If you are considering a change of careers to go into teaching there are some questions you should ask yourself before you take the plunge. Teaching is a noble and wonderful career choice for many people, however not everyone is cut out to be a teacher. Here are some questions you should ask yourself before you decide to make the switch to teaching.
Do you mind taking work home with you? Every teacher has to do some work outside of school hours. Whether it’s grading papers, recovering a bulletin board, or entering grades into a computer system, there simply isn’t enough time during a daily “planning period” to complete all of the tasks required of teachers each week.
Do you enjoy your lunch break? Teachers typically get around 20-25 minutes to each lunch. They cannot leave the school for a lunch out with coworkers. Most teachers bring their lunches while a few eat school lunch. If you enjoy eating out or getting take-out for your work lunches, take this into consideration.
Do you mind inflexible scheduling? Many jobs allow “comp time” and other options if you’d rather come in early and leave early, etc. Or if you need to run out and get a few things from Wal-mart during your workday, you may be able to. With teaching this is never an option. You are stuck in the school on school days during school hours, period.
Are you considering the job because of the time off? While most any teacher will agree that having spring break, Christmas break, and summer break off from work is great, don’t start a new career just because of the time off. Teachers spend extra hours doing plenty of extra work during the school year (and breaks) that they are not paid for, so it typically balances out. Not to mention while many employees spend time surfing the internet, making online purchase, or even chatting with friends during work hours, teachers are actually working every moment of the work day.
What kind of pay scale are you looking for? While teacher salaries are not awful, they certainly aren’t great either. Make sure you do your research before getting into teaching to insure that the pay scale reflects the income you desire.
Are you willing to go back to school? Not only will you be required to go back to school to obtain your teaching certification prior to starting teacher, most states require at least a master’s degree beyond your bachelor’s degree. Many states also offer pay raises for hours of graduate school beyond a master’s. Very few school districts will pay for any portion of this extra college, even though it is required.
Do you get frustrated easily? If frustration is something you struggle with, you might want to reconsider a career in teaching. From kids with attitudes to useless meetings, parents with issues and administration woes, you’ll be facing a lot of frustration as a teacher. Carefully consider this ahead of time.
How are you with kids? Just because you love art doesn’t mean you’re fit to be a high school art teacher. While knowing your subject matter is important, being able to get the concepts across to kids, whether five-year-olds or teens, is the most important part of teaching.
Teaching is an extremely rewarding profession with lots of perks! But there are certainly some downsides to the profession as well. If you’re considering a career change to teaching ask yourself these questions before you take the big leap.
