I work for a cpa firm but am interested in becoming a high school teacher. Mainly because i HATE my job and I'd love to coach & have entire summers off with no work.
Do you think I'd need a masters degree for this? Or maybe just a handful of education courses and some observation hours?
bump n grind yall.
thanks for the input bumpers.
-hipman
Bump to this mang.
There are numerous paths one can take to become a cetified teacher. The place to start would be with your state board of education. Look at their web site to get an idea what you have to do to become a teacher.
If you are not interested in going through all the typical BS, you can try to do Teach for America (http://www.teachforamerica.com/flash_movie.html, which gets you a certificate in a hurry but also requires that you teach in a depressed area where no one else wants to teach (I am generalizing here).
Good luck.
I'm assuming you'd teach math but maybe you're sick of number... regardless look into colleges in your area that offer a Master's in Teaching certificate. This is what I got, it fullfilled my education classes that I needed in my area. This will bump your pay up as well. If you're going to teach something other than math than you'd probably need extra courses in that area. You might want to check your state's critical needs subjects to see what subjects they have more of a need for teachers in. I've been teaching for twelve years and I love it... good luck!
My high school had honors accounting, regular accounting, keyboarding, entreprenuership, among other practical arts that I'm going to try to teach
-hipman
I agree contact your state ed board to find out what is required.
many times the catholic schools (who are always losing quality math/science teachers to the big bucks of public school) are always looking for math/science teachers and in many cases you do not need a teachers certif. I know that in the state I work, NJ, they have what is called the Alternate path. You work as a full time teacher, you get observed by a school official many times during the year then you can apply to the state to get your full teachers certif.
Good luck
hipman wrote:
My high school had honors accounting, regular accounting, keyboarding, entreprenuership, among other practical arts that I'm going to try to teach
-hipman
That would be a great move for someone with a business/accounting background. The biggest problem is that with the big push for more students to take "core academic courses", it's difficult for many students to find the time in their schedules for these classes.
I'm a math teacher, and someone I know who was certified in both math and business eventually found a business teaching job first. I think it's a field that's opening up somewhat, because there aren't that many graduates in the field these days.
hey man, youre a CPA.....thats what i wanna be
being a CPA cant be worse than the classes....right?
Being a CPA is a tight job one I hope to have in a year. Stick it out and become a parnter and ball. That is if your working on for one of the big four.
hipman wrote:
I work for a cpa firm but am interested in becoming a high school teacher. Mainly because i HATE my job and I'd love to coach & have entire summers off with no work.
To note, a CPA friend of mine hated his Auditing job. He became a bit more finance-oriented (as opposed to accounting) and eventually became a VP. There's a lot more you can do with a business (esp. Accounting) degree than being an Accountant. It's not pigeon-holed anywhere, but instead a pretty broad range of choices. I'd at least look into it to know your options.
Well yah, being a CPA has endless opportunities. Rewarding and challenging are great words for it. But so is stressful. And so is working saturdays. And my personal favorite, being everyone's bitch your first few yrs and learning things the hard way just because that's how your seniors had to do it. Etc. I've hated just about every second of it. The only thing I like is being able to tell kids I went to high school with "I'm working for a cpa firm". Trust me, the college courses are CAKE compared to the working world. Think of it this way: Usually you get a project in a class and you get all semester to do it on top of your papers and tests. Well I get about 3-4 of those a day and gotta get them done within budget. Sucks.
An accounting career starts at a cpa firm 9 out of 10 times. I mean everyone knows that's where you gotta start. And in order to get those other opportunities you need 2-3 yrs experiences with a firm. Not necessarily a Big 4, especially since Sarbanes Oxley. In fact, the big 4 won't even exist in a few yrs. What's hot is the smaller firms nowadays, especially in the 2nd tier like Grant Thornton and firms like that. And you'll learn the most in the small local firms cos they expose you to more quicker.
But anyways. The people I work with have lots of money. But they work very very long hours and are always stressed out. They don't get a chance to enjoy the money so why have it? I'm definitely seeking the high school teaching/coaching thing, maybe take a hefty pay cut (from 50g's to 30g's most likely), and while those cpa partners are "balling" with heart problems at 7pm on a friday night in the office I'll be sitting around during summer break. It's whatever is important to you I guess. To me time is much more valuable than making 50 g's in my first job. I'll give this up in a heartbeat.
Thanks for all the input. Anything else is bonus.
bump n grind yall.
-hipman
In many states, the universities dictate their own guidelines approved by the state dept. of ed., so requirements can vary from school to school. Check the requirements of as many as you can. Due to some shortages in math/science, there are programs in which you can obtain certification in a year. Typically, this is full-time, so any side job would have to be in the evening, but it would be complete, including student-teaching, in one year rather than dragging it on for a few.
How do you people live on a 30K salary unless the cost of living is dirt cheap in the area that you are living in?
I'm a high school teacher-- both of my roommates are accountants. I love my job and they come home depressed.
Please, just stop typing "bump and grind yall." That's really stupid.
My parents raised 7 kids and never made 30 g's combined.
Me2 wrote:
How do you people live on a 30K salary unless the cost of living is dirt cheap in the area that you are living in?
It's not terribly hard to do. My girlfriend lives in ATL and makes 37k a year and does fine. I could definitely live here in ATL on 30k a year. The paras that work with my girlfriend make something like 22k a year and they are able to make it.
The problem is that people don't live within their means. I was listening to a caller on Dave Ramsey a few weeks ago who lived in ATL and was bitching about how she couldn't afford the houses here b/c they are $300,000 or more (not actually true as I've seen some really nice houses for $190,000). How much did this lady and her husband take in each year? $160,000. With that much you should be able to buy a $500,000 home and pay it off in 5 years and still have twice as much disposable income as a teacher.
haha that must have sucked
You sir are not an accountant. Have you ever thought about taxes and insurance.
do you have to bill your hours at a big accounting firm? If so, how many hours do you work and how many do you bill? Sorry to ask all these questions, but are you on the auditing side or the consulting side?
Good luck with the teaching gig, it sounds like a great job to me too but I heard teachers work quite hard the first couple of years too though - more classes and don't have great lesson plans yet.