Career next steps! Your thoughts pls

[hoping2016]

Hey all!

Pls could you help me with this decision, I’m looking to move away from tutoring this year and find work during the day. I’m considering two options TA (primary) or back to accounting (in a junior role).

I’m somewhat torn as I’ve really enjoyed tutoring especially children from deprived backgrounds, where I feel I’m really making a difference. I’ve also completed my mentoring level 3 and have worked with individual children as their mentor. Again I’ve absolutely loved this too! Upsides for me in this role:

School hours
School holidays off ( time with my children aged 14 & 11)
Enjoying work/Fulfilment

Downsides

Will I regret this decision as my children get older and move on with their lives, as I would earn more in accounting and have potential to upscale my role as I have fewer responsibilities at home.

Quite restrictive in terms of needing time off in term time - children’s appointments etc

Accounting - Part Time

I found accounting quite stressful however I would go in at a much lower level than I was previously doing and hopefully have the benefit of wfh which would help.

Upside

Ability to upscale role/hours as my children get older
Higher rate of pay
Possibly more flexible in terms of hours and wfh

Downside

Much less holiday
Less time with the children in the evenings
Possibly more stressful?
Less job satisfaction?

For reference my husband has a demanding role so much of the parenting is done by myself. He does what he can and does it well but a lot rests with me.

What are your thoughts please? Are there any other options I’m missing? What would you do?

Thanks!!

One of the reasons TA pay is so low is because most of the school holidays are unpaid. It's the same paid statutory annual leave as any other job and the rest of the 13 weeks are unpaid.

You could use unpaid statutory parental leave to achieve a similar effect in an accounting role. You have a max of 18 weeks per child to use by their 18th birthday and can take up to 4 weeks per year per child:

https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/entitlement

How junior would the accounting role be? How long since you last worked in the sector? Would it be more junior than what you did before?

Junior roles - especially if a step down - can be more stressful than a slightly more senior role where you have more autonomy and more flexibility with your diary.

TA roles are more stressful and less fun than you've painted. It can also be very physical. And the longer you stay out of accounting, the harder it will be to return to.

@owladventure thank you for your post, very useful indeed! I wasn’t aware of the parental leave entitlement, do you know how easy this is to get in practice? I assume it depends on the culture of the organisation in terms of how easy they make it for an employee.

I would try to get an entry level role just so I can get back into the swing of things. I’ve been out for many years however have recent volunteer experience which would help. This would be much lower than previous roles.

Your comments about TA roles are thought provoking.

Thanks again for an insightful post 😊

You just have to give at least 21 days' notice.

There are limited circumstances where the employer can postpone (by up to 6 months) the leave you've requested, but they can't flat out decline or change the amount of leave requested. There's full details on the link.

It would vary depending on the business how it'd work out in practice. I think you'd be more likely to get the timing you wanted in a larger business/practice that doesn't have major deadlines clashes with when you want to take it, eg summer holidays.

What did you find stressful about accounting previously? It might feel different second time around with your life in a different place?

That’s really useful info - I look into this a bit more. I found multiple tight deadlines difficult but managed to always deliver. I think I lacked confidence and was too much of a people pleaser back then!