I Need Out Of Teaching...What Career Should I Switch To?

Flagpole wrote:

Now isn't the time to change careers brother. Suffer through a couple more years and then make the switch when the economy is better and you have more choices. Foolish to get rid of a pretty stable job right now. I'd wait.

You said the economy would be better "in a few years" six years ago!

pyruvate wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Now isn't the time to change careers brother. Suffer through a couple more years and then make the switch when the economy is better and you have more choices. Foolish to get rid of a pretty stable job right now. I'd wait.

You said the economy would be better "in a few years" six years ago!

Yep...and it was and is.

The Great Recession began in fall 2007 (Bush President), and then it ended in June 2009 (Obama President). Ever since June 2009 when the recession ended, the economy has gotten better. Unemployment rate is lower than it was, the stock market has more than doubled, and companies are killing it right now. In addition we are still seeing positive numbers of new jobs each month.

So, thanks for pointing out that I was right...the economny IS better. LOTS better.

Did the OP ever get another job?

Flagpole wrote:

So, thanks for pointing out that I was right...the economny IS better. LOTS better.

The stock market may be up but the job market is in fact NOT LOTS better. The percentage of people working when this thread started was in the 66% range. Now it is between 63-64%. Assuming he took your advice and waited, he would have a harder time finding a job now than in 2008 per the BLS stats.

I am struggling about the idea of leaving this job because I eventually I might want to do be the founder of a new branch that my CEO is excited about - basically what we do but for disadvantaged kids. Our country needs our next generation to want to be engineers and build the products our world needs. We also need the kids who are in poorer areas in our country to become passionate about learning and turn from their bad home/social situations to something wholesome and productive. These kids need to have the hope that they can get out of the life they were given. And learning becomes so much more exciting when you are able to directly apply it to a passion project. Also, my organization has the ability to get these kids scholarships.

I could lead this branch of the organization and make a huge difference.

Yeah the sad thing is only a third of that drop is retirees and people going back to college. The rest have simply stopped looking for work. If he hates teaching that's fine try college or go into pharmaceuticals, but once you leave the public school system it is hard to get back in. I know plenty of people who graduated with credentials in California who still can't get into public schools. Many have had their preliminary credentials as far back as 2006, there are simply no jobs for basic teachers, all the openings are for specialists like special ed, management, or speech therapy.

not your brother wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

So, thanks for pointing out that I was right...the economny IS better. LOTS better.

The stock market may be up but the job market is in fact NOT LOTS better. The percentage of people working when this thread started was in the 66% range. Now it is between 63-64%. Assuming he took your advice and waited, he would have a harder time finding a job now than in 2008 per the BLS stats.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000

Umm...the unemployment rate hit 10% during the bad time and has since IMPROVED to 7.6%. Just TODAY, the jobless claims dropped more than expected.

The REASON that fewer people are in the work force right now AS A PERCENTAGE is because 10,000 Americans every day since January 1, 2013 turn 67 years old, and that will be the case for 17 more years!

They are retiring, my brother! ONE of the reasons they are retiring is because the stock market has done well enough for them to be able to (retirement money invested there). Companies haven't replaced them one for one because jobs are always the last thing to come back after a recession, and the one that Bush handed us was a DOOZY. Even still, back when I said the economy would improve within a few years, we were LOSING hundreds of thousands of jobs each month. Today (and this has been the case for years now), we are gaining jobs each month...almost 200,000 in June.

To find any way whatsoever that today's economy isn't better than it was in 2007-2008...well, that's just silly...and wrong.

here we go wrote:

Yeah the sad thing is only a third of that drop is retirees and people going back to college. The rest have simply stopped looking for work.

BS. Who stops looking for work when they NEED a job? No one...or mentally ill people. SOME people who have another source of income (spouse, rental income, pension, etc.) will suspend looking for a job if they can't find the perfect one, but anyone who NEEDS a job to live does not just stop looking.

195,000 NEW jobs were had in June. I sure Rush L. would say they were all at Starbucks. Just flat out BS that people throw up their hands and stop looking.

Fleet Footed Falcon wrote:

Corporate trainer.

+1

The job market is only slightly less bad now that it was at the depths of the recession. But we still have not returned to normalcy, or even close to it (which is why Ben Bernanke are still saying we're in a "recovery" as opposed to having actually "recovered"). It also won't take much for the economy to tilt back into recession. The job market is both weak AND fragile.

I think someone with your qualifications would have no trouble finding a top flight job in either the Food Industries or House Keeping Services.

On a serious note, why not Physician's Assistant? Pull 6 figures and put in about 2 years more of school.

Where are your stats, brother to show it's due to retirees? Oh, I forgot, you know a few people who retired so that's the proof.

I hate teaching too. I'm in it for the summers off. I just go through the motions, do my job, collect my check and don't lose any sleep over students who are too lazy to learn and whoe parents dont care. Stay in teaching. Counting sick days and other time off during the school year what other job gives you 14 weeks of vacation?

Doing your work for you Flagpole brother! From your liberal friends at Berkeley. Over 55 participation rate is growing so your people are retiring theory is garbage. Just like the schools and restaurants in your crappy Ohio town.

http://bpr.berkeley.edu/2013/04/the-declining-labor-force-participation-rate-why-this-trend-should-be-taken-seriously/

"The labor force participation rate in the United States has been generating some discussion lately. Although it has been declining steadily since 2000, it is the recent trends within the labor force participation rate that have been generating concern. For instance, unlike all the other age groups, the 55+ age group has seen a growing participation rate."

"This lack of savings may be a result of the recent economic trends in America: stagnant wages, depleted retirement portfolios (from the 2008 financial crisis), and rising health care costs. For a country that values a comfortable, early retirement, this is a disturbing trend."

not your brother wrote:

Doing your work for you Flagpole brother! From your liberal friends at Berkeley. Over 55 participation rate is growing so your people are retiring theory is garbage. Just like the schools and restaurants in your crappy Ohio town.

http://bpr.berkeley.edu/2013/04/the-declining-labor-force-participation-rate-why-this-trend-should-be-taken-seriously/

"The labor force participation rate in the United States has been generating some discussion lately. Although it has been declining steadily since 2000, it is the recent trends within the labor force participation rate that have been generating concern. For instance, unlike all the other age groups, the 55+ age group has seen a growing participation rate."

"This lack of savings may be a result of the recent economic trends in America: stagnant wages, depleted retirement portfolios (from the 2008 financial crisis), and rising health care costs. For a country that values a comfortable, early retirement, this is a disturbing trend."

I didn't touch any of my retirement funds at the time of the recession (of course not, I was in my early 40's) and they have fully recovered and shown a marked increase. I would expect someone who lost their job in 2007 at the age of 50 to continue to look for work and then to find it at age 56 ... only the super wealthy don't work at 56. So why would it be a concern if the 55+ labor force is expanding after the 2007 recession ... wouldn't you expect it to? I would. Tell me that the 70+ work force is expanding and then I'll notice.

DING DING DING!!! We have a winner! Good job, brother.

I'm going to retire "early" by today's standards, and even I don't plan to be retired completely by age 55...I'm in a position to do it if some things really go my way financially the next 8 years, but my plan takes me to age 60 right now.

_This wrote:

[quote]Fleet Footed Falcon wrote:

Corporate trainer.

Just about every teacher Ive know that fantasized about leaving teaching thought they could get a job doing this. It's simply not true. There isn't that big of a demand for "corporate trainer".

Flagpole wrote:

SomeCoach wrote:

I didn't touch any of my retirement funds at the time of the recession (of course not, I was in my early 40's) and they have fully recovered and shown a marked increase. I would expect someone who lost their job in 2007 at the age of 50 to continue to look for work and then to find it at age 56 ... only the super wealthy don't work at 56. So why would it be a concern if the 55+ labor force is expanding after the 2007 recession ... wouldn't you expect it to? I would. Tell me that the 70+ work force is expanding and then I'll notice.

DING DING DING!!! We have a winner! Good job, brother.

Not really, not entirely. The thrust of that Berkeley article was the following:

"Another alarming trend with the current labor force participation rate is the significant declines in the participation rate amongst those between the ages of 25 and 54. People in this age interval are often considered to be in their prime working years. Yet, more and more people in this age group are exiting the labor force. While those between the ages of 20 and 24 have also experienced a decline in the participation rate, this decline can at least somewhat be attributed to young people seeking higher levels of education. Those between the ages of 25 and 54, however, are less likely to be exiting the workforce to get a degree.

So what is the cause behind the declining participation rate amongst those in their prime working years? Some would say that an excessive social safety net (unemployment benefits, food stamps, etc.) gives people without a job less of an incentive to search for work. Others might point out that those without work may not have the right kind of skills or education for current job openings. In other words, technological advances in recent years may have rendered the skills of some unemployed people less desirable, thus causing these people to leave the labor force. Meanwhile, others might simply say that the job market is so sour that people may have just given up hope and stopped looking for work. In short, a strong consensus has not yet been established on the root causes of the declining participation rate among those between the ages of 25 and 54."

55-60 may not be the retirement age, but 55+ are where most of the jobs are going. Last time I checked, there has been a net job loss since the trough of the recession for those below age 55. The market shot higher when Bernanke essentially said that the improving employment situation was "overstated," leaving QE-perpetuity on the table. Lots of Boomers still working, because they didn't make the right decisions, occupying the would-be seats of those who should be employed. Just talked to a pilot about this regarding how many in his industry are staying on longer once the FAA raised the age limit, making it harder for younger folks to get good jobs in that industry. But that's a poor example, because pilots ARE forced to retire eventually. That's not the case with other industries. Retirement is part of the story but not nearly all of it.

But good for SomeCoach for leaving his retirement alone.