Help me find a new career

[LonerMatt]

Hello everyone!

Let's cut a long story short - I'm a High School teacher, and this is my 7th year of being one. For a few reasons I'm sick of my job and don't want to do it any more. At the end of this year (Christmas) I'm quitting and taking some time off.

What I need help with is working out what I could do next.

I've always been a teacher, most of my friends are teachers (or are still in the first jobs they landed after uni) so I don't have much perspective on other fields, what I could transition into or what might be an up/down grade. So I'm asking everyone and anyone who has advice, opinions, hot takes or controversial comments to chime in.

I am happy to try almost anything - I always try to find ways to enjoy, learn and experience things differently, so I tend to be pretty happy as long as I'm working on something (sitting bored is awful). Which is exactly why I'm asking for help - there are so many options.

What I like and am good at doing:
- Working with larger groups of people
- Working with a longer term professional relationship
- Writing/Speaking - communication skills
- Trying new tasks
- Proposing, implementing and evaluating programs, changes, solutions
- Working in teams on just about anything (I've done everything from team work around disability services, curriculum writing, planning teacher training, etc, etc, etc, always a small team)
- Being generally competent at basic stuff like emails, organisation, efficiency, asking questions, not being a noob, etc
- Mentoring/Coaching

Things I'm bad at:
- Repetitive tasks requiring a high level of attention to detail and/or methodical thinking
- Working for people I don't trust
- Work that stays with me when I go home (affects sleep and mood too much)
- Blood and guts
- Faking it

Other random information
- Quite happy to re-train or go back to University
- Quite happy to downgrade in terms of pay
- Quite happy to drastically change type, conditions and style of work
- Not particularly ambitious - no real desire to climb to the top, be ultra competitive, or be a shithead to get the job done
- I doubt I'm going to FIRE, I'm more using MMM to reduce consumerism, stay balanced and find a more consistently happy adulthood

Jobs I've thought about:
1. HR - I like working with people and helping them become better/happier at what they are doing

2. Working in a University - I have skills around education (and would happily teach Uni students (but I wouldn't mind trying administration

3. Working as a Public Servant - entering the Education Department and working on policy and policy reviews. Benefits my experience, potentially quite interesting, probably insanely red tape, etc.

4. IT/Web Design - my gf wants to (at some point) move overseas (again) to work and live. A job that's a little bit flexible/not that tied to here and now makes some sense with this in mind (otherwise I could go back to teaching for a year or two :) ). I have never done any IT or web design classes, projects, etc, I have no skills.

If you're still reading you're a fucking gem - please feel free to tell me:
a) what you think
b) what I haven't thought of
c) what questions I could ask
d) extra things that might help me think about the future

[Bracken_Joy]

I feel like @Freckles might have some good feedback here! She's moved within the teaching field and seems to really enjoy what she does, etc.

Other than that, all I can say is... don't become a nurse. It's literally point for point your "not good with" list!

[expatartist]

It sounds like you wouldn't mind staying in the education field, but just want to stop teaching. I feel similarly, and luckily ended up in a position where I get to interact with students but in project-based, short-term roles rather than as a classroom teacher. There are other options: as you say, admin could be one. Though it can get competitive and you'd probably need more certs/degrees. At the international ed foundation where I work, counselors are hired from overseas on a full package. On our smaller campuses, there were a few classes involved, but they were the higher level older students. It sounds like you were doing counseling as a teacher anyway. The counselors I work with who'd previously been teachers very much preferred their new positions.

[LonerMatt]

What certs or degrees do you think would be helpful in getting into administration/policy?

The foundation work sounds interesting - are there any details or similar organisations you'd mind sharing? Feel free to PM

[Nudelkopf]

What about a Guidance Officer?

[LonerMatt]

Could be a great fit.

Here they are usually either just teachers who are part of the wellbeing team, or social workers/counselor.

Something else to look into - thank you :)

[expatartist]

A guidance officer is what I was getting at, too. At some int'l schools they do personal counselling, at others the focus is on university admissions, depends on how large the school is. International School Review has great forums that you can access I believe even without a subscription, they're a comprehensive intro to the international teaching world. With your background of teaching in Australia, you should be a good candidate certainly for Asia where demand is highest and salaries can be quite good. After 2-4 years in Asia or developing countries, you could land a job in Europe or elsewhere - if that interests you.

[LonerMatt]

Thanks - I'll have a look at those boards.

Would I be a stronger candidate with a relevant qualification, or is experience enough?

[expatartist]

Relevant qualifications would be necessary for any reputable school - and there are many that aren't! Search the forums of that site, there are many people posting there who've direct experience, mine is really just of the art variety ;)

[2Cent]

Apart from "Working with a longer term professional relationship" corporate trainer would be a good fit. You'd obviously need some thing to train people in, but there are enough subjects you could pick up with a bit of effort.
Depending on what you didn't like in high school teaching you might try elementary school teaching. High school is just about the hardest age group to teach so just moving up or down might help.

[HappierAtHome]

HR involves repetitive tasks with attention to detail (at least in government departments).

Policy could be a good fit based on what you say. If you want details on policy work inside government PM me (only so much I will say in a public post).

Second the "corporate trainer" idea. And most government departments have training teams which could be a good option?

[LonerMatt]

oooooh thanks for the information - I'll shoot a PM later on.

2cent - being a PS teacher would destroy me - while the ages are (hypothetically) easier, the increased workload would just about crush me. I really want out of a classroom.

[LonerMatt]

Really hard and with decreasing funding (no increase in Department funding in real terms in ~15 years), fewer people are posted overseas. I know a lot of people in that Department - it's not for me.

Corporate trainer looks interesting - from what I can tell I think I'd need some industry specific skills to actually train people in - I'm tempted to contact a few companies and ask them for advice.

[LonerMatt]

Thanks for your advice everyone - including those who PM'd me.

At the moment what I'm thinking is this:

1. Finish up teaching at the end of the year, paid until 26/1/19

2. Finish my Masters Degree (have a year left I think) - hopefully get that funded. The idea here is to build some skills with statistics and project management, make money by doing sub teaching, adult learning and maybe some work at the University, take a few extended holidays

3. In 2020 transition to work in Higher Education or Education policy

[shelbyautumn]

I also thought of a corporate trainer! We have a training dept at my corporate job. It consists of two women that create manuals and teach classes all day.

[MJseast]

Program Manager or Project Manager sounds like it could be a good fit. The details of that role can be very industry-specific, but that job title is there in just about every industry.

If you decide to go this route, you may want to look into getting your PMP certificate to start. I only did PM work in the software industry, and a PMP cert wasn't necessary, but without the experience it may be a good a place to start.

So maybe a Program Manager for a tech company that creates educational software?

[Jouer]

Corporate coaching* might be something where you can use your education and experience. You might need to add some business experience/schooling or know someone.

*large sales orgs pay a ton of $$$ to corporate coaches/trainers. You'd be using many of the skills you listed as likes/good at.

[Tig_]

Not sure where you are located, but wanted to second your thought on higher ed administration.

In the states, you have programs like outward bound and the like (also career advising, counseling, program evaluation, etc etc)within higher ed that could all be a good fit for what you’re looking for. These positions are a little harder to find overseas I think though.

Generally masters required without amazing pay, but usually pretty good benefits.

[YoungInvestor]

My father had a similar conundrum back in the day: after 5-8 years of teaching he studied administration part time and moved to HR with his school district.

He made a pretty good career out of it.