My husband and I are both band directors. I just finished my 8th year of teaching but my first at my high school Alma Mater. It’s a small town. My parents still live here and much of the community knows me.

I have struggled with depression and anxiety for many, many years. This year I finally sought help with a diagnosis, therapy, and meds. That experience hasn’t been great and I feel so much guilt about having to take off of work a half day to do appointments and such. I learned that I wasn’t “just making it up” and that the average person doesn’t feel like I do all of the time. I have persistently depression and generalized anxiety disorder. It’s so hard to not put my job before myself but I was trying. It has been the best place I’ve worked at and the best students I’ve ever had. I guininly enjoy them. But what I realized is how much I hate the job itself.

A couple of months ago a teacher acquaintance who actually taught my college choir class and was an inspiration to me committed suicide. She seemingly had it all, she was involved with her church (something I value as well), she has two beautiful kids, a loving husband, and she wasn’t able to fight off those issues even after going to mental health rehab. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it and realize that I have to make a change before I follow in her footsteps.

I cant do this job anymore. I have been putting off doing what I need to to prepare for band camp and the coming year and I have so much dread. It doesn't make sense bc I love my students and the school has been the best one I've ever worked at but I'm genuinely concerned I would off myself before marching season was even over. But band camp is supposed to start next week and I don't want to disappoint everyone. They would be so mad because I said I'd be here for them and get the band back to what it used to be. It's just the job itself I don't want to do it anymore but people would be so disappointed in me. I’m not award winning teacher or anything but my principal and most of the student sing my praises about being the best they’ve had in a long time and how I will build the program. It’s flattering and it helps curb my imposter syndrome but it was only enough encouragement to get me to the end of the year. And idk if I can handle either. I feel like my parents would be embarrassed. I would be ruining my “career” not that I want that career anyway but I care way too much about what people think. I want to have a kid and be able to be there for them. I don’t want to work 12 hour days 5 days a week. I don’t want to deal with opinionated parents and paperwork and fundraising and a broken education system. I just don’t think I can do it anymore but my whole life has just been about trying to be successful and quitting would make me a failure and mean I just wasted the last 15 years of my life.

My dad says “your job is only as stressful as you let it be or let it affect you” and logically he is right, but band is the only thing I’ve done. It has been my whole life and I can’t separate that from all the pressure I put on my self.

My husband loves being a band director and doesn’t mind the extra hours. He is supportive of me leaving though for my healths sake. What complicates this is that band camp is supposed to start on Tuesday. I know I am putting them in a rough spot…..but I’m too close to the edge to “make it work for the students sake” anymore. If anyone has tips, encouragement, or a kind word- I could reallly use it right now. I’m going to disappoint so many people that I truly care about. Some of them may even be mad. I even have a few parents that may bad mouth my decision on social media. I have no idea what to say or do. Or how to process this. I’m so lost but so desperate for a change

I stuck in a tough spot. I resigned last year in the hopes of leaving education. I have done lots of work on my resume and lots of aplplications but nothing yet. I’ve had some interviews but no offers.

I’m worried about paying bills after I get my last paycheck (single, live alone), so I applied to some teaching jobs to be safe. I of course have gotten calls back but the thought of going back is making me depressed.

With teachers going back in two weeks I’m wondering if I should just get a non-teaching survival job or bite the billet and go back to teaching until I get something else.

A little about me: 22F, graduated this year from an Ivy League (but with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and Fine Arts). Consistent undergrad experience in research, content production, office administration. I’ve been interested in teaching, I have dance instruction experience which I was pretty good at and found to be fulfilling, but didn’t take it super seriously until I progressed in interviewing for this position.

I’m being offered a teaching position at a boarding school. I will teach photography and video, which I’m somewhat passionate about while not incredibly technically talented in them (particularly the former, I’m actually pretty good with video). 45k, but I graduated debt free and don’t have to pay for housing or food (I live on campus and eat at the dining hall). The kids are grades 9-12, very bright and driven, the vibe is college prep.

Pros: Saving money, passionate about the subject matter, good students, beautiful location, experience in a lot of different roles (teacher, RA, curator for student showcases, etc.)

Cons: Isolated location (northern new england, I went to school in a city and loved the vibrancy of it), it’s my first offer and feel a little pressed to just take it, working round the clock (classes run Monday-Saturday and I’m there all the time), social life dead (youngest faculty member, living with high schoolers).

I have only been doing the job hunt thing for around 3 months, and I feel like some of the places I applied to could get back to me in the next couple of months. I’ve applied for maybe around 50-70 jobs at this point, and I think at least 2 look promising… if I can wait long enough for them to get back to me.

These jobs are also more distantly but nonetheless related to my interest in the arts, and also are located in cities, NYC and Philly respectively. In NYC is a startup, Philly it’s the city’s ballet company. I’d not be making too much, but enough to meet rent with a couple roommates. I could live near friends and be in a place with that vibrancy I enjoyed in college.

So… take this first teaching job, enjoy the scenery and quiet of northern New England and up my discipline in serving high schoolers?

Or… decline the offer, take the risk to continue hunting for a job, wait for the promising ones to perhaps indeed promise and get a job around other young people, my friends?

Let me know about what you’re thinking, any misconceptions I might have, personal tales that you learned from…

Earlier today I got an alert that I’d been messaged. I scanned the first paragraph before my lunch break ended.

By the time I got home from work and went to read it, it was gone from my inbox.

If you’re still out there on this sub: please feel free to DM me again. I’m happy to chat with you and offer any advice that I can.

I managed to leave teaching for Instructional Design because so many people helped me and I am always, always happy to chat with anyone who’s looking to leave teaching.

Hello!

I currently work for a company and was hired as a STEM teacher and IT Specialist. My background is in education, but I'm considering moving out of the field eventually. I've taken on a lot more responsibilities and was granted permission to have a change in title. Based on the duties below, I'd love to hear some suggestions I could pitch my boss:

-teaching stem content

• inventory, maintenance, and purchasing of school technologies
• leading committees with stakeholders and maintaining relationships

-leading adult training with technology uses

• leading adult training sessions with classroom and school management, planning, assessment, etc

-social media marketing

• fundraising marketing
• onboarding and mentoring new staff members
• organizing and creating curriculum/content
• administration on Google suite
• teacher mentorship

This next school year will be my 3rd year teaching. This past year was very traumatic for me- I was moved from 2nd grade (a team of great people who respected me) to Pre-K, a group of catty, judgmental, and mean people. I was the youngest on the team (23 years old) and they seemed to harbor a lot of resentment towards me due to that. The beginning of the year, I had to coteach with a mean older lady who would harass me everyday and spread means rumors about me to other teachers and administration. I tried to talk to admin about this and my concerns weren’t validated until December 1st. These factors, along with the low pay have led me to seek out a different career. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I can do with an elementary education degree? Preferably a job that pays more than 56k a year? I have to pay 1k in student loans a month.

Hi all, I taught ESL for 5 years in low income schools and have realized for a long time that I needed out. I want to transition into an office job/ the corporate world asap, see if it’s right for me and potentially work my way up. I also speak spanish and have been the school interpreter for the past five years (for no extra pay of course). I don’t want to go back to school until I find something I actually like though.

I’ve landed a couple interviews, including an interview with an administrative assistant position. It pays $20 which is really pushing it for me (in my last year of teaching I made 54k, I live in a relatively low cost of living city but have loans). Do you think it’s worth it for the experience? Or not worth tapping into my savings and looking for other things? I see a lot of people here have had some good come from admin assistant jobs and taking a paycut so I just wanted some opinions!

Focus on getting good at managing it. The uncomfortable truth is that if you're feeling like an imposter as a teacher considering a new career... Good!!

It means you're self-aware and this is just another opportunity to reflect.

You can identify areas of improvement, seek feedback from people you care about and trust, and continuously refine the skills you're looking to build.

I remember when I first went overseas to the HQ of our tech company back in 2016 and met the dozens of brilliant people I was working with, I kept thinking - what am I doing here?

I didn't want to go out with the team because I was nervous.

I told my manager at the time that I didn't want to be promoted, ever. I was happy answering customers' emails and doing webinars.

"Why would I ever go into managing people? I'm good at answering these emails and talking to customers. Just let me do that."

I was comfortable, and wanted to stay that way.

I hear a lot of the same concerns I had back then, in the posts I'm reading today on this subreddit. From teachers just like you who feel stuck and lost about what to do next.

Thankfully my manager laughed and said "Comfortable?? You were meant for more than that. Don't run from discomfort - it's just another important lesson you need to learn. Never forget that fear almost always gives you terrible advice on how to live your life."

That conversation changed the course of my entire life.

It taught me that being vulnerable, uncomfortable as it is, humanizes you.

For you, being scared and nervous about transitioning out is actually a sign you might be on the right track to transforming your life. If that voice in your head is too loud, it's because you're missing the right foundation of belief that will help you drown out the noise.

Instead of fighting those feelings of fear, harness them.

True leaders aren't those without doubts. We all have them, all the time.

True leaders are those who push forward despite having those doubts.

Next time imposter syndrome strikes, welcome it. It's a sign you're on the right track. I'm always happy to answer questions and grateful to all the folks that reached out from my last post. Your kind words meant a lot.

What was it that gave or is giving you the strength to make the transition?

Hi there, I'm in the ed-tech industry. I work at an org that has hired many teachers for different roles and I've compiled a list of other ed-tech companies that have hired teachers. These are orgs that I recommend folks take a look at - some are remote, and some are not. Please keep in mind that the market is really rough for job seekers right now so be kind to yourself if you're not hearing back from jobs you've applied to.

Tips to stand out beyond having a great resume/CV: Create a LinkedIn and network. Connections are key and often the best way to get your foot in the door at an org. You can certainly try to find a recruiter at a company and reach out to them directly but their inbox is probably flooded so you might want to find people who are currently working at the org, reach out to them, and ask about their experience at the company and if they can give you any advice. Sometimes you might get lucky and they might refer you to an open position. Patience and persistence are key. Best of luck!

Abre

Amira Learning

Amplio

BookNook

BrainPop

ByteLearn

Breathe For Change

DreamBox Learning

Elevate K-12

FACTS

BetterLesson

Infini-D Learning

Ignite Reading

Gradient Learning

Savvas Learning 

Measure Education

Swivl 

Kickup

Nuro Retention 

Kiddom

Equal Opportunity Schools

Learning Without Tears

Newsela

Just putting this information out there if anyone is on the fence about trying it out. In my opinion if you are enrolled in a reputable program it will help you land a job outside of the classroom. I got a basic ID job in a community college with mine and I am only halfway through the Masters program. The networking and opportunities are worth it if you are willing to pay for it. I am getting mine through DU and it's been a great program so far.

Hi, I've done the looking and searching but am refreshing this topic, hope that's ok!

I'm running up against my contract beginning for next year and not having any luck with a new job. My plan is to continue searching and break my contract if necessary, and to upskill, potentially continue school to prepare for the career change.

I have a BA in elementary Ed but have worked primarily in Pre-K/k for the majority of my career. I began a masters years ago for curriculum and instruction and couldn't justify the cost for the outcome so stopped. I began prepping for an OT program and also stopped because of cost.

Right now I'm not sure what field to transition to which makes the prospect of putting money into more degrees overwhelming.

Things that interest me: working for nonprofits working with children, sustainability. I'd go corporate for anything Ed adjacent, as I feel like there should be a lot more representation from actual classroom teachers in these businesses. I feel like my passion would work well in product design but I have no professional background in this despite writing and developing my own curriculum for 15 years.

Is there a good degree or certification for product development/design?

It's been an overwhelming process and I guess I'd like some recs from people I trust (teacher strangers in reddit who get it) 😊

I won't get into too much detail, but I was a whistleblower of a racially motivated harassment and abuse from one of the staff members to an outside guest. They decided to side with them (since they have seniority) and decided to push me out the door (requesting me to make myself available for more tasks outside of my working hours, treating my guests with disrespect), and all this is documented.

Before I submit my resignation today, I wanted to know if this is grounds for constructive dismissal, or can a legal action be taken. I understand that as an at-will employee, it's pretty difficult and the odds are stacked against me.

Thank you.

Has anyone found a job working with kids that isn’t in a school? I’m dual certified elementary and special education. I don’t want to tutor but I feel like there has to be something else. I really love the kids but I’m so sick of admin.

I LOVE teaching, my students, my coworkers, and my benefits. I love summers off and breaks. I'm only going into my third year and I used to think this was the perfect job.

That all changed when my partner and I started family planning. Even though he makes almost $100k, I feel that I cannot provide the best life for my future kids with my measly $3,200 per month.

In my district, I can make $89k tops after 20 years, or use my MBA to get a job starting at $80k NOW. It's such a bummer, but I know I'll be putting in my resignation after this year.

What was THE exact moment you decided to quit?

I have been applying for jobs outside SPED, and have not gotten any Interviews yet. School starts in about six weeks. I am trying not to panic, but I CANNOT go back to what my current assignment is. Last year was the hardest I have ever gone through, I made it and fulfilled all my responsibilities, but I made myself sick, literally and figuratively. Part of the problem is having SPED experience, at least where I live, they want you to stay in SPED and it is hard to get a chance at another kind of job. I'm hoping more things will be posted, and that I can get something else. I have a second job that is very much aligned with the school calendar and hours. If I keep working for the district, I can keep that job. If I go outside the district, I'm afraid I won't be able to do my second job anymore. I'm applying everywhere I can, and networking to find leads. I'm not sure what else to do. I am afraid of the future.

I feel physically ill thinking about going back to teaching in just two weeks 🤮😭

I think I saw this site recommended on this Reddit, but I can’t recall. You have to pay to see the jobs, which seems a bit sketchy to me, but has anyone used it and found a job through it? It’s $3/ 2 weeks or $70/year to have access to the listings.

I feel so desperate 😭

Hello!

Has anyone switched to accounting with a B.S. and M.A. in "unrelated" fields? I have 8 years experience as a first responder, and 3 years experience as a teacher.

I'm around 40 credits away from being able to sit for my CPA, and I'm curious about what by best path forward is.

Additional info:

1. I'm under contract for this upcoming year, and I was to finish that out.

2. I have the money to fund any course work needed. It would need to be online during this school year.

3. I have minimal networking. I know I need to work on this.

4. In May '25 I'm able to move anywhere/ live anywhere to take a job. (no kids/ S.O.)

5. I am open to working in a "rough" environment for a few years to pay my dues if it means higher compensation/ better job prospects down the line. I'm used to working ~90-100 hours a week, so I can keep that up if it's useful.

My goal: To know what path will make me competitive for 6 figure salary in the accounting field within 4-5 years.

School starts in two weeks and I’ve come to the resolve that this will be my last. It hasn’t even started and I’m full of anxiety, my class list as a special ed teacher is too big for a self-contained class and only two paraprofessionals.

This isn’t it for me and it’s too late to back out. I just have to stick it through for one more school year and I’ll be free.

If you’re in a similar situation I wish you the best of luck and hopefully come around May 2025, we can all find jobs that don’t keep us up at night with anxiety.

I’m a year away from getting a bachelors in Bilingual elementary education and am having my doubts after a constant line of past/current teachers warning me. I have passion, but Id rather be happy. I want to look into new opportunities so I can get a head start. What are some areas you guys have transitioned to and have loved?

What it sounds like - my facebook and pinterest have become 100% teacher ads and classroom ads/management! I'm not even following much, it's all recommended. Is there a way to easily fix your algorithm to get back to non-education things, or should I just delete and start over?

I guess I’m here because I know what I want to do but am too terrified to do it.

I’ve been working in schools for the past 10 years (intern, teaching assistant, remedial) while I completed my degree and my honours degree.

I’ve been class teaching for a year and a half and I hate it. It isn’t the dream that was sold to me and it feels like it’s sucking the life out of me. It’s the same story I’ve seen time and time again, performance punishment (the better you do the more you get asked to take on), lack of boundaries, overworked and overstimulated.

I work at one of the top private schools in the country which puts additional pressure on us to be on top of our game but the parents are also intense. They have access to our private numbers so they just never stop and think we work directly for them.

At the moment our country is on a 3 week break and I’ve been having nightmares about our parents and just school in general.

I’m in a lucky position because if I leave I can join our family business and have a more flexible day to day.

I’m pregnant with my first baby and due at thee start of our next school year (January). I plan to take 6 months off for maternity (3 months 1/3 of my salary will be paid and then I’m going to work out if I transition or not.

My strand are work day is from 7-5 because once the school day is over we have to coach sport and some terms I’ve been put on night sport which means I’m home at 8-9pm. (This is an unpaid extra).

Especially with a baby coming I just can’t see how thing is sustainable, I don’t want my child to get what’s left of me. While I know we get long breaks I feel like it isn’t fair on my husband or baby to have me burnt out 70% of the year just so I can get the breaks.

My overwhelming fear is what if I miss it? I hate it so much but I’m frozen still in fear of leaving and losing what I am supposed to be doing. What if I can’t get back in if I want to? Is this fear normal?

Pretty much the title. As I am currently transitioning to a different role a part of me is excited yet nervous. I just hope that I am truly happier in this role long term. The most toxic work environments I have ever been in have been school settings (granted rough districts). I am wondering if there are *truly* better environments or if every work place has a layer of toxicity?

I do have a question what careers would be best for a teacher thinking of getting into a new field especially after teaching in a charter school where I was not supported most of the year. I came in middle of October and basically learned how their way of doing things on the fly. It was stressful and pushed me extremely hard especially staying past my contracted hours to learn more.

Want to stack up the excellent reviews over gotten in true past year for job hunting but realized…. I never actually saw them after admin filled it out?

Where does one get thier reviews?

I submitted my resignation the last week of school (May). I had no idea what I was going to do next. I submitted about 20 job applications, paid for a resume revision, consulted with friends and family and had a session with my therapist about the decision to quit and what my next steps are. I have officially decided to go into nursing and hopefully become a nurse practitioner after a few years. I am working on my prerequisites and calling many different schools along with seeking advice from my many nurse friends/family members. This is the scariest & riskiest decision of MY LIFE. I am doing this scared but I know in the end it will all work out for me.

Teaching SUCKED the life out of me. There were plenty of nights where I would literally sleep for 1 hour because of the stress. It wasn’t the students, they were amazing. It was the system, administration and the other teachers! I was a top performer so administration provided zero support and just knew I was able to handle everything on my own whilst simultaneously being a team lead and helping other teachers/TA’s. Good bye education! No more pity & sorrow from my family and friends when I tell them I teach. No more disrespect from administrators and parents. No more working long hours at home for free. I loved teaching, I just despise the system and lack of respect!

I’ve been a long time lurker, first time poster. I’ve never seen any band directors post so I thought would.

I am about to start my 5th year teaching, 3rd year at my current school.

Band and music have always been a passion of mine and I have never seen myself doing anything except teaching band. However, every single year I have been teaching I have multiple anxiety attacks a month,started having migraines, have been put on several medications including ones for anxiety and depression, and I’m starting to feel like enough is enough.

A lot of it is from the treatment I receive from parents. And other directors I have talked to always tell me, “It’s always the parents, never the kids.” But I have a good bit of instances where it’s the students as well. Being disrespectful, not wanting to participate or better themselves or the group, and just constantly not being able to get along with each other.

I was ready to put in my resignation at the end of this past school year but let everyone in my life that I love and care about talk me out of it. I found myself thinking, “I’ll give it one more shot but if they give me one more reason..” And that reason came today.. The very first day of a 3 week long band camp.

I do care about the program and really don’t want to leave them high and dry but I don’t think my heart or mental health can take much more.

"Am I too old for this?"

Age is just perspective meeting time, anyone older than you will call you young.

"Will my skills transfer?"

Don't get stuck in a sunk cost fallacy - anyone can learn new skills, you just need the dedication and conviction to stick through learning what you need to learn.

The debt of ignorance doesn't care about how many years you've been on this planet, only whether or not you'll take the time to pay it down for the rewards it brings.

That or if you've convinced yourself that it's better to just stay in a bad situation.

The key to any career transition is not to get overwhelmed by the big picture.

Thinking big picture is a curse - instead you need to focus on the next immediate step that's blocking your path from where you want to go.

This will stop the overwhelm so you can think clearly.

That's the simple power of life (note: FAR from easy) - once you know how to solve the bottleneck, you need to learn how to best choose the next bottleneck.

This is how people build incredible careers and huge companies - one bottleneck at a time. It's how you built your current career and knowledge, is it not?

"But my problem is that I don't know what I want to do!"

Then you need to zoom out even farther. Stop thinking about what work would fit into your existing life.

Choose instead what kind of people you want to help. You chose to serve youth and now you're seeing that isn't the path for you. That's ok. Think about it from these 3 questions to ask yourself instead.

1. Who do you want to serve?

This is important because ultimately you need know who you want to be benefitting, as that’s in my view the key to finding fulfilling work. If you really care about the group of people then it will make decisions far easier because you can find companies that work with those groups of people, especially in tech because there's almost always a company solving even the most specific of problems.

2. Then you need to know - what do you want to serve them?

This is where you really need to think about the kind of work you want to do. Not what you're qualified to do - anyone can get qualified with enough time and attention. What kind of work would you be doing if you weren't afraid?

Think about the outcome of the person vs what work feels best, this will make any work just a matter of how when you know the profile of person you're aiming to help.

Finally you need conviction.

3. Why is that skillset that you can give (or one you care about so much you'll take the time to learn) - why is that skillset what’s best for them the people you want to serve?

Knowing why is critical. It’s never going to be easy and will often be very tough, so you need conviction to pull you through those hard times.

Especially because trying to find a job is not only a numbers game but a hard one that will drain you. But you know all you need is to get one hit to get into a better place, and even if that doesn't work out you now have a process to follow to make change again if necessary.

I've hired hundreds of folks (many of whom were teachers) into customer facing roles at our company for the past 8 years, which is where this experience comes from.

The skillsets teachers have are insanely valuable, you just need to find out how to translate them to the group of people you want to serve, and find a company or build a business that serves those peoples problems in an impactful way.

You absolutely can do it. You just need to remember that fear gives bad advice, and remember your why - it's the only thing that will pull you through those hard moments when resumes are rejected or ignored and you feel lost.

I shared this here because I do have a favor to ask. I just want critical feedback on if any of this was useful or not - I'm all ears. The reason being that I'm putting together a 100% free community and expanding on this + much more. I want it to be helpful and solve real problems.

Would that be of interest to anyone here? Thanks for reading. I genuinely hope this was helpful to someone.

Hello! My goal is to become an Family Nurse Practitioner in California. I've been having a rough time trudging through some of the programs. I would prefer an accelerated BSN program. Any recommendations on which program to choose? I'd prefer as much of it to be online as possible. I have an M.Ed and a BSBA. Left teaching last year!

So yeah, I was one of the ones who actually found a new job/career cause I wasn't getting paid enough as a sub teacher. That's probably the reason why I left teaching, but then again, I noticed COVID changed the kids and it got more difficult to do my job, so I felt relieved. Now I'm doing office work that I realize I just dreaded this whole time. I know I'm good at teaching but didn't like the red tape, similar to what I'm dealing with in my current line of work.

I actually live in the Bay Area and there are teaching jobs with massive bonuses for SpEd and decent starting pay ($58-63K/year), so I'm able to afford to live in the Bay. Now I'm scrambling to get into a credential program that'll let me teach and go to school at the same time.

I think for me, I was quite indecisive about my job prospects, but after going away from teaching, I feel better suited to go back. I know it was stressful, but I did a good job in my work and felt motivated to work with the students, staff, and teachers when necessary (aides, principals barely complained about me when I asked how I did), and I lacked confidence at the time.

Anyone feel that way? What's your take on people on anyone returning and maybe your experiences so far in your new career or the ones who are staying/leaving? Of you're now in a office job, has it become boring/don't like it and want to go back?

And looking back at some of my posts here, I was begging to get out, but now I'm begging myself to leave my office job!

Am I crazy? Or am I seeing the grass isn't always greener on the other side?

EDIT: FIXED MY POST, ADDED MORE DETAIL TO MY STORY