Should I become a teacher or go to a masters?

[lostandconfusedmh]

After burning out from my previous law job in the city due to mental health issues, I’ve been recovering at my parents' place since being let go in July. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better now.

I’ve secured a job as a trainee teacher in my hometown, but I can’t help feeling a bit bitter because I had a very high-paying job before. I graduated with a 2:1 in law from a Russell Group university in 2022.

Now, I’m at a crossroads: should I take the teaching job or finish my master’s? I have offers from:

• A former Russell Group university
• A business analytics course from the University of London
• An MSc in Finance at SOAS

I’m considering these options as a way to re-enter the corporate world, as I no longer wish to pursue a career in law due to the culture. However, the teaching job is also appealing because it’s less stressful than working in a Magic Circle law firm, and the summers off would provide a good work-life balance.

The downside is that the teaching job is at a rough school with poorly behaved pupils, which adds another layer of complexity to my decision.

it can't be more stressful than the big 4?

Of course it can't. That's why so many teachers are leaving the profession.

Why not try it and see?

but a lot of people leave the big 4

You weren't good enough for the big 4, so it's not even worth comparing. FWIW my ex-husband is an investment banker for a major name in the City and gets more time off than I do. Perhaps not on paper, but in real terms he had a much better work-life balance.

I'm sure they do.

I have zero idea what your job was like. And I wouldn't presume to tell you how easy or hard it was.

I have a great idea what teaching is like. I really do not think it's the job for you, based on your posts here.

I would say try it, but as an ITT co-ordinator, I feel for the poor bugger who has to take her on and the added work when she is failing bit the course and the kids.

Same. Especially with Teach First.

*bit = both

It's not whether it's more stressful than the Big4, it's whether it's too stressful for you, at this point in your life, coming out of a challenging mental health period, into another really stressful career, particularly the first three years (training year plus two ECT years). I suspect probably yes.

Yilou say this like it's not a big deal to leave a job. This smacks of commitment issues tbh.
I guarantee you'd be out of teaching within 3 years, tops. You really need to want to do it, especially if you think you could do 'better'.

I know someone in the Big 4, very senior. She works incredibly hard. But she does also have loads of money and goes on lots of holidays that most of us would think were once in a lifetime trips. Her sister is a teacher. My friend does not presume to think her sister is not under stress or does not work hard. In fact she often comments on how hard she works for scant reward.

But you were nearly sacked from a job in the big four due to burn out and mental health issues.

To go into another job that has thousands of people quitting each year citing similar reasons, seems a bizarre choice. It doesn’t sound like you handle stress well.

Go and read one of the umpteen threads on here about it. I'd start with the current one by the woman whose husband has just quit teaching after being diagnosed with PTSD.

Not that desperate.

This is either a goady thread or you are spectacularly ignorant about a sector you're allegedly thinking of getting into. I'm going with the former.

@lostandconfusedmh do you think that all the teachers pointing out that teaching is a stressful job with a high workload, high accountability and lack of flexibility in term-time are lying?

can i ask about teacher adults?
is that also stressful

I have links to the courses you mention. Just fyi they have very high numbers of overseas students who tend to speak their own languages between friends. I'd imagine it will be hard to gel with your peers as a mature, home student.

I’m guessing that stress in ‘the big 4’ is as a result of excessive workload, expectation to perform at 100% with no time to take the foot off the pedal ever, much longer hours than would appear from the contract, complete vilification for only one small oversight, bullying management, pressures from the regulatory environment, constant criticism and expections of more more more from the clients.

Well. That’s teaching. But for 25% of the money and none of the status.

if you love the work and put in the years you might find yourself in a place that makes it worth it.

I work with the big 4. It really depends. A client facing role is stressful. Your partners will have you dealing with client issues through the night, you'll be working 14 hour days and weekends and it's an aggressive culture. You either go up in a highly competitive pool of people or out. One day you'll turn up and find you have been taken off accounts and you have no idea why. So your career can disappear in a flash. Trying to ensure that doesn't happen is very stressful. You cannot work to contract, you have to work long hours and then go out for drinks and socialise to ensure you have support in the firm. I've heard stories of people having a parent die and their partner reading them the riot act for taking a day off and it causing their career to spiral as a result of that one day off. It's intense.

However non client facing roles are far less stressful and it's much more 9-5. It also depends which branch of work you are in..tax work is less stressful for example.

“A client facing role is stressful”

Never realised the Big Four also have client facing roles which involve facing 30 clients simultaneously on a Friday afternoon in a south facing meeting room with broken blinds where the windows haven’t opened since 2008, oh and the whiteboard isn’t connecting to the laptop.

I would say probably similar levels of stress. You are doing 5 or 6 presentations a day with very little time to prepare to a potentially hostile audience. Who are not tolerant of mistakes- you are very likely to be sweared at by students and parents.

Your working hours are likely to be the same I regularly work 50-60 hours weeks. And the to do list is never finished.

My teacher training year was incredibly stressful and it came close to breaking me. As you are still recovering it works not be a good fit.

Take a year out, apply to the civil service scheme in Sept and get casual work/ travel for the rest of the time. Recovery takes time.

Did you work for the Big 4 or a Magic Circle firm?

Just seen your other posts from yesterday. Given the advice is to reduce client facing and work that involves social skills you really should avoid teaching.

In teaching you clients are your students, you can not get more client facing.

And to get the students to do the work needs a huge amount of social skills and being able to read social skills of others. Behaviour management is hard work, even in ‘nice’ schools but in a ‘rough’ school it is even harder and the students will make it very difficult for you.