Potential Career Shift to Teaching

[Coach]

Hello DataDoxy (and anyone else who wants to chme in),

I am considering a change in career path from finance to teaching. I am 25 with an Economics degree from U of C, and have spent the last 5 years in an investment advising firm, which I don't find to my liking. I have always been interested in teaching and have spent 6 years as a bantam hockey coach, which has given me a bit of a bug for educating.

My plan is to take TESL and go teach english abroad for a year starting in 2016 and then hopefully look into getting abck to school for Fall 2017 or Winter 2018. What would be recommendations for schools? What's the competitiveness to get into certain programs? I see a lot of talk of boutique schools, which I am interested in. Would I need something special to be considered for those types of positions? Any help would be great. Thanks!

[DataDoxy]

Hey MattyC,

Teaching is a very rewarding field and working with kids is truly a lot of fun! However, like everything else, it does have its challenges so I think it is a great idea to do a stint TESL first. In my opinion, entering the field of teaching from the workforce is a big advantage as you will bring some real-world experiences into the classroom. Kids love that. Additionally, if you take a TESL course and teach abroad for a while, that experience will be very rewarding for you in addition to giving you the insight that will be helpful in deciding if you want a teaching a career or not. I took an on-line TESL course years ago and liked it a lot. There are many TESL courses to choose from and its pretty simple process.

In terms of going overseas, there are many cool places to go... I have friends who went to Dubai and loved it so much they spent years there! One never even returned! I have other friends went to various places in Asia and they all found that very rewarding. Have fun researching where you want to go!

When you come back, there are many education programs to choose from. One of the best in my opinion is at the University of Lethbridge. They do more practical classroom work and graduates from there love the program. The University of Calgary also has a good program as does UBC. In terms of what to major in, if you have a propensity for math or science, I would HIGHLY recommend that. These teaching jobs are always the highest demand jobs as there are just not enough people that take the math/science route and go into (or stay in) teaching. Teaching technology is also a great idea so while you are abroad, maybe take an online course on coding if you can. The demand for technologically literate teachers is growing rapidly! There are a lot of free coding classes on edX from highly credible universities (Berkely, Harvard...). See https://www.edx.org/

Best of luck to you!

[Coach]

Thanks for the info DataDoxy. I remember researching UofL in CALM when looking at teaching. Do you have any thought on what the competitiveness would be like? In 2017 I will have been out of school for 5 years, how does that time frame work for applying to graduate studies?

I guess what my main question(s) would be:

- What majors are there?
- In a hypotheical situation where I am getting a job at a school, lets say my major was Math, but I have great interest in teaching Social, English, and also am personally proficient in Art, Music, Drama Physical Education (via hockey coaching). Could I say to an admin "Yeah my major is math, but I could teach all these things, plus would be open helping start new Finance/Banking course in places where they might not have them". Would I be able to end up teaching multiple things that way, or do I need an official multi-disciplinary degree to back up those things?

Honestly, it's probably a little weird given my degree, but the last thing I want to teach is math. Science, yes, but not math.

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Thanks for the info DataDoxy. I remember researching UofL in CALM when looking at teaching. Do you have any thought on what the competitiveness would be like? In 2017 I will have been out of school for 5 years, how does that time frame work for applying to graduate studies?

I guess what my main question(s) would be:

- What majors are there?
- In a hypotheical situation where I am getting a job at a school, lets say my major was Math, but I have great interest in teaching Social, English, and also am personally proficient in Art, Music, Drama Physical Education (via hockey coaching). Could I say to an admin "Yeah my major is math, but I could teach all these things, plus would be open helping start new Finance/Banking course in places where they might not have them". Would I be able to end up teaching multiple things that way, or do I need an official multi-disciplinary degree to back up those things?

Honestly, it's probably a little weird given my degree, but the last thing I want to teach is math. Science, yes, but not math.

If you were teaching in a rural or small high school, there is an excellent chance you could teach a great variety of courses. With the great variety of courses and small teaching staffs, this is very necessary.

In a large high school, it is unlikely that you would be teaching so many disciplines, especially ones that you do not have a formal background in. Also, you would find the preparing for courses takes a ton of work, and you would have absolutely no life if you were preparing good courses across all those areas. That said, if you have an interest in phys. ed., you can be a coach. You could help out with drama productions. You could lead an art club.

[Eric Vail]

When you ask what majors are there? You have to look at the universities you are considering and talk to them about the courses you already have. Most education programs today are two year after degree programs which focus on pedagogy because you already have the subject background from your first degree. In other words, your major will already be determined by what your first degree is.

[Mathalete]

Be willing to move, too. I'm not sure what the climate of teaching jobs is in Alberta, but coming from Ontario, it was obvious to me that I would have to leave to get a job. I have colleagues that have tried to stay in Thunder Bay and some are only now getting a full time gig (10+ years later). Some larger centres (Winnipeg, Saskatoon) are hard to get gigs right out of university. You may have to teach in a rural or northern school to get your feet wet.

Stay at least 2 years (you want to make it clear that the school wanted you back for the second year) and then go from there.

While your preference is not to teach mathematics, embrace your education!! It will give you a leg up especially if you are in a smaller school where there are no math specialists (Disclaimer: This is coming from a secondary math teacher).

The profession is a ton of work, but the rewards are great (even if you don't know what impact you play on students' lives most of the time). I'm happy to say that most of the time I don't feel like what I do is work. It's fun.

And when you get involved in a school (as a volunteer, part time employee or starting out as a teacher), volunteer with your wide spectrum of interests. The more you do, the more it will make you invaluable to the school and that's huge if you're trying to land a full time job or keep one (and get a permanent job).

One final note: With your education, you can tutor secondary mathematics easily (and probably a lot of other things). It gives you wonderful experience in a one-on-one environment (not always possible in a classroom for a sustained amount of time) and allows you to get experience with teaching academic subjects. In my experience, math is probably the most highly sought after subjects for tutoring as most people have a fear of it due to a lack of confidence.

[Sliver]

I think you should do it, MattyC. It's probably the best career in Canada. Plus you only work 3/4 of the year and have a guaranteed pension and insane dental/medical benefits until the day you die.

It's a fantastic job and I really hope my kids are interested in it because the lifestyle it offers you is unrivaled: best two months of the year off, every Christmas off, every Easter off and a smattering of holidays throughout. Your day will end by 4:00, too (at least that's when the parking lot is cleared out at the schools in my neighbourhood). You may have some work/marking to take home, but that's to be expected in any professional job so I don't think it's a strike against teaching.

Another great thing unique to teaching is work doesn't pile up for you while you're on holidays. You can take two months off, and it's like you didn't even miss a day. Nobody will ever call you while you're away and there is nothing to go wrong while you're away. It's amazing. Once you have kids, you'll have every day off they have off.

Finally, the pay is terrific. My teacher friends are making six figures (or close to it in some cases). That's full-time money for a 3/4-time job. If it's not enough, you can work in the summers if you choose and you'd still end up with many weeks off per year. And I know I mentioned the pension, but that's worth noting twice. You are completely insulated from economic swings forever. You're never going to see a pay cut. You're never going to get laid off (or fired for that matter). And regardless of what the economy does, you'll have a monthly paycheque FOREVER! My Grandma retired from teaching in the 1960s and still gets an insane pension, every month. I can't even imagine that.

Good luck with your decision! It's definitely time to do it as the longer you wait, the longer you'll likely have to work to maximize the pension, which is the pot of gold at the end of an awesome rainbow.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think you should do it, MattyC. It's probably the best career in Canada. Plus you only work 3/4 of the year and have a guaranteed pension and insane dental/medical benefits until the day you die.

It's a fantastic job and I really hope my kids are interested in it because the lifestyle it offers you is unrivaled: best two months of the year off, every Christmas off, every Easter off and a smattering of holidays throughout. Your day will end by 4:00, too (at least that's when the parking lot is cleared out at the schools in my neighbourhood). You may have some work/marking to take home, but that's to be expected in any professional job so I don't think it's a strike against teaching.

Another great thing unique to teaching is work doesn't pile up for you while you're on holidays. You can take two months off, and it's like you didn't even miss a day. Nobody will ever call you while you're away and there is nothing to go wrong while you're away. It's amazing. Once you have kids, you'll have every day off they have off.

Finally, the pay is terrific. My teacher friends are making six figures (or close to it in some cases). That's full-time money for a 3/4-time job. If it's not enough, you can work in the summers if you choose and you'd still end up with many weeks off per year. And I know I mentioned the pension, but that's worth noting twice. You are completely insulated from economic swings forever. You're never going to see a pay cut. You're never going to get laid off (or fired for that matter). And regardless of what the economy does, you'll have a monthly paycheque FOREVER! My Grandma retired from teaching in the 1960s and still gets an insane pension, every month. I can't even imagine that.

Good luck with your decision! It's definitely time to do it as the longer you wait, the longer you'll likely have to work to maximize the pension, which is the pot of gold at the end of an awesome rainbow.

Just an observation -- your entire post talks about "perks" of the job, and nothing about the actual job itself

[kootenayguy9]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think you should do it, MattyC. It's probably the best career in Canada. Plus you only work 3/4 of the year and have a guaranteed pension and insane dental/medical benefits until the day you die.

It's a fantastic job and I really hope my kids are interested in it because the lifestyle it offers you is unrivaled: best two months of the year off, every Christmas off, every Easter off and a smattering of holidays throughout. Your day will end by 4:00, too (at least that's when the parking lot is cleared out at the schools in my neighbourhood). You may have some work/marking to take home, but that's to be expected in any professional job so I don't think it's a strike against teaching.

Another great thing unique to teaching is work doesn't pile up for you while you're on holidays. You can take two months off, and it's like you didn't even miss a day. Nobody will ever call you while you're away and there is nothing to go wrong while you're away. It's amazing. Once you have kids, you'll have every day off they have off.

Finally, the pay is terrific. My teacher friends are making six figures (or close to it in some cases). That's full-time money for a 3/4-time job. If it's not enough, you can work in the summers if you choose and you'd still end up with many weeks off per year. And I know I mentioned the pension, but that's worth noting twice. You are completely insulated from economic swings forever. You're never going to see a pay cut. You're never going to get laid off (or fired for that matter). And regardless of what the economy does, you'll have a monthly paycheque FOREVER! My Grandma retired from teaching in the 1960s and still gets an insane pension, every month. I can't even imagine that.

Good luck with your decision! It's definitely time to do it as the longer you wait, the longer you'll likely have to work to maximize the pension, which is the pot of gold at the end of an awesome rainbow.

The one I don't understand if teaching is the best career in Canada Sliver why aren't you a teacher? It is never too late to go back to school. I am always talking to my students about following their passions and dreams.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by kootenayguy9

The one I don't understand if teaching is the best career in Canada Sliver why aren't you a teacher? It is never too late to go back to school. I am always talking to my students about following their passions and dreams.

I'm 38. If I went back to school for two years to get my Masters of Teaching (or whatever it's called) in September, I'd be in my 40s when I graduated. To maximize my pension potential, I'd basically be working into my late 60s, which is not something I want to do.

As well, I really like my career, but I do recognize teaching is better; a realization I came to too late to practically do anything about it.

I also don't subscribe to the philosophy of following your dreams and passions. Assuming your job isn't making you miserable, I believe you do the best for your family by maximizing your income in the minimum amount of hours per day/year. Teaching is an outstanding career by this measure. Following your dreams is great if you are choosing to be a single person, but it's a very selfish approach if you have a wife and kids (imo!).

[Sliver]

I should add that I don't think there is anything wrong with telling kids to follow their passions. That's encouraging and can also help them focus in a positive direction. It's important for people to incorporate things they enjoy into their lives. As an an adult with a family, though, I think practicality trumps passion when it comes to a career. Lots of room to pursue the things you enjoy in your time off.

[Titan]

Well, sliver is a big advocate. If that doesn't make you think twice, I don't know what would.

I started with a B.Ed. and couldn't get a job so went to law school. Not sure that was the best plan. I enjoyed the classroom parts and being in front of a class. Did not like the political atmosphere in the schools and the profession.

[toonmaster]

Originally Posted by Titan

I enjoyed the classroom parts and being in front of a class. Did not like the political atmosphere in the schools and the profession.

I know a handful of teachers in the CBE and that is the single biggest gripe I hear. It's not the bratty kids, it's not the self entitled lazy teachers, it is the political garbage and utter junk that gets passed down from the board and into the teacher's laps. The actual teaching is why they are there in the first place.

[conroy22]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think you should do it, MattyC. It's probably the best career in Canada. Plus you only work 3/4 of the year and have a guaranteed pension and insane dental/medical benefits until the day you die.

It's a fantastic job and I really hope my kids are interested in it because the lifestyle it offers you is unrivaled: best two months of the year off, every Christmas off, every Easter off and a smattering of holidays throughout. Your day will end by 4:00, too (at least that's when the parking lot is cleared out at the schools in my neighbourhood). You may have some work/marking to take home, but that's to be expected in any professional job so I don't think it's a strike against teaching.

Another great thing unique to teaching is work doesn't pile up for you while you're on holidays. You can take two months off, and it's like you didn't even miss a day. Nobody will ever call you while you're away and there is nothing to go wrong while you're away. It's amazing. Once you have kids, you'll have every day off they have off.

Finally, the pay is terrific. My teacher friends are making six figures (or close to it in some cases). That's full-time money for a 3/4-time job. If it's not enough, you can work in the summers if you choose and you'd still end up with many weeks off per year. And I know I mentioned the pension, but that's worth noting twice. You are completely insulated from economic swings forever. You're never going to see a pay cut. You're never going to get laid off (or fired for that matter). And regardless of what the economy does, you'll have a monthly paycheque FOREVER! My Grandma retired from teaching in the 1960s and still gets an insane pension, every month. I can't even imagine that.

Good luck with your decision! It's definitely time to do it as the longer you wait, the longer you'll likely have to work to maximize the pension, which is the pot of gold at the end of an awesome rainbow.

You wrote a lot about the perks, but you are also missing a lot. Teaching is a great career, don't get me wrong, but it's not all butterflies and rainbows. Your school parking lot may be empty at 4pm, but all of those teachers go home and plan all night, mark tests, grade assignments, etc. School may end before 4, but your job isn't done until you have lesson plans for every class done for the next day. Once you become experienced and are lucky enough to get a contract and teach the same grade at the same school for a year or two, the lesson planning isn't as stressful.

I graduated last May and am currently subbing. I haven't gone for an interview yet for a full time position with the CBE yet because I'm thinking about teaching abroad in the fall, but if I took on a full time position now (and I have friends who have been hired and then have started a day or two later) I would have to completely start from scratch. No materials, no classroom supplies, no lesson plans, no nothing. If the contract was only until the end of June and I got offered a different grade for September, I would have to start my job from scratch again by learning an entirely new curriculum and develop everything from nothing. It takes an incredible amount of time to do that.

No teacher I have ever heard of makes a six-figure salary. The Alberta pay grid maxes out at just over $90,000...and that is if you have been teaching for 10+ years with a full 6 years of University behind you!

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by conroy22

You wrote a lot about the perks, but you are also missing a lot. Teaching is a great career, don't get me wrong, but it's not all butterflies and rainbows. Your school parking lot may be empty at 4pm, but all of those teachers go home and plan all night, mark tests, grade assignments, etc. School may end before 4, but your job isn't done until you have lesson plans for every class done for the next day. Once you become experienced and are lucky enough to get a contract and teach the same grade at the same school for a year or two, the lesson planning isn't as stressful.

I graduated last May and am currently subbing. I haven't gone for an interview yet for a full time position with the CBE yet because I'm thinking about teaching abroad in the fall, but if I took on a full time position now (and I have friends who have been hired and then have started a day or two later) I would have to completely start from scratch. No materials, no classroom supplies, no lesson plans, no nothing. If the contract was only until the end of June and I got offered a different grade for September, I would have to start my job from scratch again by learning an entirely new curriculum and develop everything from nothing. It takes an incredible amount of time to do that.

Every time a professional takes on a new job there is extracurricular planning and work beyond the regular day. I wouldn't expect teaching to be any different. There is also homework, as I'd expect with any professional job.

My wife and I both have today off. We will have our work cell phones with us and we both have our laptops at home as you're kind of always on call if you're important at your job. For a teacher, though, when they have a day off (or a series of months off) they are completely free from their professional responsibilities - it's very unusual (and awesome!) in today's world.

No teacher I have ever heard of makes a six-figure salary. The Alberta pay grid maxes out at just over $90,000...and that is if you have been teaching for 10+ years with a full 6 years of University behind you!

You're totally wrong. A teacher in Calgary working 10+ years with six years of education makes $99,300, plus $7,500 in benefits. http://education.alberta.ca/admin/wo...rsalaries.aspx

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

Just an observation -- your entire post talks about "perks" of the job, and nothing about the actual job itself

Well we all know what's involved in being a teacher since anybody who graduated high school job shadowed multiple teachers for 13 years.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Well we all know what's involved in being a teacher since anybody who graduated high school job shadowed multiple teachers for 13 years.

I don't recall sitting at home with teachers while they marked work and came up with lesson plans. I'm sure getting through some high school essays/work is pretty painful.

So Pros: Vacation time. Other vacation time. Vacation time. Early days (although my current job in the super-fancy field of investment banking is 7:15-4 or 4:30, so that's probably about the same). Vacation time. General cushyness. Vacation time. Lack of dog/bear haters and lake thumpers. Pisses off snobs who think they work harder. Oh and I almost forgot: teaching/leading the younger generation to actually contribute and hopefully groom some people that can have a good impact on humanity vs making sure people who've never worked for a day in their life get their $60,000/mnth interest payments off of daddy's inheritance (makes me feel sooo good!).

Cons: Dealing with brats. Snobs look down their nose at your vacation time. Maybe vacation time should be in the cons category?

Yeah...I've pretty well made my decision about this. It's just a matter of executing it. Thanks to everyone for the help!

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by toonmaster

I know a handful of teachers in the CBE and that is the single biggest gripe I hear. It's not the bratty kids, it's not the self entitled lazy teachers, it is the political garbage and utter junk that gets passed down from the board and into the teacher's laps. The actual teaching is why they are there in the first place.

I got out of teaching as a result of the administration.

For those considering a career switch, tutoring might be a good place to start. I enjoyed tutoring time with a couple of kids more than a strict schedule in the classroom with bullet points and assemblies.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by conroy22

No teacher I have ever heard of makes a six-figure salary. The Alberta pay grid maxes out at just over $90,000...and that is if you have been teaching for 10+ years with a full 6 years of University behind you!

I do tax work for a number of teachers and one of my pet peeves is the complaining of teachers for being lowly-paid public servants when that is very far from the truth.

So put it like this:

It takes 10 years for teachers to get to their maximum pay? Thats insane. When you consider that most people work for around 40 years hitting your maximum pay grade after only 10 is a ridiculously good deal, especially when you consider all of the other mitigating factors and the fact that this is not the case in any other profession.

Do doctors, lawyers, accountants (I van personally vouch 'no' for that one) make their maximum salary after 10 years?

And, for instance, its only 10 years and teachers basically cant be fired unless they commit an intermediate felony.

During that time they're also accruing ludicrously lucrative pension amounts. Teachers make a very competitive working salary and then earn significantly more money when they retire through their pensions. Most private sector companies have done away with pensions because they're obscenely expensive.

And the coup-de-grace is the fact that reaching their maximum pay grade is a function of time rather than ability. Once you're in you're in like sin and all you have to do is stay there by not committing said previously mentioned intermediate felony.

They hit their maximum pay as a function of sticking around.

And then theres more! That is the maximum a teacher can make unless they upgrade their education and get a masters or something and get on the next scale, but then theres also the opportunity to switch from teaching and getting into administration.

Sure, thats the max that a teacher can make, but principals, assistant principals and administration staff can actually make significantly more. Its amazing, its like if people are actually good at their jobs they can move up the ranks and earn more money by taking on more responsibility, its almost like a corporate structure or something.

Not to mention the myriad of other possibilities like putting in the requisite 20 years for a full pension, retiring in their 40s, collecting their pensions and still working a whole other job on top of that.

Now, its a pet peeve of mine and I've re-read my post and its coming off rather 'ranty' so I'm going to apologize in advance for that, I dont mean to take shots at teachers or demean them or insult anyone, hell my daughter is at U of L right now to become a teacher because it actually is a really sweet deal.

But it wouldnt kill people to say: 'yeah, this job is pretty great, I get paid well and have lots of perks.'

As opposed to the most common thing we get from 'that teacher that everyone knows' which is just constant and incessant bitching about money and that their 2 month vacation isnt all that great and that they have to take work home sometimes.

Teaching, like with most jobs, has its ups and downs its not all sunshine and rainbows but its not toiling through toxic waste either.

[calf]

But Locke, the overtime! As an accountant, you don't know what that's like!