Husband is a Teacher - Wants to Quit

joannestar12

Hi

In short, Can anyone tell me the best way for effective job hunting?

Background - my husband is a teacher but over the last 12 months he has started to hate his job. Regularly comes home upset, very pale, stressed and tonight said that he is pulling a sicky (totally unlike him - he is a really hard working, honest people but end of his tether).

I wish he could see that he has a lot of transferable skills and would believe in himself but he has been a teacher for most of his career (he is 37 now) but he refuses to actively job hunt for another career because he says that he is financially trapped. He earns about 42K a year and we have a newborn and 2 other children under 6.

I have worked in local authorities so I am familiar with them, but I want him to cast a wider net. Can anyone offer any advice, bit of a trip into the unknown but he has lost all of his confidence.

Thanks for your help/

Morata_

Would struggle to find a role as well paid.

What would worry me is the mental health aspect. Get him to sign of for a week through the Drs, take a break, it might just give him the breather he needs?

Ozzuk

As you say, he should have a lot of transferable skills - he needs to have an idea of what he wants to do though. Perhaps he wants to stick with some kind of training role, or maybe go completely different and become a plumber! Have a goal in mind, then he can work towards it.

Just to add, Morata makes a very good point. I felt the same as your husband, i was fortunate to be able to adjust my work life pattern and work 4 days a week, slight reduced hours. It has made a huge difference. I appreciate may not be an option in teaching though.

ReadingTim

It's very difficult to find something when you don't know what it is you're looking for - "a new job" just isn't enough.

It's only when you know what you're hunting, can you identify the most effective way of hunting it.

pinkshoes

Could he not change school?

LilElvis

pinkshoes wrote: »

Could he not change school?

... or consider working in a private school?

Rosemary7391

What subject does he teach/have a degree in? I think if it can be narrowed down to a particular field you'll get better advice specific to that field. Could he move into teaching at a sixth form college or anything that's still teaching, just in a different setting?

Alternatively - what is the cause of the stress at work? Can that be worked on ?


You might also want to start seeing about reigning in the household budget and/or thinking about what sort of work you could take on, either part time or full time and leaving your husband as the primary carer. Just to take the pressure off him.

Loanranger

Have a look at the prospects.ac.uk website when their leaflet entitled 'What can I do with my teaching degree?'
There are suggestions there including education administrator, community education adviser and much more. He needs to reconcile with the fact that changing from teaching will, at the very least in the short term and probably the lont term, mean accepting lower salary and 6 weeks holiday instead of 13 weeks. These things are what he probably knows but recognising that they are the compromises he will have to make and accepting them is the hard part.

xapprenticex

pinkshoes wrote: »

Could he not change school?

Thats easy, finding a school that is as bad as the one you are in. The good roles dont come easy or often,

LilElvis wrote: »

... or consider working in a private school?

Its very very hard, remember, teaching is usually a job for life so there is not much staff turnover, ESPECIALLY in the better schools. Private/Good school positions are gold dust, easier to get if you went to a fancy uni.

Mrs_Soup

He could definitely find something else - I have worked with a number of ex-teachers and I am a university administrator so not a directly related field. What he might find tricky is getting something with a comparable salary as although teachers grumble the salary isn't bad compared to many jobs.

What about lecturing- ie teaching teachers- are you near a university. Or further education teaching adults- bit different to the school environment - depends on his subject though. If he is in a suitable field how about something like education officer for a museum or similar?

tacpot12

I think that you are getting ahead of yourself if he is not ready to begin jobhunting. You need to address the issue that he feels he is trapped financially. I expect he will be able to cope better with the stresses of teaching once he feels has a viable plan to get out.

So it is not really careers advice or jobhunting advice you need, but financial planning and management advice. I think you need to work with him to identify all the different aspects of the "trap" he feels he is in. Is it the Mortgage, Credit Card Debt, his spending habits, his aspirations for your children, etc.?

Once you know what the trap looks and feels like to him, you can help him plan a way out of it. I think you will find that some of his concerns evaporate when he gets the headspace to really think about them, and others will be harder to fix. Come back to MSE for any advice you need on the financial side.

Best of luck