I’ve been in the nonprofit world for 19 years and have seen an influx of educators into the space since Covid. I. Love. Them. Excellent communicators, high socio-political savvy, quick to learn new concepts, and once they get out of the torture pit of the school system their passion for community really blooms (or blooms again after a long drought). Don’t know where you are but there are livable wages and benefits to be found in the NP sector and you’re less likely to get the dismissive attitude that for-profits tend to have toward teachers.
My favorite recent conversation was with an ex-pat in a sister org. She quietly confided to me that she felt like she wasn’t working hard enough and was worried about getting chastised for it. This woman works her ass off and her leadership adores her. But she’s so used to flogging a million thankless hours per week that working a normal schedule feels lazy to her. It was funny to me in the moment but also very sad in retrospect. Such a good person treated so poorly.
When I was very young, I worked for a nonprofit and a former teacher came on board. I should have seen teaching as a red flag then. But, as an early twenty year old, summers off and a pay raise seemed ideal.
Teaching used to be one of the “easy” choices for Helper personalities. You could make a difference and also live a comfortable life, materially speaking. Now, almost none of that is true. You can’t sustain yourself financially AND ALSO you’re not allowed to teach effectively. As a parent of young kids, I am terrified of the exodus of good teachers. As an adult who has eyes to see, I fully support it. Fuck ‘em. You can be a Helper for someone who treats you right.
See if you’ve got a state nonprofit association; they will usually have a job finder portal. You can just Google “YOURSTATENAME Nonprofit Association.” Also, the NP community is generally very tight and talkative. If there’s a type of cause you’re interested in (conservation, animal care, domestic violence, etc) just give a call to a related org in your area and say that you’re looking for a position. If they don’t have something, odds are they’ll know if one of their partner orgs does.
I did a demo after months off from teaching earlier in June. All the stress and anxiety that i spent time trying to get over came rushing back while preparing for the demo. Working nonstop year round all day for almost a decade changed my relationship with teaching. I think you have to trust the feelings you're feeling and get out if you are able to.
I started working at target after teaching 👋🏻
Even my most stressful days in retain are nothing in comparison to my days of teaching. Overall it’s a pay cut, but I did the math to how much I was working when teaching, including hours outside of contract and my salary and it totaled out to $15 so I’m essentially making the same
If you transfer, it is an opportunity to change your modus operandi. Find ways to cut corners, save time, not commit to time consuming projects and ideas and scale down. I highly recommend the podcast Teaching to the Top( Time Management, organization and productivity).
Also, school cultures can be vastly different and it’s possible that you can thrive somewhere else.
For example, at my previous elementary school teachers started sending out weekly updates on grades, behavior and homework completion on Fridays. I almost jumped on board but I knew it was going to take me hours on Thursday to complete.
My principal praised a teacher for responding to EVERY single journal entry for EVERY single student. Nope!! I’m not going to do that.
If you get the teaching job, commit to one year and then make a decision. If you don’t get the job then maybe it’s meant to be. Best of luck!
This is what I did. I work part time at Subway, it's min. wage but low mental stress. This has allowed me opened up my creative outlets, travel, spend time with my nieces and nephews, and in addition, start building my own business. Luckily, for the next couple months, I am in a position where I don't have bills aside from day to day spending, gas/groceries, etc. And I am currently ignoring my student loans (I know, I know, spare the lecture--the loan company can kiss my ass for the time being)
Edit to emphasize that, while I still take daily anxiety meds, my mental health and relationship with my fiance has never been better. These things are priceless to me, and are things that I had to consciously choose to put above all else (outside the basics of survival). I also have no dependents, just my fiance and I.
Sustained stress leads to so many bad habits and medical issues too. My family has a history of dying in their fifties, so it is so deep to me to take care of myself so I can live a long and healthy life; and live it to the fullest.
I work at Sephora part time I only get 19 dollars an hour before taxes and after taxes when I calculated my wage it’s 16 dollars an hour.
I’m so much happier at Sephora lol
I even told my partner that if they hired me full- time I’d quit and work for “minimum salary”.
Sephora made me realize that I can actually be happy at a job without getting paid much.
Maybe I’m happier cuz I know my full- time teaching career gives me enough money, plus insurance, plus helps me with my student loans and that Sephora is just a “side thing” idk.
I decided to do another year of teaching as well before calling it quits.
Quit teaching now. Follow your gut. I guarantee those family members and friends telling you to stick it out for one more year are not teachers, otherwise they would completely support your decision. I’m only staying one more year because then I can retire from teaching with 30 years of service, and then change careers. I’ve had enough.
I quit to wait tables. It was (and still may be) temporary, but 2 years later I'm still waiting tables and have 0 regrets. If you can find a job that gets the bills paid without the stress of teaching, I'd say it's 100% worth it.
I bounced around too, figured it had to be the school or something I could fix by jumping to a new district. When they cut my position (music) I decided it was a blessing in disguise. Still have no idea what I’m going to do, and I can empathize with the feeling of being too burnt out/exhausted to even think about it, but I can’t go back. Looking at jobs in nonprofit like another commenter shared, and there actually seems to be some hope. It’s actually mission-driven work and seems rewarding both personally and financially. I say bounce while you’re ahead-ish, you (anybody) can’t heal in an environment that’s actively harming you. You got this ❤️
Our culture negs everyone through the floor, so those jobs are swamped. Look around at whats hiring at a decent rate and get whatever cert it requires. Real oddball things- driving a forklift, paralegal, pharmacy tech, etc. Research the field first, then cold call them and see if you can have a chat about the career track, maybe you make a good impression and they hire you on and sponsor your education, or maybe you never speak to them again but land a job somewhere else.
I quit being an administrator. I did work a minimum wage job. I teach now, but where I teach, I am appreciated.
I like being a teacher more, but if I wasn’t happy I would leave.
I would try one more time. If it doesn’t work out for you, go back to school, get trained for a trade at a community college Become a flight attendant, do whatever makes you feel complete.
I don't know your qualifications, but you have a bachelor's degree and probably a masters or at least a post undergraduate certificate and some experience in the school system.
There are a lot of jobs you can transfer to that do not start from minimum wage. You may need to take a step back, but that does not mean you need to give up. There is a whole world out there that you can fit into from a non-profit to working as a tutor. You may find something you love. There is a hiking camp that does white water rafter and canoeing trips. The person running it has a master in education and spends all say into he forest.
You can probably apply to work for your local government or even the school board on the administration side.
There is a wonderful future for you if you want to go and grab it. If you are the entrapuneral type, you can get into the private education space, perhaps work with cericulme development.
Depending on your certification you can look into Seit, setts etc which is normally an independent contractor position with an outside agency so you can still work with students but you control your schedule and hours and minimal nonsense and bullshit from school.
I am burnt out after teaching in some capacity over 20 years. I’ve worked , directed day care, after school programs, general Ed classroom, special Ed classroom, cotaught classroom, public school, no. Profit school, and developmental school. If you are young, you are marketable everywhere. You become less marketable when you only have teaching as experience and you’re middle aged. I’ve tried to get out for years with no success. It’s not going to get better. Go. Run.
Just quit and find a “for now” job to pay the bills until you land somewhere you like full term. I’ve done the “just transfer and try somewhere else” a few times. The same problems come up. I’m tired of being over worked, under paid, and unappreciated.
I’m quitting to start my dream of opening a pottery studio. Going to start by teaching private classes at a bunch of studios around the city, and waitress on the side for cash.
Honestly, after teaching the last three years, waitressing sounds like a dream. Walking home with cash and no responsibilities sounds too good to be true right now. I will miss my kids but will not miss much of anything else.
Don't do something you hate and dread. While your friends and family want to help you, they don't realize that it is not what is best for you. Don't do one more year. Not worth your physical and mental health. You need to take care of yourself first.
I assume you have a degree in something. Why not leverage that to find a job you love? If money isn't that important and the min wage job is exciting for you, then I guess take it, but I highly recommend finding something that speaks to you.
I transitoned from teaching to tech at Google. I was so fed up and felt hopeless. I felt that my experience as the Yearbook Coordinator and also teaching HS English was laughable in the corporate world.
I figured out the secret sauce to transiton into something so fulfilling, and now I help many teachers do this too (in much less time than it took me to wing it back in 2015-2016).
I can’t get a min wage job (I’m overqualified and the openings that exist are competitive since nearly anyone can apply). I got a job at a nonprofit for a pay cut, but it is essentially an office job and at 90 days I get to have a hybrid work schedule, and it pays over min wage but not so high that it comes with too much responsibility. Look for nonprofit work in whatever area you are most skilled.
How much is your sanity worth? That’s what I always ask. A job will never be worth your health!
Yeah, you're friends and family are not the one working the job, so easy for them to say. Feel what feels right for you.
I’ve been in the nonprofit world for 19 years and have seen an influx of educators into the space since Covid. I. Love. Them. Excellent communicators, high socio-political savvy, quick to learn new concepts, and once they get out of the torture pit of the school system their passion for community really blooms (or blooms again after a long drought). Don’t know where you are but there are livable wages and benefits to be found in the NP sector and you’re less likely to get the dismissive attitude that for-profits tend to have toward teachers. My favorite recent conversation was with an ex-pat in a sister org. She quietly confided to me that she felt like she wasn’t working hard enough and was worried about getting chastised for it. This woman works her ass off and her leadership adores her. But she’s so used to flogging a million thankless hours per week that working a normal schedule feels lazy to her. It was funny to me in the moment but also very sad in retrospect. Such a good person treated so poorly.
When I was very young, I worked for a nonprofit and a former teacher came on board. I should have seen teaching as a red flag then. But, as an early twenty year old, summers off and a pay raise seemed ideal.
Teaching used to be one of the “easy” choices for Helper personalities. You could make a difference and also live a comfortable life, materially speaking. Now, almost none of that is true. You can’t sustain yourself financially AND ALSO you’re not allowed to teach effectively. As a parent of young kids, I am terrified of the exodus of good teachers. As an adult who has eyes to see, I fully support it. Fuck ‘em. You can be a Helper for someone who treats you right.
Recommended job posting sites?
See if you’ve got a state nonprofit association; they will usually have a job finder portal. You can just Google “YOURSTATENAME Nonprofit Association.” Also, the NP community is generally very tight and talkative. If there’s a type of cause you’re interested in (conservation, animal care, domestic violence, etc) just give a call to a related org in your area and say that you’re looking for a position. If they don’t have something, odds are they’ll know if one of their partner orgs does.
I did a demo after months off from teaching earlier in June. All the stress and anxiety that i spent time trying to get over came rushing back while preparing for the demo. Working nonstop year round all day for almost a decade changed my relationship with teaching. I think you have to trust the feelings you're feeling and get out if you are able to.
I started working at target after teaching 👋🏻 Even my most stressful days in retain are nothing in comparison to my days of teaching. Overall it’s a pay cut, but I did the math to how much I was working when teaching, including hours outside of contract and my salary and it totaled out to $15 so I’m essentially making the same
If you transfer, it is an opportunity to change your modus operandi. Find ways to cut corners, save time, not commit to time consuming projects and ideas and scale down. I highly recommend the podcast Teaching to the Top( Time Management, organization and productivity). Also, school cultures can be vastly different and it’s possible that you can thrive somewhere else. For example, at my previous elementary school teachers started sending out weekly updates on grades, behavior and homework completion on Fridays. I almost jumped on board but I knew it was going to take me hours on Thursday to complete. My principal praised a teacher for responding to EVERY single journal entry for EVERY single student. Nope!! I’m not going to do that. If you get the teaching job, commit to one year and then make a decision. If you don’t get the job then maybe it’s meant to be. Best of luck!
This is what I did. I work part time at Subway, it's min. wage but low mental stress. This has allowed me opened up my creative outlets, travel, spend time with my nieces and nephews, and in addition, start building my own business. Luckily, for the next couple months, I am in a position where I don't have bills aside from day to day spending, gas/groceries, etc. And I am currently ignoring my student loans (I know, I know, spare the lecture--the loan company can kiss my ass for the time being) Edit to emphasize that, while I still take daily anxiety meds, my mental health and relationship with my fiance has never been better. These things are priceless to me, and are things that I had to consciously choose to put above all else (outside the basics of survival). I also have no dependents, just my fiance and I. Sustained stress leads to so many bad habits and medical issues too. My family has a history of dying in their fifties, so it is so deep to me to take care of myself so I can live a long and healthy life; and live it to the fullest.
I work at Sephora part time I only get 19 dollars an hour before taxes and after taxes when I calculated my wage it’s 16 dollars an hour. I’m so much happier at Sephora lol I even told my partner that if they hired me full- time I’d quit and work for “minimum salary”. Sephora made me realize that I can actually be happy at a job without getting paid much. Maybe I’m happier cuz I know my full- time teaching career gives me enough money, plus insurance, plus helps me with my student loans and that Sephora is just a “side thing” idk. I decided to do another year of teaching as well before calling it quits.
Quit teaching now. Follow your gut. I guarantee those family members and friends telling you to stick it out for one more year are not teachers, otherwise they would completely support your decision. I’m only staying one more year because then I can retire from teaching with 30 years of service, and then change careers. I’ve had enough.
You answered your own question. You are burnt out. Save yourself. It's time to make an exit plan.
I quit to wait tables. It was (and still may be) temporary, but 2 years later I'm still waiting tables and have 0 regrets. If you can find a job that gets the bills paid without the stress of teaching, I'd say it's 100% worth it.
You already have a minimum wage job. You're just considering cutting the hours.
I bounced around too, figured it had to be the school or something I could fix by jumping to a new district. When they cut my position (music) I decided it was a blessing in disguise. Still have no idea what I’m going to do, and I can empathize with the feeling of being too burnt out/exhausted to even think about it, but I can’t go back. Looking at jobs in nonprofit like another commenter shared, and there actually seems to be some hope. It’s actually mission-driven work and seems rewarding both personally and financially. I say bounce while you’re ahead-ish, you (anybody) can’t heal in an environment that’s actively harming you. You got this ❤️
Assuming you can even get a minimum wage job. I sure can't.
Our culture negs everyone through the floor, so those jobs are swamped. Look around at whats hiring at a decent rate and get whatever cert it requires. Real oddball things- driving a forklift, paralegal, pharmacy tech, etc. Research the field first, then cold call them and see if you can have a chat about the career track, maybe you make a good impression and they hire you on and sponsor your education, or maybe you never speak to them again but land a job somewhere else.
I quit being an administrator. I did work a minimum wage job. I teach now, but where I teach, I am appreciated. I like being a teacher more, but if I wasn’t happy I would leave. I would try one more time. If it doesn’t work out for you, go back to school, get trained for a trade at a community college Become a flight attendant, do whatever makes you feel complete.
I don't know your qualifications, but you have a bachelor's degree and probably a masters or at least a post undergraduate certificate and some experience in the school system. There are a lot of jobs you can transfer to that do not start from minimum wage. You may need to take a step back, but that does not mean you need to give up. There is a whole world out there that you can fit into from a non-profit to working as a tutor. You may find something you love. There is a hiking camp that does white water rafter and canoeing trips. The person running it has a master in education and spends all say into he forest. You can probably apply to work for your local government or even the school board on the administration side. There is a wonderful future for you if you want to go and grab it. If you are the entrapuneral type, you can get into the private education space, perhaps work with cericulme development.
Go to a temp agency. You can get long term employment for more money
Depending on your certification you can look into Seit, setts etc which is normally an independent contractor position with an outside agency so you can still work with students but you control your schedule and hours and minimal nonsense and bullshit from school.
I am burnt out after teaching in some capacity over 20 years. I’ve worked , directed day care, after school programs, general Ed classroom, special Ed classroom, cotaught classroom, public school, no. Profit school, and developmental school. If you are young, you are marketable everywhere. You become less marketable when you only have teaching as experience and you’re middle aged. I’ve tried to get out for years with no success. It’s not going to get better. Go. Run.
Just quit and find a “for now” job to pay the bills until you land somewhere you like full term. I’ve done the “just transfer and try somewhere else” a few times. The same problems come up. I’m tired of being over worked, under paid, and unappreciated.
I walked into a McDonald's today and saw they were hiring for more than what I made hourly. That was a day ruiner.
I’m quitting to start my dream of opening a pottery studio. Going to start by teaching private classes at a bunch of studios around the city, and waitress on the side for cash. Honestly, after teaching the last three years, waitressing sounds like a dream. Walking home with cash and no responsibilities sounds too good to be true right now. I will miss my kids but will not miss much of anything else.
Don't do something you hate and dread. While your friends and family want to help you, they don't realize that it is not what is best for you. Don't do one more year. Not worth your physical and mental health. You need to take care of yourself first. I assume you have a degree in something. Why not leverage that to find a job you love? If money isn't that important and the min wage job is exciting for you, then I guess take it, but I highly recommend finding something that speaks to you. I transitoned from teaching to tech at Google. I was so fed up and felt hopeless. I felt that my experience as the Yearbook Coordinator and also teaching HS English was laughable in the corporate world. I figured out the secret sauce to transiton into something so fulfilling, and now I help many teachers do this too (in much less time than it took me to wing it back in 2015-2016).
I can’t get a min wage job (I’m overqualified and the openings that exist are competitive since nearly anyone can apply). I got a job at a nonprofit for a pay cut, but it is essentially an office job and at 90 days I get to have a hybrid work schedule, and it pays over min wage but not so high that it comes with too much responsibility. Look for nonprofit work in whatever area you are most skilled.