There are definitely fun parts of the construction industry and I do enjoy working in my piece of it (sustainability stuff) but it is deadline driven and can definitely be stressful. At the moment I dont have the capital but I am saving :), Thank you! I left the classroom for school communications a few years ago after nearly 20 years teaching. A professional version of FOMO, if you will. 2) do TONS of research on peoples paths & pivot stories (which helped me realize that I could do more than I originally thought) Why leave it? Teachers know how to break difficult concepts into terms their audience understands. I enjoy working on construction documents, I just have to remind myself to be proactive about comfort. Lots of companies post their ideal job requirements but will hire an enthusiastic educator without that experience given how much they value is derived from the candidates time in the classroom. Make a budget with this new salary, including rent/mortgage, food, debts/loans, etc. To people considering career changes, look hard at what you want to have vs what you already have. So they never make the first cut. If the agreement gets out of balance (too much BS, too many demands, too much stress, not enough money, etc) then I can always look for the next opportunity. I dont think I would enjoy Music Therapy, (plus I dont have the money to go back to school) but thank you! and Id need to be ready to lose both of those to start something completely different. I transitioned out of teaching by taking a job at an after school program where I was working with students for part of the time (after school), and doing administrative tasks in the morning (while the kids were in school). I had a position that ended in April, so I had a couple of weeks of virtual teaching and then I decided to pivot to freelance writing. LW 2, no advice, just appreciation from the bottom of my heart for teachers this year! Would not come anywhere near my current income and would have no benefits, to boot.). 4. re: tech to anything we all need tech expertise, so I could see using that as an entr into the desired field as their local tech guru, and then branching out once in the professional orbit. Look at the ATD website Association for Talent Development. This upper back/shoulder tightness will pull on your neck, which will help trigger or exacerbate a migraine. Also ask whether they have any other recommendations for you (such as books/blogs to read, other people to talk to, etc) when Ive asked this question, people have often volunteered to introduce me to others in the industry, which has led to more networking with industry people and sometimes directly to job opportunities. So if I know I lack knowledge in x, Ive told myself that it means I prob cant do y. (Can you do basic repairs, such as fixing a leaking tap or replacing a light? Especially in March/April of this year, I was working probably 70 hours a week and also just miserable. Ive been in my current role for 3ish years, but in this general line of work for longer. That leaves it open for them to suggest that you apply for a job at their company or to recommend that you talk to their friend who is hiring, etc). So I took a sabbatical this year and Im hoping to get back into education, but I would encourage you to take a rest period before you start trying to pursue something else, no matter what it is. The market may not be amazing right now, but that will likely change in about 6 months, with the vaccine, slow down of the pandemic, and the elections being behind us. Im not sure what her long term goals are for it, but it definitely seems do-able to get the license and get your feet wet while still working your other job. Seconding this. Minimum time employed before being eligible. Especially if youre able to pick up something at foreclosure/tax auction/short sale. I now have two single-spaced pages of job titles, companies, industries, and websites that are a good match for my specific skill sets. Its a lot less stressful for me. 1. I was traveling throughout California last January, and ended up with literally a dozen different library cards that all have ebook access through an app and I am ROLLING in reading material. Think about how much fun it must be to teach welding or cooking online to high school students. I hope that youve found some resources in this thread, even if theyre not profession-specific. I dont think there is a solution that doesnt involve vast sums of money. . mind if i ask what your second career choice was? does your college major really matter when you're looking for a job? Maybe and maybe not, but I switched from a white-collar field to licensed massage therapy and have never been happier. That can be a way to gain low-key experience with real estate, property management, and property development all at once. Thank you so much for all the responses, I will read them all. Of course, you dont want to be needlessly job hopping, but if youre in a job for several years, its usually not difficult to explain why a move in a particular direction is strategic. I now work in consumer education and outreach at a federal financial regulatory agency, which is a better fit. What I would recommend to the op is-what exactly about these types of jobs seem appealing to you? I took an admin job (basically an administrative assistant job) at a university, and worked my way up from there. Ive joined Facebook and LinkedIn groups just to take inspiration from other peoples ideas Many k-12 teachers appply for our academic adjacent positions, but most lack experience working w college students. Good luck! I wonder if your property/real estate interest is a fun escapist fantasy, or a real thing you could do? You may find that you had significant misconceptions about the job. For Software Engineer another idea is to look into adjacent careerslike Project Manager or Training or Solutions Architech/Systems Engineer/Integration Engineer/Analyst/Sales Engineer. If you want to learn Javascript, this is my favorite resource: https://nodeschool.io/#workshoppers . School was not a necessity for this but it was the right choice for me. Research is even more important if you want to do a total shift to something brand new with zero or low applicability. (OK, court is a bit more exciting, but still nothing like TV courts). Not just the US, sadly. Significantly less stress. FOr LW2 -I am a former teacher and I leveraged my knowledge into a career in technical writing. That being said, I started blogging when I was still teaching, then began freelancing as a writer on the side before making the full leap. Can you combine skills from your old career with skills from retraining? My partner was an elementary school teacher and he got a job teaching skills to adults and now hes the CRM admin for that company. Review your accomplishments and reiterate your enthusiasm about working there: "I've been here two years and I've proven . You could be a program manager, grant writer, instructor, lobbyist, union representative, etc.! She said shes actually been much happier at work overall since her neck/back pain has gone away. The pay cut is huge but at the time I had a plan that involved a list of food banks, washing my clothes in the park restroom, sleeping in my car, and using the library for internet whatever it took. Were you ever passionate about your current field? and references. If youre interested in moving into positions at a college or university: learn what kinds of jobs there are. For both, definitely take classes or further your education somehow in those fields. Weve spent a bunch of time working with teachers to try to develop options that serve them and students/families well and still have situations that are. or a similar position in a different industry, but dont try to do both at once. This list cant be done in an afternoon. This has always helped me when considering taking a pay cut. I think someone has already commented that there may be opportunities in test development and curriculum development, education policy work, and even text book development or sales. should I be honest with a young employee that she's not cut out for our field? Just not right now amidst budget cuts and coronavirus. I'd really like it to be with this organization, but the next steps here aren't completely clear to me.". Thank you for all whove offered support, advice, or just a friendly howdy. 4. yes (obviously this was not during a pandemic). Do you need a fancy title or some other ego boosting aspect of a new job, or are you OK with something less flashy? A new principal arrived and she dismantled my department and I was transferred to second long term school for 10 years. You should have an idea of what you want to do as a next step with the organization before going into the meeting. OP2, thank you for your dedication to your work, and dont let anyone guilt-trip you about changing careers. And the thought of leaving has crossed my mind. I have several ideas that might work, but theyd all be too expensive for my district or state to afford. Its really a relationship-based job and not what most people expect. Im not talking about the corporate culture Im talking about the core job tasks. For you, if you have not ever taken action on doing anything hands-on building/design or real estate related before, I would question if its what you should really move towards. Teachers so often get stuck thinking they ONLY know how to teach, but its not true at all! We also do not have extremely low performance standards :) it does sound like your place is unusually bad! If you cant define them clearly, it may be that youre more just burned out on work in general and need a break or a new job versus really needing to change industries (which can be especially problematic if you have to pay for school/training to break into a new industry). I had experience doing parent teacher conferences im another language and also got a small grant at the school, just stuff thats not just planning lessons. It was mostly the other myriad adult stakeholders. online tutoring. The problem is if I try to move laterally to a new company doing what I used to do/what my title says I can do- I would need retraining as all my skills are out-of-date and rusty. And shes the court clerk at a courthousewhich isnt exactly a stress-free job! Add to that that you have two decades of managing crazy-making admin (all of those papers to grade, attendance records, participation records, standards trackingall things Im fairly confident that you, as a math teacher, are far more capable at than I!) I transitioned from an investment management job into software development by learning and volunteering in my free time. A lot of the library vendors I work with are either former librarians or former educators, and they opt for many different paths at the vendor company sales and training, but also research and development, UX, customer service, and analysts. I cant think of any way to get out of IT and back to anything Id enjoy without either a) taking a significant pay cut or b) getting another degree. Left about a year ago due to burnout and insane stress, so I cant imagine how difficult it is at the moment. Asking and understanding the answer to this question plays a pivotal role in how effectively you perform on the job. This resonates with me: I like working with students, I like problem solving, and Id really, really, like to leave my work at work and be home when Im home. Start off with something innocuous like "Hey, I heard the guys in dept X are starting to work on <whatever>. I second this! They typically havent gone far. Its terrible for morale and unsustainable overall for the school system. Lets say 1/3 of the students are staying home and my school district has 10 classes of 1st grade. To the OP teacher: Thanks for doing your job. In contrast to many career-management books, which assume you have to figure everything out to the ninth decimal place before you dare type the first letter into your new rsum, Ibarra plants her flag on try things and let them change you and your sense of self. She has also published shorter pieces in Harvard Business Review and elsewhere. Do you have an aptitude for it? It satisfies that teaching itch! This is a great suggestion! Commercial Real Estate has many opportunities for things like product development within different sub-markets and sub-specialties. Even just printing things out vs. reading them on a screen helps me. OP #2 What are your strengths? I realise this is more likely advice for people outside the US, however, for LW#2 and other people who have been in certain careers for a long time such as education or health care, regulatory jobs might be an option. My first job after I left the classroom was as a research analyst at an education nonprofit the pay was better, but the hours and stress level were still pretty high. I think its the most useful comment Ive ever read on the internet. To the OP Engineer: I totally get it. Instructional Design, On-the-Job Training, Leadership and Career Development Training, HRD and Evaluation systems. She started out in a teaching assistant program where she worked for 3 years while getting her Masters (for free) and then had her own classroom after graduating (with a 4.0!). So, the best question you can ask in a job interview is the one that points towards what it is that you want: being . ;). One more addition. Wow, you said what i was trying to say so much better! I discovered, to my surprise, that what I was done with most was all the people whose emotions and expectations I had to manage. With 34 years of expereince I have no regrets but I was very cluless as to the negatives of the career I was jumping into. Pension is one major reason I dont want to change careers. I take breaks to drink coffee, throw dinner in the oven, and read Ask a Manager. And there are cases in most schools right now, it just isnt being reported. (But dont ever directly ask for a job in these networking conversations (it comes across as tacky) just ask for their advice. should I hire a qualified candidate who comes with a ton of baggage? get industry experience Do something with a museum is one of the top items on the general web advice list. If there is a health related reason (mental or physical) that could prevent you from returning to work full time, you might be eligible for vocational rehabilitation, which would pay for you to go back to school. Im at a Senior level now and making six figures, though I picked up some specialty skills along the way on the job that helped with the compensation aspect. Things are crazy right now, I think we all want to quit everything from time to time! The book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans is a really great tool for contemplating and planning next steps in your career. if youve started to hate software development, you might still hate doing it for the property sector. I have general advice based on my own experience, and mine is different because my new career path is still part of my overall industry, but definitely a separate path that took intentional and ongoing effort to move into. Oooh, this is a good suggestion, because there *are* software companies that specialize in this! But since Im here, i was just on a hiring committee for a new ID and demonstrating the theoretical knowledge to back up the practical experience, knowledge of trends in the field, best practices, etc. So, Im stuck trying to figure out if I want to keep doing the part-time and freelance work Ive been doing this year, or go back to my previous industry in a way thats palatable to me. It has a self inventory that I think does a good job of not just figuring out what transferable skills you have, but also what youre looking for in a job in terms of what level of passion do you want to have, what type of hours, what type of responsibilities, if you want to work on big teams or not, a whole lot of different things. If you really enjoy that, then you can find classes to take to learn more. Participate in company-wide workshops and learning opportunities. My district has nearly 200K students, and the largest (public) university within the school district boundaries has an excellent instructional design/technology department. What kind of pay do you want? I love working in higher ed. 1. LW1 you seem to be in a fairly comfortable position, can you delve into other business opportunities on the side? This is just so bad, all the time. I dont disagree that engineers are often well paid in comparison to other careers that are equally stressful or difficult. This is how my nieces school district did it (shes in virtual kindergarten and seems to love it). Yes, this. It is not the job for everyone, but is there something you enjoy in education you can pivot into? It happened gradually so that I mistook for normal and soldiered through. Job Description*. My mother made a career switch to education in her 50s. Could you work for Bentley and design CAD software (or a place like my engineering company where we have software engineers on staff customizing all the CAD software)? Which aspects of your current job do you like and not like? Degrees are nice but experience trumps all, at least in the non- teaching positions. Try to bring something from your past experience to your next job. Its not sustainable past a certain class size if you want to give kids actual feedback and anything but too-easy multiple choice quizzes. This is a really good suggestion. Volunteer to work on cross-functional projects. Stressing about paying rent and having health benefits in the current moment is not worth any of that. Glad to see that others have the same idea! 4) Actively try to free yourself from those automatic, limiting beliefs. Thank you, Alison, and posters, and especially OP#2 for putting the teacher-specific question forward! This isnt his forever job, but it has given him space to remember what he is good at and a direction for where he could go next. Im of the opinion that if you look ahead to the career paths your current role would lead to and you find that vision depressing, make a change. You cant please everyone. Career changer here.went from a criminal justice career (masters prepared) , retrained and re-degreed for nursing at 31. I was getting interviews for ID jobs after completing that additional training, though I eventually ended up going in a totally different direction where I still use those skills along with my main line of work, digital accessibility. Interviewers ask this question to evaluate your readiness for a new job in a different field and your satisfaction with the position. Might be helpful for OP1, too. We have one locally that I myself was eyeing as a place I might want a jobthey have a good reputation for being a sane, employee-friendly workplace. For the latter you can learn more about/work with the application/industry and have it be less about the coding. LW 1: After I got my bachelors, I worked in my (low-paying) field for a bit before going back to school to retrain. Ooh, thanks for the rec. Here are the six ways they recommend adopting change management into your business to allow for massive growth: 1. When I saw that you are looking to avoid stress AND you are considering becoming a property manager, I nearly choked. Thanks for your thoughtful response. They're constantly inquiring. I think you need to go see your optometrist!. Also make sure the field you are going into actually pays well. Were doing double duty on all of the most draining parts of teaching without the payoff of actually getting to interact and bond with the kids. Next, research all the industries in your area. So thinking seriously about what you can do easily say, in a time of crisis or unexpected layoffs really helps think about viable career paths. If you get stress migraines, this is the last profession you want to go into. Exactly I was idly looking through job postings and saw one that included all of the things I liked about my previous work with none of the ones that stressed me out. A) Youre leaving X% of your pension on the table. All the other job advice Ive gotten has been along the lines of curriculum writer and editor (or, even worse, the dreaded sales and marketing.) Those were the parts of my jobs that I liked the least. You can also do part-time property management plenty of people who own just a handful of rental properties could use somebody to do some of the grunt work, like managing applications and credit checks, doing cleanup and minor repairs when the property is vacant, etc. I think those websites on what to do after youve been teaching are only useful if you still want to be connected to teaching on some level they just aggravated me because I was pretty much done with white collar work and human contact. Im an assistant director of an office and make $60k, that took around 10 years. Software engineering is a magical combo of high salary, great benefits, and extremely low performance standards (Ive never taken a CS class in my life, but have debugged our programmers code based on knowledge Ive picked up on the job. The few websites Ive gone to (Thinking of Quitting Teaching? I work at a real estate company on the software side, and one of the things Ive found very striking is how invested management has been in keeping employees happy and finding the right roles for them, even across departments. This is a great idea. Im in the top 4% of my career field nationally and in the top 1% at my organization. I worked as a legal secretary when I was in college so I knew what I was getting into (actually, if possible, temping in admin roles in the chosen field can be helpful) but I have frequently encountered work experience students and interns who have no clue what the everyday job is like because law school is all about the theory and not the practice. A lot of the core skills for my job I learned in other contexts (such as calming down upset and angry people retail and customer service jobs FTW). They dont pay me enough to think about work 24 x 7 or lose out on my free time because work is insane! Schools where I live have been back full-time at full capacity since August (and no, I dont live somewhere the virus is under control in fact, the rest of the country is under near-complete lockdown). You may be able to start a side hustle that you enjoy, or keep it a hobby, but either way, dont expect your job to give you all your fulfillment all the time (Ive changed careers several times now, and as the old saying goes, wherever you go, there you are.). If you have a military base in your area, there may also be contract opportunities for civiliansanother ID in my office did that with our local AF base for 8 years. These tenants havent paid any rent for 4 months (she quit her job to focus on being a SAHM) and left the house in such bad condition that I had to install a new kitchen ($5k out of my pocket) and left so much stuff behind that I had to hire movers and junk haulers ($1k, then two days of cleaning by me and my husband). I hope that helps! Network/info interview to learn about the job AND to find out what qualifications you need to get those jobs. 3) Expand your social networks with like-minded professionals, especially during covid. Paralegal fit all of those things. However being an actual property manager onsite is tough. Im considering my options: drastically lowering my expectations of myself, therapy, taking a leave, quitting entirely. So what concrete things have you done to explore or satisfy that passion? If the prospect of taking a big pay/status cut to change industries is too much, maybe find a new job, one with more flex to it where you can pursue the field youre interested in on the side, gain experience, etc. One of the easiest entries into the field is as a educational or learning consultant. What you may have to do is downgrade yourself back to an individual contributor role which will give you more flexibility. I think you can run separate classes without extra cost, its just challenging logistically. LW 2: Im a former teacher who transitioned out after 8 years of being school-based. For me, most of the jobs on those, what should ex-teachers do, lists are very people-oriented, but I discovered that Im not that anymore. Heres the first letter: I daydream about doing something else but Im not sure if its just grass is greener or if I should plan to do something about it! Right now Im just donating to museums to help try to keep them operating when the world starts up again. But Ive also learned something about myself that Im not sure I realized before I have a sense of how much my time is worth that iskind of rigid. Ive been applying and interviewing since the spring, and when I was finally offered a position last month, I ended up turning it down. Also, Ive been seeing quite a few job posts lately looking for people to set up LMS courses. It helped that after teaching I did some campaign volunteering and volunteering as office staff in a free clinic, just to have some non teaching experience. A real estate agent has a very different day to day than a property manager, and both are very different than a job in an architecture office. It was great and helped me fill in my knowledge gaps in learning theory and models of instructional design, as well as prompting me to start learning some course authoring software (Storyline360) and building a portfolio. What kind of commute and hours are you willing to put in? (I had a friend who played in the West Point Band and made a pretty good living.). During the last year I taught, I made a list of what I loved about teaching and what wasnt working for me anymore. Corporate Training comes to find, or teaching software applications or platforms? Since it was at a university, you could get a degree as part of the education benefit, so that could potentially be something to look for if you would be interested in getting another degree if it was paid for by your employer. -constant stress from all the work after the school day and no time to relax (so many essays to grade! My advice is, first, make a list in what your current job is lacking that you want in a new career. Also, are you retraining for a very specific thing, or will the new skills be transferrable to other industries? It takes a few months. Its hard to type and eat lunch at the same time! For OP#1- Im several decades in the workforce, I know exactly what Im good at, what Im not, and what I want from a job situation all I need is this ellusive List of Jobs that match my skills. There is simply no way of knowing what else is happening out there if you dont change your view. Im thinking of companies like Better Lesson, Panorama Education, Curriculum Associates, or IXL learning. I am a former teacher that transitioned to ID and I love it. So, think over your skills and what really makes you tick with teaching, and then go for it and start applying. My poor mother figured out she needed bi-focal contacts when she went to the chiropractor for neck/back pain and he asked her a series of questions leading to Maam, sounds like youre looking down to see over your reading glasseswhich is causing your neck pain. 2. by listing all the things you like and all the things you dont like about what you do now. We know that we have a tendency to tense up our shoulders when were stressed. I would suggest looking at education-related nonprofits. Consultant instead yes its still sometimes busy, but I can control my hours much better, and go for a nap/rest whenever I need it, and my migraines have almost disappeared. At the larger companies you then have a jillion options for career paths, including education! I was having major ergonomic/pain issues a few years back; fixed those plus finding out and fixing thyroid issues, plus saying to myself if I spend the amount additional I get in my next raise on monthly massages, would I be happier? I dont have advice, LW1, but as somebody else with chronic stress migraines, you have my sympathy. It's not possible for me to change it.". I wasnt ready to sleep in bushes, but I had a car and once I was at the point where sleeping in it was a viable option, the whole world opened up. On my own chuck-it-all and start-over days, I would tell you my dream job is being a game warden. I was moving out of higher ed and focused on looking for instructional design positions. what to buy your employees for the holidays, https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/583922200, my new coworker is the guy who naked-manned me on a Zoom date, employee gave me a scathing letter when he resigned, my coworker is bringing his kid to work and on Zoom calls but the rest of us are paying for child care, my first job isnt what I signed on for, my job is overreacting to me carrying pepper spray, and more, the dried apricots, the broken lock, and other stories of people losing their minds over free food at work. I work as a quality analyst for software that is used in the property management, real estate data (similar to MLS data), construction and property insurance (personal and commercial lines) industries. I quit teaching after 10 years and have since radically switched careersone of the hardest decisions Ive ever made! My neurologist told me that an ungodly percentage of headaches come from our necks. I worked for a year as a teacher and then realized it was definitely not for me I ended up working as a paralegal which I really liked. Have you done any renovation work? That obviously comes down to company culture, but I guess my point is that its something possible within this industry in my previous roles in investment management, that kind of transition was pretty unimaginable between groups. LW2, I have a client in the library software industry. Best of luck to you! LW2- This depends a lot on what youve taught for the last 20+ years and where you are located, however you may find opportunities in museum education, science center education, environmental/park education, or similar places. update: my team excludes me from lunches because of my dietary restrictions, my office argued for 5 months about whether I could have an ergonomic chair, Im nervous about having to write up an employee, returning heavy office furniture when resigning, and more, our employee wants constant reassurance that hes good enough, my employees controlling spouse wont let her travel for work, owner wont do anything about our terrible coworker, employee never covers other peoples shifts, and more, employee forgets half of what I ask him to do, coworker swore at me in a reply-all, and more.
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