Am I Too Old to Leave Teaching?

After 25 years in teaching you may worry you've left it too late to leave the classroom... but actually your skills are highly desirable!

Many teachers who come and join the Adventures After Teaching Academy after 25 years in the classroom, do so wondering if they’ve left the decision to change career or job too late.

As the years go on and we move up the pay scale, feeling further and further removed from the “outside world”, it’s no wonder teachers can end up feeling trapped in the classroom.

But we can’t get away from the fact that we could spend up to 80,000 hours of our lives working, so while we may not skip in to greet our colleagues, one would hope the day-to-day is satisfying, rewarding and relatively stress-free!

The anecdotal idea of a mid-life crisis is no less true because it’s cliched; many professionals in their mid-30s start to question whether they can sustain the pace of their role as well as finding the motivation to do a good job when faced with the prospect of yet another 30 years.

Concerns over “wasted time” and fearing failure can keep us stuck, but for many of us it reaches the point where the demands of the job force us to consider whether we need to be a little braver and explore further afield.

People are changing careers later now across sectors

In a 2019, Indeed conducted a study of 662 full-time workers in the US and found that 49% had already made a dramatic career shift; for example moving from teaching to finance. Among those who had not, 65% were thinking about transitioning to a new industry. And in the UK, figures released by the London School of Business and Finance in July 2020, cited 47% of all workers in the UK would like to change career.

So if you’ve been wondering if it’s just you, it’s certainly not!

Within the education sector specifically, the National Union of Teachers’ report, The State of Education 2022, found 52% of teachers said they planned to quit within five years; these figures sat at 43% last year and 50% in 2019.

Taking time to plan the move

In Indeed’s study, 83% reported planning their career change in advance, spending an average of 11 months thinking about the move before making it. This confirms for me the journey I see for members inside the Academy. While there have been several members who’ve needed to make a quick change and have secured work tutoring (both employed and self-employed), customer service roles, training and development roles etc. the majority have taken at least a term or two to plan their exit.

If you need to get out quick, a transition job or temporary job might be best to gain some much needed space to think. If you have the time, though, reflecting on your values, priorities, non-negotiables and transferable skills can be done while still in class.

Will they choose a graduate over me?

The answer is… it depends! If the role can be done by a graduate and they are willing to take less money for the role, then very possibly. If they’re offering a wage you’d be happy to take and it comes down to perceived energy and enthusiasm versus experience, then you have the following going for you - you have the ability to:

Work cohesively with a range of people and teams.
Communicate confidently with large groups, senior leaders, external agencies etc.
Solve problems creatively and approach conflict sensitively.
Demonstrate resilience in the face of complex change (hello Covid!)
Set high expectations and hold others to account.
Manage competing priorities and conflicting demands.

No offence to spritely graduates, but in a role managing multiple stakeholders, I know who I’d rather trust to get on with it and steer a calm ship when the weather changes. 😉

And if there are particular skills and training said graduates have done, I know you’re not exactly shy of taking a course or two. In the Academy we frequently share free and inexpensive ideas for upskilling your CV. Don’t let fear of being compared to others stop you from shouting about your skills and experiences.

So, in summary, while the thought of starting again might feel big, don’t let the concept of age come into the equation. There are many employers out there that will recognise the absolute BARGAIN they are getting in you - you have so much to give, focus on what you’re bringing to the table.