Award Winning Teacher Looking for Transition Advice
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Anonymous
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Hello everyone! I'm currently in my 40s and work as a teacher. Next school year, I'll be making $130k plus a $10k bonus. However, I'm at a point where I'm considering my options and whether teaching is the field I want to retire in. While I don't hate teaching and find it fulfilling, the toll it takes on my mind and body on a yearly basis is something I'm starting to take into account. I have two options: continue teaching for another 10-12 years until early retirement, or transition to a new career within the next year or two.
If I decide to transition, I'm considering careers in nursing, IT, or university program coordination type roles, etc. I'm willing to dedicate a year or two to take courses and pass exams to prepare for this change. However, the challenge lies in finding a new career that offers a salary similar to my current one ($125-$150), provides 3-5 weeks of vacation leave, and flexibility (would be icing on the cake). I excel in my current role which has led to recognition and have done quite well in all my endeavors. I'm also a quick learner, adept at passing exams, and take pride in performing tasks at a high level. I also have experience outside the classroom, running educational programs at both the school and central levels, and serving as an instructional coach. These experiences have equipped me with skills in program management, budget creation and allocation, report writing, data analysis, and personnel supervision. While I initially returned to the classroom some years ago to enjoy the perks associated with teaching, I believe it may be time to explore something new. I'm confident that I would excel in any new role and quickly demonstrate the value I can bring to a team. Does anyone has personal experiences to share regarding transitioning careers? Any advice for my situation? Thank you! |
Anonymous
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Just to add.....
Currently, I work (teach) about 25 hours a week, spend approximately 10 hours in meetings, duty time, or planning, and enjoy summer breaks and holidays off. I don't typically bring work home, but despite these advantages, the job remains physically and mentally demanding, leaving me exhausted most days and weeks. Lastly, another area I would need to consider is how a transition may impact my pension/retirement planning. |
Anonymous
| What about working in school administration within your current district? |
Anonymous
| What level are you teaching? College? |
Anonymous
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I wouldn’t look into anything else until I spoke with someone in your school system about your retirement and what all the implications are. It’s one thing to change jobs at 27 after 5 years of teaching. It’s a whole other thing after 20 or more years.
Where are you located? |
Anonymous
No thank you on the school based admin roles lol. The positions of principal and assistant principal within the school system, though they may offer slightly higher pay, require significantly more time and come with an overwhelming level of responsibility. For example, my assistant principal and I earn approximately the same salary, even though their job duties and time commitment are likely two to three times greater than that of a typical classroom teacher. The balance may be an instructional coach role, where you make the same but are out the classroom working with teachers to meet school-based goals. |
Anonymous
Solid point. I definitely need to talk to someone in HR and look at possible implications. Located in DC. |
Anonymous
No, the public school system. |
Anonymous
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Private K-12 school administration?
This is a good search firm. Try to revamp your resume based on what some of these folks are looking for: https://diversifiedsearchgroup.com/executive-search/active-searches/ |
Anonymous
Thank you, I greatly appreciate this recommendation. I have been considering opportunities in the non-profit sector, post-secondary education, or private K-12 education, as my experience and recent skills align well with these areas. An ultimate goal in this space would be a director or executive level position within these fields. However, I am initially curious about how my background as a classroom teacher with my previous leadership roles could assist me in obtaining an entry-level supervisory position in these sectors. Definitely worth pursuing, thanks. |
Anonymous
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You might look into some of the nonprofits (or corporations) that do federal level educational contracting work.
You might find the salary and benefits to be lower, however. Here's an example job: https://jobs-airdc.icims.com/jobs/12712/senior-researcher%2c-school-and-district-leadership/job |
Anonymous
| Central office positions or OSSE |
Anonymous
| Most of the teachers I know in this region that have transitioned have gone into government contracting - there are a lot of instructional design or training positions that you might be qualified for. |
Anonymous
| You should open a consulting firm for other teachers on how to work more efficiently since all the ones that post on here apparebtly work 80 hours per week. You would make a lot of money. |
Anonymous
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None of the jobs you mentioned are going to pay you 130K+ a year with more than 2-3 weeks of vacation time. Nursing is harder physically than teaching and will pay much less than you want. You mentioned you only teach 25 hours a week plus 10 more hours of meetings and planning. If you can be a decent teacher only working 35 hours a week? You have it made. Most of us teachers work significantly more than that for significantly less pay. I'd focus on the retiring early part. Most teachers I know are not making it to the full amount of years they need to get the max pension anyways.
But yeah, if you're looking for easier than the info you gave us, it might exist, but I wouldn't count on any job making more than about 50-60K. |