to stay in my current post until 1st September or find a similar salary elsewhere.

I have asked my friends who work in the private sector for help, they have looked at my CV and I have fired off a couple of applications.

I even wonder whether it would be worth staying until Christmas and then doing supply, there's no point trying for supply in September as I think there won't be any. Not that I want to do supply particularly but it would take a lot of the stress away. Worryingly I don't know whether I can last that long.

My Masters is in Education, so not much use outside of education but it does demonstrate my ability for further study at least.

Will bump for you Fox as watching this thread with interest...

(Maybe repost somewhere on MN with more traffic.)