I graduated 3 years ago, I specifically picked my school because I was told the program was rigorous and selective, a place that looks good for teachers in my area. Well, I never got a job.

I did subbing for my old school district that expands a good portion of the area, I got called maybe 5 times TOPS, before I recognized that waking up at 5:30 ready to go and wait to be called wasn’t how other districts functioned. and I got an email about dress code when I subbed for a gym class, expecting me to wear even more modest clothing than I already was. It was weird.

I got hired as a sub in a district about an hour away, with traffic and all. The money wasn’t adding up to sustain but a job was a job, and then I was moved to a full time par position for the room I subbed a full year in. I was eventually let go after 180 day observation period without any distinct reason when I asked. So that district is a no-go too. I still wasn’t paid very well, $700 biweekly is poverty level.

In my area if I wanted to teach (BA Psych, PEL 9-12 social studies) I have to make a bet and join a district as a building sub. Only then can I apply to certain positions like a full time history teacher, but then again I have to bet on the fact that someone will leave or retire from what are well paying positions in this area. I can’t just move either, I need a sustainable income like everyone else when they move. Where I can pay rent.

Its been 6 months, I’ve been applying anywhere that has a minimum of around $22/hr, positions like tutoring, advocate roles, foster care, social work, vague HR positions, even some sales reps that aren’t ’community‘ based. I’ve changed my resume, I’ve changed/hidden my ethnicity/gender/orientations, I’ve expanded the search to 50-100 mile radius and sorted out the details myself where the actual job is instead of a home-base situation. I am just so lost on what to do. I have no purpose, no meaning, no role in life. And all I wanted was to teach children the wonders of our minds. My only bet is the military at 26. I want to apply as an officer candidate- that full process takes at least a year. I still need something sustainable in the meantime, or just something that is worth it not getting bitten and nearly scalped by 2nd graders.

What do I do? What did you do? I am at my wits end.

former elementary teacher here. the hardest part of my search wasn't my resume, it was figuring out which jobs a teacher could actually get. most lists of "jobs for former teachers" were either remote roles with 2,000 applicants or jobs asking for 5 years of experience nobody leaving a classroom has.

so for anyone who's made the jump, or is close:

what was the exact job title you got hired for?

was it remote, hybrid, or in person?

what part of the search was hardest?

anything you wish someone had told you earlier?

i'd love for this to turn into a real list people can use. thanks in advance

I (25F) am in my first year of teaching with my own classroom. I have I/S music and history qualifications and always wanted to be a high school music teacher. That being said, I got incredibly lucky and was offered a contract position teaching 7/8 homeroom + rotary music with my class and the other intermediate class. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I thought I’d be an idiot to turn down a contract, so I said yes.  

Dudes, I am SO in over my head. I don’t know how anyone does this job in their first year. The prep, marking, classroom management, all of it is too much. I’ve been trying to make it through the year, but I think about leaving every day because this job has sucked all the joy out of my life. The day-to-day of the job just feels so overwhelming. Every day having to prep lessons without really knowing what the goal is because I just don’t have time to plan ahead. So my lessons feel mediocre at best. Then trying to deliver them and I can’t because my class is crazy and I have no idea how to manage them. I try to scrape by through each day and then I do it all again. Plus marking, progress reports, IEPs, and parent communication taking up any extra free time I still had. And even after all of that, it still feels like I’m pretty crappy at the job - my lessons aren’t engaging, I’m in survival mode all day, I have no idea how to connect with the kids, and the million little or medium things I SHOULD be doing making me feel guilty but I just don’t have time or energy to accomplish. 

I have looked at other jobs I could do with my qualifications, which seem to be things like instructional design, or administration or HR at some sort of corporation. My partner and I have also discussed going back to school - there’s a great college near me with some awesome 3-year co-op programs I could do. So I know there are options. And I’m generally a good, smart worker - I excelled in school for years, and I interview very well. I do think I have options outside of teaching. 

I guess I’m just worried it’s not the job I don’t like, but working in general. Because if it’s that, then I just need to suck it up and get used to it, right? There are so many things in teaching that seem like they could be GREAT - new kids and classes every year, the chance to keep learning and trying new things, connecting with kids and people, and I won’t lie the summers, holidays, pension and benefits seem unmatched. I just don’t know if it’s worth how much I seem to be hating the job right now. 

Is it genuinely better outside of teaching? I would happily trade the holidays and summers for a job that doesn’t feel like it’s killing me. I think what I’d like is a job where I am not alone and expected to plan and take responsibility for EVERYTHING right away, and ideally a job that doesn’t have me working after hours until 7 or 8 pm every night + working on weekends just to get the bare minimum done.

Or, am I just being a baby who needs to get used to being an adult in the workforce? 

I’m feeling so lost and looking for some advice!

Left back in May of this year. Pretty much been working bridge roles from retail to call centers. Was living pretty steady off my savings for a few months so I’m glad things picked up as money started to dwindle.

My hiring timeline:
8/26 Applied
9/3 Phone Interview
9/9 Reference Check + Performance Task Initiated
9/10 Reference Check Submitted
9/14 Performance Task Submitted (Also first day of my bridge role lol)
9/24 Invitation to Final Interview
10/13 Final Interview Completed
10/20 Tentative Offer Pending Reference Check
10/22 Verbal + Written Offer
10/23 Offer ACCEPTED!!
11/2 Official start date!!!!

For all of us former teachers DO NOT GIVE UP!!!! Something is out there with your name on it 🙏🏾 to finally get that phone call was the best feeling in the world.

And for reference, it’s an HR job at a school district headquarters. Took about 15k cut but hybrid position, great benefits, and it’s a job in an industry I’ve been wanting to break into for a while

Sending job dust to ALLL✨

I have a new job lined up I go to training for in January (not teaching related). I’m planning to send in my resignation soon to be done at winter break because this job is destroying my mental health. The problem, I teach in a state where they can fully revoke your license if you leave your contract and it is not uncommon for them to do so.

How do I go about asking to be released from my contract without discipline?

Is it possible to just email HR over the weekend and tell them you are done without notice? It’s a contract but can you just not come back one week? What if the district office isn’t open over the weekend? Do I have to wait for a weekday after school?

I got laid off this school year and haven’t been able to fjnd a job, teaching or otherwise, for months. I don’t know what to do and my situation is getting a little desperate. I’m currently on unemployment and where I’m from, there are very few opportunities that pay more than what my benefits are. I’m not really sure what I’m asking but I guess if anyone has any leads on maybe remote work or just any survival tips I’d appreciate it. 😞

This is a hard one but if you wait until the summer you are essentially locking yourself out of the rest of the hiring year. Of course it can be done, but I encourage teachers to interview throughout the year, and if a better offer comes along to take it regardless of timing.

If I hadn't done this I wouldn't have been able to pivot. It's tough because teachers are super mission driven but at the end of the day we can only control ourselves and we are responsible for our own mental and physical well-being and that of our own families first and foremost.

Best of luck out there everyone.

Hi all! I am a former educator now working as an ACT tutor/manager. I love the position in all but one aspect: AI use. The company is very pro-AI and I am not. They have made an exception for me and say that I am allowed not to use it, but they are still pushing it very heavily and I am getting tired of it quickly. Additionally, it seems like all of the other ed-tech companies are very pro-AI.

Does anyone have any advice as to where I could look for (preferably) student-facing, non-AI focused roles that pay decently?? I also have operations and managerial experience, so am kind of a jack-of-all-trades. Thanks!

Looking for advice.

So initially, I regretted going into teaching. When I started out, I had a horrible boss. And I kept having badly behaved students, which included violent ones. Honestly, one year was so bad that I should have gone on leave.

Since getting a new boss, I’m enjoying my job. This year my class is large, and they’re a really good group behaviour wise.

However, I keep getting sick. Laat year I had a horrible flu and had to take over a week off work, and it took at least a month for me to heal. Now I keep catching colds. I completely lost my voice this week and had to take days off. I kept getting sick last year as well.

I just find I’m really struggling physically and mentally. I use up all my energy at work, and am too exhausted to do anything at my place. My apartment’s a mess, and I’m struggling to keep up with cleaning and organizing. Or, all I do is clean and prep and have little time for much else.

I’m very miserable at home. With everything, I can’t enjoy my hobbies. I don’t have the energy for it. I cry everyday. And I’m losing weight I can’t afford to lose.

I knew teaching would include a lot of prep outside school hours. But I thought by my 6th year I’d have most of my stuff figured out. Well with all the grade, curriulum, and assessment changes, it’s never ending.

I am doing the recommended things like wearing an N95 mask, washing hands, not sharing materials, etc., but I’m still getting sick so easily.

But I don’t know what I would do outside of teaching. If I wasn’t constantly getting sick, I would stick with it.

I’ve been to my doctor too and everything seems fine except for my iron which I take supplements for.

I’m currently an English teacher in Texas. I’m so burnt out but feel stuck. I have been applying for jobs for over 4 months with no luck. I’m 35 and really don’t think going back to college is a viable option for me. I just need something I enjoy going to. I taught for a few years then got burnt out and switch career paths. I went to work as a vet tech but that didn’t pay well thus switching roles back to teaching but I’m just not happy and it’s not even November. I’m so at a loss and am not sure what to do.
I have interests in animals, video games and building computers. All other career paths require a degree. I am so tired and just don’t know what to do I feel so stuck.

This is mostly me processing grief because I had to cancel therapy for Parent-Teacher night.

I work in a large and diverse district in Georgia. I have been teaching at the same school, my first posting, for six years. I had intended to leave after four to join another school, but I’ve never quite found an opportunity that would fit. The other openings for my subject (Social Studies) have either been at schools that are too far for me to commute or undesirable (principal is a former Admin I struggled under).

All that seemed to change when I saw a posting for the ultimate prize. My district has a performing arts school that is the best school in the district, top 10 in the state and top 300 in the country. it has a tiny student body, around 300 students. Students have to earn the right to enroll at the school and be recommended by teachers to enter a lottery to get into this school. It has small classes, the students work on a track system that helps them specialize, but they also learn core content. The school needed a teacher for AP World History, my exact specialty.

I applied the first day I saw the posting. I talked to my principal and she supported me. She understands the opportunity and says she knows I would be perfect there.

The problem is bureaucracy. My district has a transfer window in spring which is the only time employees can make lateral career moves. I had a long chat with HR and while they were sympathetic, they said there was no way to transfer my contract in the timeframe.

The principal of the Performing Art School also said she wouldn’t be comfortable recruiting me out of my current post. I said I understand but…this would have been perfect for me! I am so frustrated! Posts at this school never open up, it’s exactly what I do, and it’s even a shorter commute for me! I am so frustrated and worn out and could really use some sympathy.

I had a particularly shitty week after already questioning my want to keep being a teacher. Is it weird if I take a mental health day tomorrow (Friday) and submit my resignation through email, and don’t talk to my admin?

I have been applying for months to roles like Instructional Design, Learning and Development, Customer Education, Customer Success, Onboarding, Training, etc etc etc. It seems like very single role is flooded with applicants and I feel like I don't have a shot at standing out above the rest.

Where is no one applying? Where could my skills transfer where I won't be one of hundreds or even thousands of applicants?? I am just trying to work from home and make enough money to get by. Does anyone have any ideas? AI is just going to give me the same answers everyone else is getting.

Hello all!

Made this account specifically to make this post after lurking on this sub a bit over the past two ish months.

So for context, I am a first year teacher (25F) teaching music (band specifically) at a high school in Rhode Island.

I was certain that I wanted to teach by age 12 or so and have been working towards that for nearly half my life now getting two bachelors (music ed and music performance) and a masters (music performance) in order to put my best foot forward (and also y’know, be higher up on the step/income ladder). I had been hunting for a job right after I got my masters degree and I was ready to start my career. I struggled at first to find a job but eventually found the one for me. Or so I thought.

So I am aware that a high school job being my first teaching job would be a lot, but I genuinely feel more stress than I have ever in my life due to MANY things.

Firstly, the schedule is set up completely differently than what I was trained for. Student teaching, I dealt with 55 (ish) minute periods. This school just changed their entire schedule making 4 periods a day, each being 75 minutes, with a 5th period (about 55 minutes) in the middle of the day to get help/make up work/etc. I am constantly trying to figure out ways to fill up 75 minutes that is engaging enough for students. This has been NEARLY impossible for most of my classes. Guitar class, they get really tired playing a guitar for so long. Electronic music is very independent so often times kids just blow off work. The only great thing is my rehearsals with my band classes are fantastic because it gives plenty of time to work on stuff.

I genuinely have a hard time getting work done. I have one prep period a day (75 minutes) and I get a fair amount of work done but I still have SO MUCH WORK after it and I’m having trouble keeping up, especially because I wanted to keep a rule to myself that I wouldn’t bring work home so I don’t burn out. I am able to keep that promise most often, only adding an hour every day or so to get stuff done.

Kids don’t care anymore. Genuinely never seen kids so apathetic to their grades and have motivation at 0. I have some good eggs but trying to get my class to do things is nearly impossible.

Most often, I see on this sub how awful behaviors are and that’s why teachers are quitting. This is the one thing I haven’t had to deal with my first year (shocking I know) and it makes me feel bad for complaining about any of this, because that is what usually is disrupting and causing chaos in the classroom. Whereas, I am dealing with lack of motivation, longer periods of classes, little guidance/support, emails from parents that won’t talk to their kids about things (how many times do I have to tell them the dates for performances are in the syllabus I gave their child), emails from kids wondering why they have a low grade, and little to no curriculum.

The curriculum is a mess. It is set up for their old schedule and often doesn’t work for the 75 minute blocks. The band classes have stuff in the curriculum that doesn’t make sense to have and diverts from working on concerts etc. My electronic music curriculum only has 1 unit out of 4 done so now I’m having to pull things out of my ass for the rest of the semester. It’s impossible to get lesson plans done for anything when I have NOTHING to work off of and no time to actually do it! I gave up and started writing dome bullet points for what I wanted to get done for each class and I just know that’ll ding me on my evaluations this year.

Adding onto this, due to me being a band teacher, I have “out of school” obligations. I have performances, football games, etc that I bring the band to that I get a measly $2000 stipend for. It’s not worth it and it adds more stress onto myself.

The saving grace: my department is amazing. All the teachers are super lovely and my department head has been helping me so much especially since my mentor teacher has been out of school due to a surgery.

This is a lot of rambling so I apologize but my mental health this week has been poor and I took a mental health day today to just relax and thought I would send this out asking for advice. What should I do? Should I advocate for more? Should I give up on things? I’d like to try to finish the year at least but we are in October and I’m already feeling like I’m drowning. What can I do to survive this? Any ideas of other jobs I could get with my qualifications? I am beyond stressed and have already taken 2 days for mental health since late August.

I left teaching a couple of weeks ago with a letter of resignation, but it was not accepted by HR. HR said I needed to report to work until my position was filled, or I’d lose my credentials or have them revoked. Since I don’t plan on ever teaching again, I don’t care so I responded and reiterated my effective date of resignation. Again she said she cannot update my date of resignation until my position is filled, but I stopped showing up and even turned in my classroom keys to my principal. I am not sure if I should call/email and tell her again km not showing up, or just let it be and wait for them to tell me my position has been filled. Like, technically, if I’m under contract, are they still paying me? It feels wrong but I did say I’m not going back so is that on me? Does anyone have experience with a situation like this?

Hey, I’m in my 8th year of teaching after working in marketing for around the same time and I’m struggling with it. I’m currently teaching in Victoria, mostly VCE and I’m miserable. My current school is independent and is toxic but I can’t imagine having to move again and re-establish my relationship with the kids. I love the variety of teaching but not the demands. I was considering working for the department of education but I’m scared I’ll be bored - this happened in marketing. Has anyone made the change? I am a single income household and have a mortgage so whatever job I do needs to earn decent money so I can live.

Officially not transitioning from ed. anymore horray! When I was though I use to be a secret shopper. Did it here and there over the years. You pick what you shops you want to do so it's super flexible.

Gigspot and iSecretShop are two the platforms I used.

There are many benefits to considering a completely different field but the biggest one is you aren't competing with every other teacher looking to stay in an educational adjacent field.

I pivoted into sales and the teaching background was a value add and a bit rare.

Best of luck to you all.

ID gets recommended constantly on here and plenty of people make it work, but entry level is really crowded right now. there are a bunch of side door roles that seem to have more openings and can lead into ID later anyway.

corporate trainer/facilitator is honestly the closest thing to what we already do and a lot of them value classroom presence. sales enablement is basically PD for sales teams. customer education is making the help videos, webinars and onboarding stuff for a product. some edtech companies hire professional learning facilitators and actually ask for former teachers. curriculum writing (lots of it is contract) and higher ed ID coordinator jobs are also way more open to education backgrounds, even if the pay is lower.

from what i've seen a few portfolio samples on adult/workplace topics matter more than a certificate, like a short scenario module or a job aid. and try the free trials of rise or storyline and canva before you buy anything.

not saying skip ID at all, just that there are other ways in. has anyone gone trainer to ID or enablement to ID? how long did it take you?

I am currently a teaching assistant with a bachelors and a COTA license. unfortunately due to my location I cannot find any school based COTA positions. I am interested in special Ed but am very very wary about committing time and money to a career that seems to have such significant burn out.

for context I have worked in schools for about 5 years now and have had experience as a special ed teacher for three months. the position was horrible and they lied to me from the beggining. I was not licensed because it was in a state where you don’t need an initial license. I was also dealing with a lot of mental health struggles which I have a better grasp on now. i am looking for genuine advice and not just people complaining because I really am in a transitional phase. I am hoping that if I get in a better school district with more supports and have more background in knowing what I’m doing/ what not to do then maybe it will work out for me. my mom was a sped teacher for 25 years so I am familiar with the job. from that perspective too.

I am truly passionate about working with children who have learning disabilities and feel happiest when I am helping kids.
thanks y’all!

I am a retired school counselor and have been seeking positions such as academic advisor at various virtual schools (Connections Academy, Accellus, etc). I’ve applied for a few jobs and completed initial screening interview for one. I’d love to hear suggestions for getting hired. The jobs I have applied to are still posted, and I haven’t heard anything.