I have to change careers. I'm going nuts.

[Kerrytravelers]

I am through with teaching. That is it.

I have to make a move or I'm going to find myself in a padded room.

What's it like to completely change careers? Any DU advice?

[KG]

1. i feel ya. except my career isn't making me nuts, i'm just bored out of my mind.

:hi:

[WindRavenX]

2. I'd like A job to start off with

:(

[Kerrytravelers]

11. I've been there. It's rough. And after a while, you start to take it personally.

I know I did. I kept thinking "What the hell is wrong with me."

I'm sorry things are rough in that area for you right now. :hug:

[knowbody0]

3. may I ask what age kids you teach?

[Kerrytravelers]

4. I have an unusual job right now.

I work for a chartered homeschool, so the grades range from K-12. And I hate it. But even before this job, I wasn't wild about teaching. I was "encouraged" to go into education by my dad, and I've been miserable ever since. Mr. kt is very encouraging for me to find a new career, since he sees every day how miserable I am.

I'm not afraid to make the change, but hearing how others did it would give me some ideas. I actually have an idea about what I'd like to do, but we can't always get exactly what we want.

[knowbody0]

6. I completely burned out at 36

as a mortgage banking accountant and changed course. It was dreaming of numbers and spreadsheets that was my catalyst. I highly recommend you follow your passion like a lodestar and move away from what you detest.

I traded the prestige and power of my hard earned position, shocking everyone around me, and have never regretted it. Vision yourself doing what you love and the path will reveal itself.

good luck

[Kerrytravelers]

10. 85% of teachers leave education within the first 5 years.

I'm part of the 85%. This is year five and I get sick thinking about doing this one more year.

[knowbody0]

12. yep, it is time for change!

[skygazer]

5. Having never really had a career - only jobs - I couldn't tell you

But I've radically changed jobs a couple of times, going from stay-at-home mom to road construction worker, for instance.

Bottom line, if you're going nuts you need a change. Change can be good, exciting, positive, challenging and fun. If you go into it looking at it that way rather than scary, intimidating, uncertain and grim, you'll be fine.

Do you have any ideas about what you'd like to do instead?

[underpants]

7. Have you considered what you can do for your country?

http://www.goarmy.com

[Kerrytravelers]

9. Wow. Guess I offended you!

:shrug:

[La Lioness Priyanka]

13. i think it may have been a joke.

[Kerrytravelers]

15. Oh, I must have read it with the wrong interpretation!

Whew. I was thinking :wow:

[underpants]

18. Yes it was

:hi:

[Kerrytravelers]

20. I apologize. I do. I didn't mean to project on you!

:hi:

[underpants]

22. No problem

:hug:

[Kerrytravelers]

24. Glad to know that!

:hug:

[Deja Q]

8. Dunno. I'm starting to do the same thing, but I won't have the BA degree until 2009.

But I'm exercising to help alleviate stress and to look buff and hunky to make all the people drool with envy... and besides, I don't like the gut. The other bulge is quite nice, but I don't like the gut. :D

[LynneSin]

14. Cat teeth cleaning - they make a minute doing that

$250 to clean my cat's teeth - there's your new career right there - cat teeth cleaning

[Kerrytravelers]

16. That's it! I'll open a Cat Teeth Cleaning service!

Why didn't I think of that earlier? :rofl:

[LynneSin]

17. Because you had no clue there was money to be made in cat teeth

:shrug:

[Kerrytravelers]

27. Pitter-pat lets us brush his teeth, so I've never had to pay that vet bill!

Isn't it something like $250 a sitting.

[Arugula Latte]

32. Oh Jeebus. I have to take mine in tomorrow for that...

I'll be happy to get out of there for "just" $250 ... My kitties have terrible teeth and always have to have extensive work. :(

[crispini]

19. At least you have an idea about what you'd like to do.

And it sounds like a supportive SO too! So you are well-positioned to make a move.

Me, I'm dying to make a career change but am not really sure in which direction and have not yet built up an adequate financial cushion to allow me to retrain, so I'm stuck for a bit longer until I figure something out.

[ThomCat]

21. Well, you already have experience that might be valuable.

If you pick the right career you might start out in a good place. Corporations need good trainers, either to train employees or to train customers.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. you are so right kittenkins

[ThomCat]

26. Aww...

:blush:

[racaulk]

23. You wanna prepare tax returns? I could get you a job *today*!!!

We could really use your help, especially this time of year.

Seriously, I hear ya and I'm right in the same boat. This is my fifth year working in public accounting doing taxes, and I'm absolutely sick of it. The hours and stress of the first 3.5 months of the year are really just getting to be too much. I'm facing serious burnout and I need a change.

Speaking of which, why am I even on DU right now? :o

Best of luck to you, I hope things look up for you soon! :hi:

[huskerlaw]

28. Become an eye surgeon

$5000 for a 5-minute Lasik procedure.

Seriously. $1000/minute. I could put up with a lot of shit for that kind of cash.

[sasquatch]

29. Change schools

That's what my dad did and he loves it now.

[hellbound-liberal]

30. As a Special Education teacher, I can certainly understand your feelings

Our responsibilities continue to be increased as our resources become more limited. However, I have done other things in my life and I take a lot of personal satisfaction in trying to help children with the greatest needs from falling through the cracks. Fortunately, due to my training, I am qualified to work in many different areas of education so I can change to different settings if I ever get tired of what I am doing. I think that, if you are truly sick of teaching, you should consider another line of work. You only go around once in life and there is no use being miserable. I would only suggest that, if you do decide to try something else, that you should try to keep your teaching license current so you don't have to get recertified should you ever decide to come back. Anyway, good luck whatever you decide. I think all of your fellow teachers at DU understand.

[dembotoz]

31. I have changed several times.

Lots of people do.
Times change, people change.
Sometimes you leave a career, sometimes the career leaves you.

Be open, be optimistic.
You are a teacher, I assume you are at least sortof smart.
You have a degree. You have a leg up on most folks out there.

One of the things that I did when I made major path changes is I took out
the jobs section from the sunday paper and I went thru it job by job and looked for stuff that at least looked kind of interesting. Its a place to start.
Good luck on your travels-may you be happy with what ever you do...