Teachers: please help

My Current career is burning me out and I need a change. I work as an accountant and I hate it. I have a BBA in international business and I am currently finishing up my MBA (accounting concentration)

At this point I am seriously considering going for a certification in secondary education (when i complete my mba) to become a business teacher. I need to get out of the corporate world.

Can any of you teachers share your thoughts about the profession? (difficulty finding a job, pay, work life balance, overall enjoyment etc)

TIA!

Teachers: please help

It is really hard to find a job right now. Yesterday my hairdresser was telling me that her son was going to apply for a masters in ed and the school he visited him told him he was better off staying in his field. (He also has an MBA.)

Your background gives you lots of options- what about corporate training or consulting?

Re: Teachers: please help

I know several people with masters degrees in various fields of education and they are scrambling for any part time jobs just for gas money and hopefully to move out of their parents' home in the future.
I would say this is not the right time.
Sorry.

Re: Teachers: please help

I was in the exact same boat as you - I have my CPA, MBA and Masters in Secondary Ed. I was starting to burn out after working in a Big 4 Firm for many, many years.

Honestly - if you are willing to go for a Math certification, you "might" get lucky. I graduated 03-04 and at that point if you had a math certification you could pick your job. Even at that point when the market was decent, the business jobs were few and far between (as the rep from Dowling warned me when I originally wanted to get my business certification).

Currently - there are zero business jobs out there as this is an area that has been severely downsized as more and more pressure is put on testing. Each district now seems to have 1-2 business teachers, max.

Also - teaching is NOT what many people perceive it to be. It is a lot of paperwork, meetings, union politics, and not a whole lot of actual teaching. I would talk to some current teachers and get their feel for it.

I taught until I had DD and then left teaching. I have actually found accounting to be the more family-friendly profession. I work 15-20 hours a week (more during tax season) and the flexibility is fantastic.

Hope that helps!

HUGS!

ETA: Also keep in mind, you will be entering the teaching profession with 2 Master's Degrees which will make you a very expensive new hire. In this economy, many districts would rather take the out of college, BA-only teacher for a fraction of what they would have to pay you.

Message edited 10/18/2012 9:50:43 PM.

Re: Teachers: please help

What about working in a different branch of accounting?

My SIL recently did this.

She switched from public to private and I think it's a much better fit.

I don't work in teaching, but do work in the helping professions and the market is HORRIBLE right now.

People with Master's and years of experience can't find work and people just starting out can't find work.

(Many) of those who are lucky to find jobs are super burned out from the get-go because of the bureacracy of the system, budget cuts, and issues that should not be "our" responsibility being flung on our shoulders because of even more complex client problems and lack of services and supports.

I hear teachers that have mirroring gripes.

Plus, it's often more about the paperwork and such vs. the creativity and actually working 1:1 with people.

Re: Teachers: please help

I willl echo what everyone else is saying. There are no jobs right now in teaching, especially a job like business teacher, which is far and few between. Also, like someone else said, maybe if you go for math you could get something in the city, which would be exhausting in itself.

Message edited 10/28/2012 2:54:23 PM.