I work in education. More specifically, primary education. I chose the field because I was passionate about wanting the change the landscape and modernize teaching practices. But, it was also very in-demand in my area and easy to get a job in the field. I live in a former large manufacturing hub for the auto industry. Working in publicly funded education, we have strong union protections, pensions, healthcare and life insurance. In large part because of the past gains from the manufacturing sector. The job comes with security and a set salary on a defined grid.
This past year marked my tenth full-time year in teaching. I've been reflecting often on my career thus far. When I started out, I wasn't sure that I would continue teaching primary school. I promised myself that I would do it for five years and keep savings high to allow myself to return to studying if I wanted to change fields. Most of my fellow graduates work now in government or education. Ten years in, I have a competitive salary that allows me a good standard of living. I didn't return to school. Although, I did upgrade courses to allow me to change roles. And, I'm now on the edge of starting a family. The career that I was fortunate and lucky enough to start is actually a perfect fit for having children.
The thing is I do feel stuck. There aren't many other career paths that would give me the same salary and job-security. I'm decent at the job. But, I'm not enjoying it. It's ridiculously stressful. Doesn't feel as fulfilling as it did. And, there is a culture of working on your off-hours to do the tasks that we aren't actually remunerated to do. Being a government employee, you often feel that your working environment is changing at the whims of politicians.
Because I'm passionate about technology. That's why I read hn. But, my only experience in tech was seeing entry-level help-desk workers and area tech support consultants. It seemed like miserable work. I was told my many respected adults, that technology could continue to be my passion and major hobby. It's true, my standard of living does allow me every tech toy I could have ever wanted and new computers I could only dream about. I'm weighing the positives and negatives.
If you like technology you could always slowly transition into teaching technology. Highschool programming courses, student robotics teams, etc might be fun?
Where Im from those programs and activity are usually ran by multiple teachers and need a lot more than hard science knowledge to run well. For you they could provide a on ramp into more and more tech without losing too much of what you have know
This past year marked my tenth full-time year in teaching. I've been reflecting often on my career thus far. When I started out, I wasn't sure that I would continue teaching primary school. I promised myself that I would do it for five years and keep savings high to allow myself to return to studying if I wanted to change fields. Most of my fellow graduates work now in government or education. Ten years in, I have a competitive salary that allows me a good standard of living. I didn't return to school. Although, I did upgrade courses to allow me to change roles. And, I'm now on the edge of starting a family. The career that I was fortunate and lucky enough to start is actually a perfect fit for having children.
The thing is I do feel stuck. There aren't many other career paths that would give me the same salary and job-security. I'm decent at the job. But, I'm not enjoying it. It's ridiculously stressful. Doesn't feel as fulfilling as it did. And, there is a culture of working on your off-hours to do the tasks that we aren't actually remunerated to do. Being a government employee, you often feel that your working environment is changing at the whims of politicians.
Because I'm passionate about technology. That's why I read hn. But, my only experience in tech was seeing entry-level help-desk workers and area tech support consultants. It seemed like miserable work. I was told my many respected adults, that technology could continue to be my passion and major hobby. It's true, my standard of living does allow me every tech toy I could have ever wanted and new computers I could only dream about. I'm weighing the positives and negatives.