What job do you do? Being nosy!

[OnTheJourneyOnwards]

Basically what it says on the title!

What job do you do?

I'm trying to work out a new path for myself - I've been a teacher (too people-y and long hours), and spent the last 8 years in marketing, getting quite senior but I'm now looking for something new.

So tell me what you do, and if you like it, and why!

Bonus points for jobs that let you drop off and pick up kids from school or be flexible around school holidays 😁

@SabrinaThwaite

Mine certainly do

They are amazing
Highly recommend 😛😛

Clerk and Financial Officer to a large parish council, the job is very rewarding as it allows me implement decisions and advise on matters affecting the local community. I can also work fully remotely, it's flexible around childcare commitments, and the pay is very decent.

@hellohellooo

How many donkeys do u have?
You r so lucky

I was previously a teacher, now a civil servant.
In my department the money isn't great but the flexibility makes it worth it.

@Horrace

3 I worship them

They are the sweetest little angels

In the field beside them my neighbour has a donkey and a goat - those guys are best friends . It's the cutest bromance

I the dream is when I pay all my debt off I am full time on the farm
Simple easy life

I'm done with stress !!!!!

And goats, ah bliss 🥰

I house sit for my aunt, have done for years. She has horses, sheep, goats and chickens.
I love it.

I only have chickens currently. No room for anything else yet.

I share your dream

I'm a travel agent at a local boutique luxury agency. I love my job, money isn't great but the perks are fab and I've been to a lot of places I never would have had the chance to go to otherwise.

Another Speech and Language Therapist here 🙋‍♀️

I work for a social enterprise.

Best job ever (in my opinion). Been qualified 20+ years and I still love it.

I've got a super flexible employer to its a great work/life balance.

Very people-y though 😂

Air traffic controller. You need to have gained only a minimum of five GCSEs to apply as the selection process is based mainly on personal attributes. You'll undergo various tests to determine your ability to concentrate and handle pressure, amongst other things. It takes three years to gain your licence, and you need to be prepared to relocate as required; I worked at Prestwick and Heathrow before moving to my current location.

Another civil servant (lawyer), I enjoy the work as it is in an area that interests me. I could double my pay in the private sector but the flexibility and pension (mostly) make up for it.
Plus, if I get bored it is pretty easy to move to another role.

You used to need A levels . I was interested in the late 80s and had the A levels . It was one of the few jobs that specified A levels and not degree.

I work in the NHS as a band 7 - won’t say what but do the workload of 3 probably! It’s really affecting my mental health. Only been in the role a few months!

So, looking at leaving and also leaving the NHS after 27 years!

I have a degree; some would say it's a wasted education, but I don't see it that way. It's possible the bar was lowered because the powers that be realised higher education doesn't equate with a problem-solving cool head; scholars have a tendency to take the long view and consider outcomes.

I was on shift on 9/11; it was full-on - the stuff of meltdowns for those who fall apart under stress, but we got there and planes ended up safely on the ground (although not necessarily at their planned destinations).

Makes sense. I didn’t want to relocate at the time. Shortsighted of me but I was 18!

Having done a 'peopley' job for years, I now avoid people! I couldn't find a job locally so started selling mostly vintage goods online. I love it but it's harder to scale up than you might imagine.

Wow, I'm amazed by all the responses. 😃

So far on my list to explore I've decided to look up:

1️⃣ Local council/parish council jobs (flexibility and benefits sound good!)

2️⃣ Civil service jobs (again with good benefits and flexibility)

3️⃣ Dog walking (I love being outdoors!)

4️⃣ Speech and language therapist

5️⃣ Video editing (I'm actually pretty good at this already but I've never been able to find a job as an editor)

6️⃣ Charity jobs - probably less pay but probably also less corporate

7️⃣ Content creator - the creative aspect from my marketing job appeals but not sure about it from the perspective of making consistent income 🤔

Any more ideas for me? I'm capable of doing a masters and PhD if necessary to retrain.

With both teaching and marketing I enjoyed how creative both were. And the psychology aspect of both (how kids learn/why people buy things).

I'm not a spreadsheet person in the slightest, and I'm much better at just just getting on and doing things independently rather than managing a team.

With teaching, I loved having to literally think on my feet and just being in the moment with the kids. It made time fly fast!

I need variety and autonomy as well as purpose/a cause to care about or I get really bored...

Any more suggestions?

Some of these have been really helpful!

Senior Social Worker in adult social services. Home working 99% of the time so can do pick ups and drop offs fortunately!

That's interesting. Do you definitely need QTS to be an assistant Head? Or are there non-QTs routes to that kind of role?

Strategy, policy and delivery adviser for different high-priority projects in a government department. I like the variety but sometimes the pace is so stressful I can't bear it, especially now we've been under headcount controls for some time and there are not enough staff to cover workloads.

My 20 year old DD with ADHD has also considered this, but she has some joints problems that make her worry she wouldn't manage the physical side of it, being on her feet for hours, arms always raised... how do you find that side of it?

@HBGKC You do need to have QTS in a maintained school at least - I think it would be weird if someone was in that role having never been a qualified teacher.

I think what they meant is they are an assistant head who is out of class full time, i.e. with no teaching responsibilities. I imagine they've been a teacher to get into that role.

Thank you.

I’m not going to lie, it can cause problems but also they can be minimised by using correct posture techniques etc, which are taught during training.

I have semi-regular visits to both chiropractor and physio to keep on top of my shoulders which can get a bit tight. I do exercises and have started weight training as the stronger my muscles are, the better.

I can imagine most jobs can cause joint/muscle problems in different ways - office/computer jobs can give you back or wrist problems for example.

Thank you - yes, it makes career/job-choices really tricky her, as she has the mental ADHD issues to contend with (ie needs a lot of variety/last-minute/hard deadlines etc), but also the physical issues of getting tired/achey quickly...

There are support staff routes to be SLT and an assistant headteacher. I have QTS though so therefore can be paid on the teaching leadership scale,the teaching pension and working conditions are better.

WHen I went back to work (after being a SAHM) in Nov 2021, I was paid on support staff scale until Sept 24, with my promotion to AHT.

I'm aware you can be an AHT on support scale. I expected that to my my career progression, because id rather not teach. Was very pleased to be offered back onto teaching salery. I was expecting to be offered at L1 (which was about equal to my support staff salery at the time) so was gobsmacked to be offered L11. I was offered that tho because its the standard lower end of AHT salery at my school, so I'm no lesser to everyone else on SLT.