I'd like to move on from teaching. What should I do next?
October 7, 2022 11:29 AM Subscribe
I've been a high school English literature teacher and school administrator for the past decade or so. I'm thinking about the next ten years and realize I'm getting pretty burned out.
I'm a 40-year-old guy living in middle America, married, with young kids. I make $60k and have reached the compensation ceiling at my current school. My wife is in school and will make around $60k when she finishes the program in 2-3 years. We have some equity in our house and basically no savings. Obviously I'd like to have a job that has a little more income potential.
I'm also looking for work that has less interpersonal conflict (parents, mostly, but also students and other administrators), and ideally, is a little less thankless. I think I want to be involved in making something or providing a service that is tangible, measurable, and that people actually value. I like designing books (layout/formatting, cover design, binding, all of it), building things out of wood, repairing electronics, and I've done a lot of video work (making short films and documentaries) that I have found fulfilling. I like the idea of working for myself, but I don't know if I have the right combination of skills to succeed as an entrepreneur. Ideally I need to make at least $60k, and as I said, I have a family to provide for. Even as I type this out I realize I'm probably stuck where I am. (I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I know I'm lucky to have a job and be able to pay my bills.) But I'd love to hear any creative suggestions: What fields or careers have I maybe not considered?
I'm a 40-year-old guy living in middle America, married, with young kids. I make $60k and have reached the compensation ceiling at my current school. My wife is in school and will make around $60k when she finishes the program in 2-3 years. We have some equity in our house and basically no savings. Obviously I'd like to have a job that has a little more income potential.
I'm also looking for work that has less interpersonal conflict (parents, mostly, but also students and other administrators), and ideally, is a little less thankless. I think I want to be involved in making something or providing a service that is tangible, measurable, and that people actually value. I like designing books (layout/formatting, cover design, binding, all of it), building things out of wood, repairing electronics, and I've done a lot of video work (making short films and documentaries) that I have found fulfilling. I like the idea of working for myself, but I don't know if I have the right combination of skills to succeed as an entrepreneur. Ideally I need to make at least $60k, and as I said, I have a family to provide for. Even as I type this out I realize I'm probably stuck where I am. (I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I know I'm lucky to have a job and be able to pay my bills.) But I'd love to hear any creative suggestions: What fields or careers have I maybe not considered?
Also my mom was a teacher for over 40 years and had a very demoralizing experience with a shitty parent right at the end that soured all her good memories. Please, if you're not absolutely ga ga in love with teaching, get out before it sucks every last ounce of joy from your life. My mom was a very good teacher, her students loved her, and I watched the profession crush her soul for YEARS. If you need permission, you have mine.
posted by phunniemee at 11:43 AM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 11:43 AM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Search for "Instructional designer" and focus on the tech industry, you can easily make $60k (or a lot more). Lots of workplaces have gone fully remote at this point so you might not even have to move to get a wide variety of opportunities.
If you go the corporate route you'll probably be more focused on research and writing video scripts, tests, etc. with the video and graphics done by other team members. It's possible you could find a small startup that wants you to do all of it, but those kinds of jobs can be super stressful and high pressure.
The design and video experience would definitely come in handy if you want to freelance — you can provide a one-stop-shop for designing a curriculum and creating all of the final instructional videos, tests, etc. The drawback there is that building a client list from scratch is a bit hard without connections in the industry.
posted by 100kb at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
If you go the corporate route you'll probably be more focused on research and writing video scripts, tests, etc. with the video and graphics done by other team members. It's possible you could find a small startup that wants you to do all of it, but those kinds of jobs can be super stressful and high pressure.
The design and video experience would definitely come in handy if you want to freelance — you can provide a one-stop-shop for designing a curriculum and creating all of the final instructional videos, tests, etc. The drawback there is that building a client list from scratch is a bit hard without connections in the industry.
posted by 100kb at 11:52 AM on October 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
This isn’t exactly an escape plan . . .
but school districts everywhere are having a hell of a time holding on to their teachers. I recently saw a YouTube headline about a district that was threatening to revoke teaching certificates (can they do that?) of teachers who left.
You would certainly qualify as expert in the reasons they do leave, and with your video skills, and if you consider yourself personable and likable, I could see you carving out a pretty lucrative career as a teacher-retention consultant.
Not a low pressure job, I’d think, but you might be making the lives of other teachers better, and there is a crying need.
posted by jamjam at 12:03 PM on October 7, 2022
but school districts everywhere are having a hell of a time holding on to their teachers. I recently saw a YouTube headline about a district that was threatening to revoke teaching certificates (can they do that?) of teachers who left.
You would certainly qualify as expert in the reasons they do leave, and with your video skills, and if you consider yourself personable and likable, I could see you carving out a pretty lucrative career as a teacher-retention consultant.
Not a low pressure job, I’d think, but you might be making the lives of other teachers better, and there is a crying need.
posted by jamjam at 12:03 PM on October 7, 2022
there's a coming explosion of climate change oriented careers that are going to need to onboard a lot of technicians and re-train folks to adapt to renewables. if this piques your interest you could check out programs like terra.do and myclimatejourney (sorry for lack of links, on mobile rn).
learning & development is an HR function at a lot of corporations, could start poking around for jobs in your area with that title as well :)
good luck!
posted by wowenthusiast at 1:50 PM on October 7, 2022
learning & development is an HR function at a lot of corporations, could start poking around for jobs in your area with that title as well :)
good luck!
posted by wowenthusiast at 1:50 PM on October 7, 2022
Have you considered becoming an electrician? I've heard about it as a second career for folks who have really taken to it. Since you mentioned repairing electronics, I thought you might consider something beyond that. The Occupational Outlook Handbook says the median pay is the same as what you're making now, $60,000, which means there's room to make more, and overtime is pretty common too. I feel like I'm hearing of wages higher in my area. You'd want to check in your local area, but a trade might be a good fit.
posted by bluedaisy at 2:26 PM on October 7, 2022
posted by bluedaisy at 2:26 PM on October 7, 2022
I totally respect your decision to leave education. I was at a similar crossroads, took a sabbatical, then changed school districts. (Small, moderate district with medium pay to a large liberal district with high pay even though admittedly the CoL is much higher.) I know moving may not be an option or wish of yours but if it's something you and your family would be up for, it could be a welcome reset. Again, this is probably not what you're interested in but it's what I did and I'm so happy with the results.
posted by smorgasbord at 6:53 PM on October 8, 2022
posted by smorgasbord at 6:53 PM on October 8, 2022
Following up on smorgasbord: I also took a sabbatical and then went back to the same job. Is something like available to you, for half the year if not a whole, and perhaps partially paid? What if you plan for that the first year your wife is working, before you get used to two salaries? Take some time off and use it to explore some new ideas and also just take a big break. That doesn't help with your salary needs, but it might give you a bit of time and something to look forward to.
posted by bluedaisy at 10:32 AM on October 10, 2022
posted by bluedaisy at 10:32 AM on October 10, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Obviously this is going to vary a lot across roles and industries, but for where I work, this role really just needed someone who could TEACH and be engaging, which is a skill not everyone has. Figured he could learn the product line secondary.
posted by phunniemee at 11:38 AM on October 7, 2022 [1 favorite]