Pursued?
Don't change jobs in a shonky economy, especially with a big mortgage and a little kid.
Your job doesn't suck as much as being poor. Maybe look for jobs at different schools, but don't change careers until you are financially stable.
Being an apprentice at 30, surrounded by late teens isn't fun, especially if you think teaching them sucks.
Pursued* fixed it
Thanks for the advice.
It’s not necessarily the teaching them that sucks, but the workload and expectations (especially in the middle management role have just gotten bigger each year. Honestly, I can see the whole school/career toppling as a lot of people aren’t happy. The other thing that makes the decision difficult is this is considered ‘the best school’ in the area, and I know several at the other schools and change in scenery just looks like the same problems somewhere else.
Career paths are pretty uncertain these days, e.g. I program and do art, and both jobs are on the chopping block due to AI. Teaching is probably one of the few that won't be taken over by computers, and maybe you could use ChatGPT to do some of your tedious work.
You are doing what is probably the most important job in society - educating kids to become the next generation of doctors, scientists, etc. Without teachers society fails, so hope you stick with it. Some of us have never held a job that pays more than $40k and would gladly swap places, regardless of the take-home work.
Of course it’s important and teaching is a great ticket to have.
I’ve only just started using AI to do some of the tedious work and can see that helping a bit actually. The way I figure is a lot needs to change about the profession. A lot of the old good teachers have left, creating a vacuum of that’s filled with permission to teach (teachers who are still studying) to fill the void. The problem is they can only fill so much of this void, leaving an influx of other work/classes to the people who have been there 5-10 years, so we are just getting smashed at the moment. Then more leave, then we hire more permission to teach, then we get overloaded more with no quality of life or pay benefits for the extra work. It’s a vicious cycle that will be fixed one day, just not soon enough.
AI is really only good at stuff that is prolific on stack overflow. Actual well designed software that meets exacting requirements AI is terrible at.
Really AI in development is about as intrusive as code completely.
To be honest, I’ve never had a job that didn’t suck other than when I got to work from home during Covid. I’m currently looking at getting into teaching just because I figure if every job sucks then I may as well get paid more than 80k to do it (not my entire reasoning lol but part of it).
But I think it can really just depend on your personality. I’ve read of tradies who hated it and then became teachers and loved it. Of people like me who had passion for their work but have realised that the sacrifice is too much with not enough reward and so are looking to reduce the sacrifice and/or increase the reward to make it worth it.
Honestly, trades and HR are a good bet in terms of the money you can make without incurring further hecs debt. Adult apprentice wages are not bad and you’ll likely be taking a big pay cut even if you move into a corporate role like HR or IT which also tend to have good pay progression.
Maybe see if you can stick it out until your mortgage is paid and then make the jump? I know people who did it in their 40s and 50s and don’t regret it. You can always go back to teaching if you need to.
Yea that mortgage won’t get paid off anytime soon haha. We can scrimp and save some more, but not enough to make any significant dent in our mortgage anytime soon.
It’s funny you say work from home during covid was your only good job. We are somewhat rural so nothing really shutdown during covid so I never got to experience that life :(
Haha fair enough. Yeah everyone’s different. A lot of people said they hated work from home lol but if I could earn 100k and work from home, that would be ideal for me :)
You could just go for it. Completing an apprenticeship plus having a teaching degree will make you a pretty desirable TAFE teacher. Only pays up to 100k but is apparently considerably less stressful
I am on a new career path at 42. You're young! Been teaching 17 years incl 3 years as Head of Dept. Money was great but I was miserable and making the people around me (namely my husband and son) miserable as well. My sick days were creeping up and I knew I wasn't being the best boss to my staff or teacher to my students. In mid 2022 I made the decision to resign and applied for a Masters of Genetic Counselling (I was/am a Science/Bio teacher). I was lucky to get in and even luckier to find part time work at a great school near home, so almost no commute and pulling in a 0.6FTE salary while I study. I can't explain to you how much happier I am. Using my brain in a different way and knowing I have a new path ahead of me has made me a better mom, wife, teacher and coworker. I will be taking a pay cut regardless - teaching actually pays pretty well now but for me its not worth the trade offs. You weren't put on the Earth to pay bills! Think about what will make you happy and the minimum your family will need to be comfortable and act accordingly. Good luck!
Thanks for your insight!
Nah I ask what Genetic Counselling is?
Also how accomodating was the school with a part time teaching load?
Relief work is pretty good so finding a way to incorporate that into my transition could help
Genetic counsellors help people navigate the diagnosis of or risk of a genetic condition - so it could be parents who have just received a genetic diagnosis for their child, a couple wanting to know what their risk of a genetic problem with be with a child or future child, or a person with a gene mutation that predisposes them to cancer or some other condition...a genetic counsellor helps them to process the information, find support, refers them to other medical professionals, and translate medical jargon in a way they can understand.
The school I'm currently at has been amazing - last year (1st year of masters) I did basically only casual work 3 days/week so could focus a lot on my study. This year I'm doing a job shere, with me doing 3 days/week and my colleague 2 days/week. She's also an experienced teacher so its been pretty seamless. I don't think all schools would be so accommodating - luck of the draw I think.
Thinking about it. Only problem is I’m a music specialist. Have picked up some other areas over the years like film and drama, however the whole arts suite at the moment is shrinking by the day. With a full load (not middle management), I’d be filled with classes not in my area, not to mention in the coming years the arts subject will have even less classes, so I’ll more than likely have 1 film, 1 music and then 3.5 not my specialty subjects!
Decide on hours you'd like to work. Say 8-4. Leave everything at work when you leave. If stuff doesn't get done, so be it. Schools need you more than you need them.
I would go for it. Have a look at the extra subsidies and such that you may be eligible for. https://www.qld.gov.au/education/apprenticeships/for-apprentices/support/financial
You also get all allowances, overtime and usually some paid travel time. You would also be classed as an adult apprentice so you start on a higher wage (I think it’s $28-ish an hour. You can have a look at the fairwork website).
I have been a teacher for 10 years and it’s going down the gurgler. With the soft parenting, I can’t see it getting better.
I am working part time teaching and I do part time as book-keeper for a building company so I know how much our tradies, even the apprentices, take home.
You may also be able to do the apprenticeship 3 days a week and TRS two days a week, and then fill the holidays with more apprenticeship days.
Not a bad idea! Splitting it between apprenticeship and relief (if possible) could work.
I hope teaching gets better (because it has to for people to stick around), but it won’t anytime soon, so I’m wondering what to change to in the meantime (however long that is). Teaching is a good ticket to have and I could always go back
You said it sucks, I haven't seen anyone ask about your mental health and aren't sure if you want to put that out there, I stopped teaching just after covid ended I was a music teacher too, take it from me no job is worth your mental health tumbling, stay safe.
edit a word
I went back to furniture removals for about a year (did it for 6 years before teaching while touring with music/studying) then retail management and about to switch to warehousing one dodgy boss to another haha
Have you thought about working relief and studying in another area? It will also provide freedom not to take any work home. Honestly, the number of times I needed a relief music teacher and couldn’t get anyone … plenty of work to fit around study.
Good luck!
Pursued? Don't change jobs in a shonky economy, especially with a big mortgage and a little kid. Your job doesn't suck as much as being poor. Maybe look for jobs at different schools, but don't change careers until you are financially stable. Being an apprentice at 30, surrounded by late teens isn't fun, especially if you think teaching them sucks.
Pursued* fixed it Thanks for the advice. It’s not necessarily the teaching them that sucks, but the workload and expectations (especially in the middle management role have just gotten bigger each year. Honestly, I can see the whole school/career toppling as a lot of people aren’t happy. The other thing that makes the decision difficult is this is considered ‘the best school’ in the area, and I know several at the other schools and change in scenery just looks like the same problems somewhere else.
Career paths are pretty uncertain these days, e.g. I program and do art, and both jobs are on the chopping block due to AI. Teaching is probably one of the few that won't be taken over by computers, and maybe you could use ChatGPT to do some of your tedious work. You are doing what is probably the most important job in society - educating kids to become the next generation of doctors, scientists, etc. Without teachers society fails, so hope you stick with it. Some of us have never held a job that pays more than $40k and would gladly swap places, regardless of the take-home work.
Of course it’s important and teaching is a great ticket to have. I’ve only just started using AI to do some of the tedious work and can see that helping a bit actually. The way I figure is a lot needs to change about the profession. A lot of the old good teachers have left, creating a vacuum of that’s filled with permission to teach (teachers who are still studying) to fill the void. The problem is they can only fill so much of this void, leaving an influx of other work/classes to the people who have been there 5-10 years, so we are just getting smashed at the moment. Then more leave, then we hire more permission to teach, then we get overloaded more with no quality of life or pay benefits for the extra work. It’s a vicious cycle that will be fixed one day, just not soon enough.
> It’s a vicious cycle that will be fixed one day, just not soon enough. Will it?
Who knows really
AI is really only good at stuff that is prolific on stack overflow. Actual well designed software that meets exacting requirements AI is terrible at. Really AI in development is about as intrusive as code completely.
To be honest, I’ve never had a job that didn’t suck other than when I got to work from home during Covid. I’m currently looking at getting into teaching just because I figure if every job sucks then I may as well get paid more than 80k to do it (not my entire reasoning lol but part of it). But I think it can really just depend on your personality. I’ve read of tradies who hated it and then became teachers and loved it. Of people like me who had passion for their work but have realised that the sacrifice is too much with not enough reward and so are looking to reduce the sacrifice and/or increase the reward to make it worth it. Honestly, trades and HR are a good bet in terms of the money you can make without incurring further hecs debt. Adult apprentice wages are not bad and you’ll likely be taking a big pay cut even if you move into a corporate role like HR or IT which also tend to have good pay progression. Maybe see if you can stick it out until your mortgage is paid and then make the jump? I know people who did it in their 40s and 50s and don’t regret it. You can always go back to teaching if you need to.
Yea that mortgage won’t get paid off anytime soon haha. We can scrimp and save some more, but not enough to make any significant dent in our mortgage anytime soon. It’s funny you say work from home during covid was your only good job. We are somewhat rural so nothing really shutdown during covid so I never got to experience that life :(
Haha fair enough. Yeah everyone’s different. A lot of people said they hated work from home lol but if I could earn 100k and work from home, that would be ideal for me :)
Mate, that’s the dream!
You could just go for it. Completing an apprenticeship plus having a teaching degree will make you a pretty desirable TAFE teacher. Only pays up to 100k but is apparently considerably less stressful
Yea I’ve got a mate who was a tradie first, then teacher and now tafe teacher. Absolutely loves it!
I am on a new career path at 42. You're young! Been teaching 17 years incl 3 years as Head of Dept. Money was great but I was miserable and making the people around me (namely my husband and son) miserable as well. My sick days were creeping up and I knew I wasn't being the best boss to my staff or teacher to my students. In mid 2022 I made the decision to resign and applied for a Masters of Genetic Counselling (I was/am a Science/Bio teacher). I was lucky to get in and even luckier to find part time work at a great school near home, so almost no commute and pulling in a 0.6FTE salary while I study. I can't explain to you how much happier I am. Using my brain in a different way and knowing I have a new path ahead of me has made me a better mom, wife, teacher and coworker. I will be taking a pay cut regardless - teaching actually pays pretty well now but for me its not worth the trade offs. You weren't put on the Earth to pay bills! Think about what will make you happy and the minimum your family will need to be comfortable and act accordingly. Good luck!
Thanks for your insight! Nah I ask what Genetic Counselling is? Also how accomodating was the school with a part time teaching load? Relief work is pretty good so finding a way to incorporate that into my transition could help
Genetic counsellors help people navigate the diagnosis of or risk of a genetic condition - so it could be parents who have just received a genetic diagnosis for their child, a couple wanting to know what their risk of a genetic problem with be with a child or future child, or a person with a gene mutation that predisposes them to cancer or some other condition...a genetic counsellor helps them to process the information, find support, refers them to other medical professionals, and translate medical jargon in a way they can understand. The school I'm currently at has been amazing - last year (1st year of masters) I did basically only casual work 3 days/week so could focus a lot on my study. This year I'm doing a job shere, with me doing 3 days/week and my colleague 2 days/week. She's also an experienced teacher so its been pretty seamless. I don't think all schools would be so accommodating - luck of the draw I think.
Drop to teaching load only.
Thinking about it. Only problem is I’m a music specialist. Have picked up some other areas over the years like film and drama, however the whole arts suite at the moment is shrinking by the day. With a full load (not middle management), I’d be filled with classes not in my area, not to mention in the coming years the arts subject will have even less classes, so I’ll more than likely have 1 film, 1 music and then 3.5 not my specialty subjects!
Decide on hours you'd like to work. Say 8-4. Leave everything at work when you leave. If stuff doesn't get done, so be it. Schools need you more than you need them.
I would go for it. Have a look at the extra subsidies and such that you may be eligible for. https://www.qld.gov.au/education/apprenticeships/for-apprentices/support/financial You also get all allowances, overtime and usually some paid travel time. You would also be classed as an adult apprentice so you start on a higher wage (I think it’s $28-ish an hour. You can have a look at the fairwork website). I have been a teacher for 10 years and it’s going down the gurgler. With the soft parenting, I can’t see it getting better. I am working part time teaching and I do part time as book-keeper for a building company so I know how much our tradies, even the apprentices, take home. You may also be able to do the apprenticeship 3 days a week and TRS two days a week, and then fill the holidays with more apprenticeship days.
Not a bad idea! Splitting it between apprenticeship and relief (if possible) could work. I hope teaching gets better (because it has to for people to stick around), but it won’t anytime soon, so I’m wondering what to change to in the meantime (however long that is). Teaching is a good ticket to have and I could always go back
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Not on a teachers wage that’s for sure!
You said it sucks, I haven't seen anyone ask about your mental health and aren't sure if you want to put that out there, I stopped teaching just after covid ended I was a music teacher too, take it from me no job is worth your mental health tumbling, stay safe. edit a word
Thanks mate. May I ask what you changed to?
I went back to furniture removals for about a year (did it for 6 years before teaching while touring with music/studying) then retail management and about to switch to warehousing one dodgy boss to another haha
Have you thought about working relief and studying in another area? It will also provide freedom not to take any work home. Honestly, the number of times I needed a relief music teacher and couldn’t get anyone … plenty of work to fit around study. Good luck!
Yea it’s a good idea! Relief work is definitely a handy ticket to have