i know this is nothing to do with weight loss, bit it is about emotional well being.
have been teaching now for seven years and am having a career crisis! not sure i love my job anymore. has anyone else been through this with their careers? not sure what to do, all i am trained for is teaching and its the only job i have ever had. would like to stay in some sort of education, but where can you find career advice for re-training?
any advice and reassurance would be warmly welcome

Teaching is a tough job: often you're not appreciated for the work you do, the paper work is terrible and the meetings- well...there are far too many! However, I'm sure you've made a huge difference to lots of children and their parents. Try to enjoy the time you have in the classroom now but look for other opportunities outside of teaching.
Have you thought of playwork, youthwork or working within adult education?
Teaching is something you can always come back to or you could do some supply whilst you look for another job.
All the very best and I hope you feel more settled soon

mymain job used to be working in a bank.

i now run a pub and whilst i wouldn't advise anyone else to start that now, i love it. financially pretty crap, but love the social side.

life is too short. teaching and your qualifications will always be there.
what about teaching abroad?

i would hate your job, discipline is so lacking and the ones that are the worst are the ones who know all their rights etc. plus you must have to be so politically corrrect all of the time, ugh!!

explore life, it can be gone before you know it

Yes, at regular intervals, and seven years does seem to come into it at times. I think that many people need a career refesh from time to time. Sometimes it can be enough to change employers (schools in your case) but sometimes you need to change what you do.

Although you say that "all you are trained for is teaching" that actually covers a load of skills that you could transfer elsewhere. Have you thought about the professional training sphere, for example? Alternatively, as others have suggested, a break away doing something entirely different may be what you need.

Forgetting about "just teaching", sit yourself down and list all the skills you've acquired over the years and note which ones you enjoy using the most. Sometimes doing this can give you a good pointer as to what direction you'd really like to head off in.

Catherine, I found this web site by accident last week - it matches up your skills/knowledge with your interests and comes up with career ideas. Good place to start?

http://ufi.axiainteractive.net/learndirectAdviceVe rsion/index.htm

thanks everyone, am going to check out that website now fiona.

Hi, I had the same crisis 2 years ago as I was teaching secondary Maths full time, had 2 young children and hubby works very long hours, so I asked to work part time, which I am now doing. Our school (a comp) won't do a job share but my days are blocked so for example, I have this morning off. If you're a primary teacher, maybe you can have a day off or something.

I have only got 4 classes now, which is much less stressful - less prep and marking and I can have a life as well! The job fits in really well with my children's hours as well.

Not sure if you have kids or what aspect of the job you're getting a bit fed up of? If it's all the unpaid overtime, then look at cutting your hours. If it's the job itself then look at the other people's suggesions.

I actually look forward to going into work now (apart from yesterday, first day back after hols) whereas before it was just one big countdown to the next holiday all the time.

Hope that helps,
Jaki

I know how you feel. I worked in a research job for fifteen years, but decided that I needed a change when I got to 40. Strangely enough I retrained as a Maths teacher - four years later I realised that this was taking over my life. I started to exercise as a way to beat the stress, but found it impossible to cope with only 5 hours sleep a night to fit in the exercise and the workload. I took a deep breath, ignored my conscience and applied for a job in a private school. I still work really hard, but the stress is much, much less and I absolutely love my job - worth a thought!

Hi Catherine,
Firstly, everyone has career doubts at times- eating chocolate on demand day in day out would become tiresome over time!
I taught too, for 10 years and felt the need for something different. I looked at a career step within teaching (assistant head vacancies) although sometimes doubted I had enough passion and energy left in me to convince anyone to offer me such a role.
I'm now working as an education consultant. Perhaps you could look into consultancy work (under "other" in TES Jobs). Also you must have considerable experience now, there is plenty of room for people on their way up the ladder as so many current heads will retire in the next few years.
Alternatively, if you want out of school, why not look into possibilities within the LEA or lecturing in teaching, child development or something else related?
Teaching is exhausting and can grind you down, but teaching isn't all you can do. You have built up a mass of skills and knowledge that are transferrable to other career paths!

Good luck!

I think i'm in the same position as you Catherine. I've also been teaching for 7 years and don't seem to get the same buzz as before. I keep looking at the charity sector jobs www.thirdsectorjobs.co.uk has a few but it does seem that a pay cut would be necessary to make that change. As well as not being able to afford to earn less (mortgages, debts etc) i also don't want the feeling of going backwards.
I did look at the learndirect site
http://ufi.axiainteractive.net/learndirectAdviceVe rsion/index.htm
but it told me my perfect job is teaching!!
Good luck catherine and if you have any suggestions then let me know too!

thanks Janey, i did the same questionnaire as you and my ideal job was teaching!
Know what you mean about the pay cut, teaching wage not too bad - also think would miss the holidays...
think my main problem is have senior management job and its too stressful/time consuming. will look for another job just class teaching, even considering supply. ideal job at the moment would be ppa cover!
will let you know how i get on. good luck to you too!!

Thanks karen, glad you found a solution. not sure i have the confidence to be a consultant - what does your typical week consist of? frequently look in the 'other' section of TES jobs

Thanks sue and jaki too, its lovely to hear your advice and to know im not the alone with a few 'wobbles'

Hi Catherine,
I didn't really think I had the confidence to go for another job but I'd got to the point where I couldn't see myself still being a classroom teacher in another 10 years time. So many dedicated teachers get passed over and walked over (in my experience) and frankly, I didn't think the people in charge were all that! So it got me thinking about my future and where I'm going...
Being a consultant isn't that scary & you don't have to be a genius, it's just using and building on existing skills & expertise and sharing it. There isn't really a typical week, I can be in schools doing training for a 2/3 of days, planning and preparation, my own training and development, meetings.
There’s a whole new career structure open to me as well as the possibility of going back into school but within a senior management role is I so choose. I feel it’s been a good move but I’ve had doubts at times, especially moving from a position I was experienced and felt sure of myself to something very new. I’m sure you’ll have doubts, but if there’s no doubt you’re ready for something else then it’s worth giving it a go!