Job Satisfaction (1 Viewer)

[Booker]

My job has taken a massive toll on my mental and physical health. I've spent the last decade teaching in very low income schools. My first school had its issues, but the main thing was pay. I was not making enough to live off of. I moved to another district several years ago for substantially better pay. When I interviewed at my current school I was sold a story that did sound very promising.

In short, it has been a disaster. The behavior issues are extreme. The worst I have ever seen. I have been verbally abused, received death threats, had to get restraining orders against parents for harassing me outside of school, etc. Literally just today I had a student go nuts on me, threaten me, and she had to be escorted out of the classroom. We have significant issues with drugs and violence, both physical and gun related. Its very bad. When I was initially hired I was told there was low turnover because of the higher pay. This was a massive lie. We have insane churn and already had five teachers quit before mid year. There has been double digit turnover every year I have worked here.

On top of that, you have the basic insanity that is being a public educator. I could go on for days about that. Even if you're dealing with a good school, this is still a horrible career. Compound that with a bad school and it's just daily torture.

Over the past several years I have developed severe panic attacks, cervigocenic headaches that leave me in intense chronic pain and with light sensitivity that makes ambient lighting feel like staring into the sun. I've ended up on blood pressure meds, numerous neurological meds, etc.

I've let myself go healthwise because at the end of every day I'm so exhausted and depressed that things like exercise or meal planning go out the window. More often than not, I'm so anxiety ridden at the end of the day that I just go home and do nothing.

I've made a decision this year that I want myself, my health, and my life back. It is going to require some short term sacrifice for long term gain, but I have settled on a path out of education. Just having that light at the end of the tunnel has given me new life.

What do you teach, and do you see any options for a career change?

 

[CapitalCitySaint]

Oh man this thread is so appropriate for me right now.

At age 35 I was pretty much burned out from 10 years as a 911 dispatcher. So my wife and I downsized our house so I could quit work and go back to school to finish my bachelor's degree in Engineering. I was a nerdy smart math kid in high school, but super lazy and undisciplined, so I flunked out of college the first go round.

At age 40 I graduated with my degree. I felt like I could take on the world and do/learn anything.

I was job hunting during the height of COVID. I was lucky to get any job at all, but I got a job at a small engineering firm making GPS satellite receivers. Interesting stuff. I had to take a REALLY low salary
Less than I made at 911. Everyone had a hiring freeze...it was this or nothing.

Except this company was running some kind of ponzi scheme. I was the only engineer on staff and they never gave me any work. I just sat there doing nothing. So I also learned nothing, and actively started to lose skills because I wasn't using them. Finally, after 6 or 7 months paychecks stopped coming and they revealed to us the company was bankrupt, but not closing. I started job hunting immediately. It took 5 months to find something else.

The 2nd job I got is where I still work. The salary is still really low....about the same as I made at 911.

I asked for more money last year...they said no. Actually, I asked for a performance review. All positive...all good we are glad to have you....etc. so THEN I asked for more money. Suddenly, they say I make tons of mistakes and cost the company a lot of extra money to fix my mistakes...etc. funny, no one ever mentioned a specific mistake to me and still hasn't. No raise given. So I still make a COVID salary years after COVID. They made me feel incredibly small and dumb...now I question my abilities and have lost all confidence. I have so stagnated here....i am not learning anything because I perform the same basic level tasks over and over for years now. Unfortunately I am too old to pivot again to another career. I have to make this work...we put all our eggs in this basket.

So, now I am job searching again, looking for a better work environment where I can learn a proper engineering skillset. I have a degree and 4 years experience and can't even get any interviews after over 40 job applications. Yet everyone is supposedly hiring and there is a shortage of engineers. Someone somewhere is lying.

Also, I hate engineering as much as I did 911. It's just the workplace....it's miserable. We aren't meant to sit at a desk for 8 hours and stare at a computer screen. I would rather do anything else, really.

At this point I am totally disillusioned with professional life. It feels like there is no path forward and each time I make more money, everything on the planet increases in price so I don't actually get anywhere. I feel like I made a huge mistake and should have stuck it out at 911. I could have retired in another 10 years with full benefits.


Honestly my favorite job ever was as a dog poop scooper. You get to be outside....and most of the dogs are out and you get to pet them, play with them, give treatos during your work. Unfortunately the salary smells as bad as the sheet.

You're never too old to reinvent yourself. It's not easy but it is certainly doable.

Many people on here know I used to volunteer with Guide Dogs for the Blind (don't anymore for various reasons) and I would love to go work for them in the puppy center. Just playing with puppies, doing health checks, teaching them stuff. But it just doesn't pay enough. It pays about 1/4 of what I make in a year now.

 

[Sun Wukong]

What do you teach, and do you see any options for a career change?

English.

Transitioning out of teaching with a humanities degree is next to impossible. There are career coaches that will claim you have a lot of transferable skills but the reality is there is a stigma in the private sector about teaching not being a "real" job and there has been a major outflow of people leaving the profession. Upskilling or going back to school are often the only options.

I'm going back to school in the fall. Its a huge change for me at 41 and not without risks, but I can no longer function like this.

I'm fortunate in the sense that it's just me. No family or spouse or anything. So I can take this risk without impacting anyone else. And worst case scenario I can always reactive my teaching license so I do have a safety net of sorts. But that will be the literal last resort.

 

[Bayouboy]

My job has taken a massive toll on my mental and physical health. I've spent the last decade teaching in very low income schools. My first school had its issues, but the main thing was pay. I was not making enough to live off of. I moved to another district several years ago for substantially better pay. When I interviewed at my current school I was sold a story that did sound very promising.

In short, it has been a disaster. The behavior issues are extreme. The worst I have ever seen. I have been verbally abused, received death threats, had to get restraining orders against parents for harassing me outside of school, etc. Literally just today I had a student go nuts on me, threaten me, and she had to be escorted out of the classroom. We have significant issues with drugs and violence, both physical and gun related. Its very bad. When I was initially hired I was told there was low turnover because of the higher pay. This was a massive lie. We have insane churn and already had five teachers quit before mid year. There has been double digit turnover every year I have worked here.

On top of that, you have the basic insanity that is being a public educator. I could go on for days about that. Even if you're dealing with a good school, this is still a horrible career. Compound that with a bad school and it's just daily torture.

Over the past several years I have developed severe panic attacks, cervigocenic headaches that leave me in intense chronic pain and with light sensitivity that makes ambient lighting feel like staring into the sun. I've ended up on blood pressure meds, numerous neurological meds, etc.

I've let myself go healthwise because at the end of every day I'm so exhausted and depressed that things like exercise or meal planning go out the window. More often than not, I'm so anxiety ridden at the end of the day that I just go home and do nothing.

I've made a decision this year that I want myself, my health, and my life back. It is going to require some short term sacrifice for long term gain, but I have settled on a path out of education. Just having that light at the end of the tunnel has given me new life.

Get the hell out. I know that seems like the obvious thing, but I know there are a lot of variables that go into big decisions. BUT, sacrificing your well being isn't worth whatever check they are cutting you. Hope you find peace.

 

[Paul]

Nor wipe the backsides of incontinent patients.

Or make a delicious sammich after great sex.
Hey, I’m just the messenger.

 

[Paul]

My job has taken a massive toll on my mental and physical health. I've spent the last decade teaching in very low income schools. My first school had its issues, but the main thing was pay. I was not making enough to live off of. I moved to another district several years ago for substantially better pay. When I interviewed at my current school I was sold a story that did sound very promising.

In short, it has been a disaster. The behavior issues are extreme. The worst I have ever seen. I have been verbally abused, received death threats, had to get restraining orders against parents for harassing me outside of school, etc. Literally just today I had a student go nuts on me, threaten me, and she had to be escorted out of the classroom. We have significant issues with drugs and violence, both physical and gun related. Its very bad. When I was initially hired I was told there was low turnover because of the higher pay. This was a massive lie. We have insane churn and already had five teachers quit before mid year. There has been double digit turnover every year I have worked here.

On top of that, you have the basic insanity that is being a public educator. I could go on for days about that. Even if you're dealing with a good school, this is still a horrible career. Compound that with a bad school and it's just daily torture.

Over the past several years I have developed severe panic attacks, cervigocenic headaches that leave me in intense chronic pain and with light sensitivity that makes ambient lighting feel like staring into the sun. I've ended up on blood pressure meds, numerous neurological meds, etc.

I've let myself go healthwise because at the end of every day I'm so exhausted and depressed that things like exercise or meal planning go out the window. More often than not, I'm so anxiety ridden at the end of the day that I just go home and do nothing.

I've made a decision this year that I want myself, my health, and my life back. It is going to require some short term sacrifice for long term gain, but I have settled on a path out of education. Just having that light at the end of the tunnel has given me new life.

I am glad that you’ve put yourself first and have identified a different career path. It sucks because you’re probably a really good teacher that can help kids, but the negative impact to your health and wellbeing sound awful. I hope everything works out well for you.

 

[CapitalCitySaint]

I have changed companies within industries, and changed industries altogether multiple times in my life. 6 or 7 years is about the longest I have ever worked for the same company.

I somehow lost track of this thread and see a lot of posts I missed or info missed.

It's interesting that you say this about 6-7 years on each job. I tend to stay at jobs for about the same time. I've had 3 jobs that I've stayed at for 6-7 years each sprinkled in with 3 jobs I held for 1-2 years each. That pretty much sums up my adult work history.

I also have switched industries each time but they have all been adjacent to what I was doing previously. So like my first 6 year role in my early 20's was with a county government in technology. I then went into healthcare technology on acute care side of things. I did a 1-year consulting gig in Big Oil which was totally foreign to me but a former coworker connected me with the job (we worked together in government tech & they had a role that I was a good fit for). I was laid off from that then went back to healthcare tech/data in acute care. After 6.5 years was laid off and now ended up in clinical development but my company is also a huge data company so there are a lot of parallels.

What I thought was interesting about your statement was that different schools of thought/philosophies maintain the belief that cycles tend to be ~7 years and I can say with certainty that around years 5-6 (so nearing the end of a 7 year cycle) is when I tend to begin to feel stagnant and ready for something else. There is always something to learn here because there are always advances in disease treatments and healthcare delivery models, there are still limits within my position and I'm not learning anymore at the pace I once was.

 

[saintmdterps]

English.

Transitioning out of teaching with a humanities degree is next to impossible. There are career coaches that will claim you have a lot of transferable skills but the reality is there is a stigma in the private sector about teaching not being a "real" job and there has been a major outflow of people leaving the profession. Upskilling or going back to school are often the only options.

I'm going back to school in the fall. Its a huge change for me at 41 and not without risks, but I can no longer function like this.

I'm fortunate in the sense that it's just me. No family or spouse or anything. So I can take this risk without impacting anyone else. And worst case scenario I can always reactive my teaching license so I do have a safety net of sorts. But that will be the literal last resort.

Good luck to you! At 41 I went to OT school, which was just a wee bit of a departure from my prior career as a claims adjuster

As others have said, it's never too late, And as my staff PT said to me at my last job as director of rehab "Your job shouldn't make you miserable, and forgive me but you really seem miserable"

No job is worth that sort of toll on your physical and emotional well-being. Please keep us updated

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

My job has taken a massive toll on my mental and physical health. I've spent the last decade teaching in very low income schools. My first school had its issues, but the main thing was pay. I was not making enough to live off of. I moved to another district several years ago for substantially better pay. When I interviewed at my current school I was sold a story that did sound very promising.

In short, it has been a disaster. The behavior issues are extreme. The worst I have ever seen. I have been verbally abused, received death threats, had to get restraining orders against parents for harassing me outside of school, etc. Literally just today I had a student go nuts on me, threaten me, and she had to be escorted out of the classroom. We have significant issues with drugs and violence, both physical and gun related. Its very bad. When I was initially hired I was told there was low turnover because of the higher pay. This was a massive lie. We have insane churn and already had five teachers quit before mid year. There has been double digit turnover every year I have worked here.

On top of that, you have the basic insanity that is being a public educator. I could go on for days about that. Even if you're dealing with a good school, this is still a horrible career. Compound that with a bad school and it's just daily torture.

Over the past several years I have developed severe panic attacks, cervigocenic headaches that leave me in intense chronic pain and with light sensitivity that makes ambient lighting feel like staring into the sun. I've ended up on blood pressure meds, numerous neurological meds, etc.

I've let myself go healthwise because at the end of every day I'm so exhausted and depressed that things like exercise or meal planning go out the window. More often than not, I'm so anxiety ridden at the end of the day that I just go home and do nothing.

I've made a decision this year that I want myself, my health, and my life back. It is going to require some short term sacrifice for long term gain, but I have settled on a path out of education. Just having that light at the end of the tunnel has given me new life.

godspeed is all I can think to say

 

[saintmdterps]

I somehow lost track of this thread and see a lot of posts I missed or info missed.

You became wayward because you were posting in another thread about some dude with good teeth.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

English.

Transitioning out of teaching with a humanities degree is next to impossible. There are career coaches that will claim you have a lot of transferable skills but the reality is there is a stigma in the private sector about teaching not being a "real" job and there has been a major outflow of people leaving the profession. Upskilling or going back to school are often the only options.

ugh, preach

I'm fortunate in the sense that it's just me. No family or spouse or anything. So I can take this risk without impacting anyone else. And worst case scenario I can always reactive my teaching license so I do have a safety net of sorts. But that will be the literal last resort.

I'd go to school full-time if I could
just want to be a professional student the way CCS wants to play with puppies
(but I wouldn't mind playing with puppies either)

 

[CapitalCitySaint]

English.

Transitioning out of teaching with a humanities degree is next to impossible. There are career coaches that will claim you have a lot of transferable skills but the reality is there is a stigma in the private sector about teaching not being a "real" job and there has been a major outflow of people leaving the profession. Upskilling or going back to school are often the only options.

I'm going back to school in the fall. Its a huge change for me at 41 and not without risks, but I can no longer function like this.

I'm fortunate in the sense that it's just me. No family or spouse or anything. So I can take this risk without impacting anyone else. And worst case scenario I can always reactive my teaching license so I do have a safety net of sorts. But that will be the literal last resort.

Maybe we should compile a list here of adjacent careers to those that people are sick of (lol literally everything).

I know of a lot of roles that are aligned with nursing and other licensed healthcare providers but aren't in direct patient care that I can suggest for folks. Sometime it really helps to think outside the box and apply for ish that you feel you are wildly unqualified for.

That is precisely how I found and landed the first job I had when I got hired into my current company. I had been looking for jobs & doing searches on what I thought best resembled my last job as a data analyst. I was getting results and lots of job interviews. But one day I was like okay, let me try a different search.

I had experience managing grant funded healthcare delivery transformation projects so searched "grant funded" or something like that & stumbled onto my job. I was like I know fork all about cell & gene therapy & I am not a scientist but I do know a thing or two about running grant funded programs. I applied anyway and got called back. I was truly astonished. Part of that was because I had a really competent boss who was a PhD scientist but also really adept at the business side of things (you often don't get both with scientists). He was explicit that "we don't need any more people like "us" (PhD) on the team. I need someone who can execute a project. Don't worry about the knowledge/content specific stuff. I'll teach you that". He was one of the best bosses I have ever had. He left in March 2020. Waited for our annual bonus distribution and dipped. LOL. We stay in contact to this day.

 

[kcirdor]

My job has taken a massive toll on my mental and physical health. I've spent the last decade teaching in very low income schools. My first school had its issues, but the main thing was pay. I was not making enough to live off of. I moved to another district several years ago for substantially better pay. When I interviewed at my current school I was sold a story that did sound very promising.

In short, it has been a disaster. The behavior issues are extreme. The worst I have ever seen. I have been verbally abused, received death threats, had to get restraining orders against parents for harassing me outside of school, etc. Literally just today I had a student go nuts on me, threaten me, and she had to be escorted out of the classroom. We have significant issues with drugs and violence, both physical and gun related. Its very bad. When I was initially hired I was told there was low turnover because of the higher pay. This was a massive lie. We have insane churn and already had five teachers quit before mid year. There has been double digit turnover every year I have worked here.

On top of that, you have the basic insanity that is being a public educator. I could go on for days about that. Even if you're dealing with a good school, this is still a horrible career. Compound that with a bad school and it's just daily torture.

Over the past several years I have developed severe panic attacks, cervigocenic headaches that leave me in intense chronic pain and with light sensitivity that makes ambient lighting feel like staring into the sun. I've ended up on blood pressure meds, numerous neurological meds, etc.

I've let myself go healthwise because at the end of every day I'm so exhausted and depressed that things like exercise or meal planning go out the window. More often than not, I'm so anxiety ridden at the end of the day that I just go home and do nothing.

I've made a decision this year that I want myself, my health, and my life back. It is going to require some short term sacrifice for long term gain, but I have settled on a path out of education. Just having that light at the end of the tunnel has given me new life.

Your disdain for planking and social viral memes makes so much more sense now.

 

[Booker]

English.

Transitioning out of teaching with a humanities degree is next to impossible. There are career coaches that will claim you have a lot of transferable skills but the reality is there is a stigma in the private sector about teaching not being a "real" job and there has been a major outflow of people leaving the profession. Upskilling or going back to school are often the only options.

I'm going back to school in the fall. Its a huge change for me at 41 and not without risks, but I can no longer function like this.

I'm fortunate in the sense that it's just me. No family or spouse or anything. So I can take this risk without impacting anyone else. And worst case scenario I can always reactive my teaching license so I do have a safety net of sorts. But that will be the literal last resort.

Gotcha, yeah I can see how there's not something that directly translates.

The good news is you're single and don't have any dependants, and you're still relatively young so you can take some time to get things redirected. You could look for a low stress job that pays the bills -- not a career, just a job that you don't take home with you that will allow you to decompress while you decide what you want to do with your next act.

And I know there's a lot of truth in the saying, "no matter where you go, there you are," but Louisiana is, sadly but in all honestly, one of the worst states to live in. If you really want to make a change in your life, go big and find a new place to call home. Seriously, packing everything I owned into a Ford Aspire and moving away was one of the best things I ever did for myself, both financially and mentally.

Know though that your friends on this board want nothing but the best for you, and would very much like to see you happy in life.