Help me please..................It is looking v likely that I will be made redundant so i have started looking at other options, some opinions please

[Flumpybumpy]

I have two options I am thinking about, 1) training to be a primary school teacher and 2) training to become a pharmacy dispenser.

Both are jobs I am really interested in doing. Pro's for #1, term time and school hours are the bonus. Con's for #1 will take a long time to become qualified and start earning decent money.

Pro's for #2, excellent career prospects, money better whilst training. Con's full-time hours so baby DD would have to go into a nursery for longer during the day.

Long term the population is getting older and older people need medicine.

As the population is getting older and not having as may children - teaching kobs may not be in demand in the furture through cuts rather than needs - whilst the goverment spends more money on the old?

Flumpybumpy - working as a teacher does not mean working school hours. In fact, although I love being a teacher, I consider it one of of the least family friendly jobs around!

I leave for work at about 7.00am and get back at about 6.30pm. I also work in the evenings and at weekends. Although it's half term, I've spent all day today at school and will spend probably a week of my summer holiday at school as well.

I really would not recommend training as a teacher when you have very young children. The training is really hard work.

Sorry!

Hi Flumpy - as a primary school teacher I just wanted to say that you should really be sure before training...it's a tough course (made my history hons degree look like a piece of cake - seriously) and even that doesn't match up to the real thing! The 'friendly hours' thing is deceiving - teachers are pretty much always in by 7.30/8 and if full-time work till 530/6pm, plus a bit at home and a good half or full day planning/marking at the weekend. Then you add on all the extra curricular stuff you'll have to take on and you really have to enjoy it to do it.

I'm writing as a mum of a toddler who loves teaching early years children but is seriously thinking of stopping as my work-life-child balance is seriously skewed due to a head who's a workaholic and just not enough time to do the job properly. I'm considering going for dc2 instead!

I don't want to rain on your parade at all (I love the job) but just to be a cautionary tale that although people always think 'oh, but the hoidays...!' it's a knackering career. Pre-baby I pretty much dedicated myself to it but now my priorities have changed and I just feel I can't do it properly and also be with my child as much as I'd like to.

My dh always laughs heartily when his mates say 'oh how lovely, just go in and play for a few hours then lovely long summer hols.....' - perhaps find a teacher contact to go into school with and check it out first???? That's what I did (retrained following previous career like you would as wanted to do something more satisfying).

Sorry - hope this doesn't sound negative. Find a mate who knows a teacher and can hook you up wiith them to investigate properly. If you go for it - GOOD LUCK!

I know nothing of either career but I(personally) would go with career prospects and better money at this time.

However...

My ex sil and a uni pal both went into teaching. The fomer primary and the latter secondary. Both have now retrained to leave teaching. I don't know if that is indicative but it put me off when I was made redundant last october.

If you can, stick with teaching as I suspect you will find yourself in an employees market but then again, it doesn't always work that way.
I chose immediate career prospects due to my ds' age. Had I been a qualified teacher I would demand a salary barter and push my side. After all, you have nothing to lose. Perhaps it doesn't work that way though.

Hedge your bets and send out all the applications you possibly can. Choices are a wonderful thing.

Best wishes xxx

Salary-bartering isn't possible in teaching - you earn what the LEA pay you depending on a set scale and it increases gradually, with every year you teach, but not frankly in-line with your hours...