What To Do When You’re Questioning Your Career Choice

Last updated on May 20th, 2023 at 07:54 pm

This was me last year around this time. I was in the middle of a difficult school year. The most difficult of my career. Along with the couple years prior, COVID years, which were difficult, too. I was finding it almost impossible to get up and go to school each day. I cried, often. I knew I needed to do something, but what?

Being a teacher is all I ever wanted. Now, here I was in the career of my dreams and it had become a nightmare. I know there are a lot of teachers in this same place. I read about it all the time on social media. It’s sad, really, how many AMAZING teachers are leaving the profession and with good reason. But I’m not going to dwell on those reasons at the moment because I’m guessing that if you’re reading this it’s because you already have a reason or several. What I want to do is share how I came to a decision of what to do, in the hopes, that it will help you make yours.

First, I had to think more deeply about my reasons and figure out the cause of them. I had to wait to do this until I was in a calm state of mind where I could really think about the reasons without my emotions ramping up to block rational thought.

What I came up with was that I was unhappy where I was because of my unsupportive admin, along with how scripted my days were feeling. I felt like I was on automatic pilot most days.

Then, I started thinking about what I could do to change that. One option was to quit teaching and start a new career. I came up with a list of other jobs I was interested in and turns out it wasn’t many and they weren’t all that doable when you need a certain amount of income to make ends meet for your family.

Another option was to look at working in another nearby district. I did that. I reached out to friends in other districts and asked them questions about the schools they worked at, what kind of curriculum they taught, and other position options.

Lastly, I considered what if I stayed in the district I work for now, but changed schools and positions or grade level. That turned out to be my best option at that time. I was really interested in becoming a reading interventionist and the neighboring district didn’t offer that position, plus I would be taking a pay cut by making that change. So, I completed an internal job application and attended a job fair last spring. From there, I checked the position openings each day and started applying for positions that could get me out of where I was, including other teaching positions.

Two days before the deadline for internal transfers, I got an offer for a reading interventionist position and accepted it right away. It has been the best decision! I enjoy my career again! I look forward to going to work each day!

So, when in this of place doubt, it is best to calm your mind and then think more deeply about the cause/s of your reasons. For me, putting things in writing helps a lot. It makes the reasons and their causes more concrete and helps me to stay focused.

Once you have the cause/s, you can formulate your options. Again, writing them down helps. Write down any and all options that come to mind, no matter how outlandish they may seem.

From there, choose an option you are willing to try. Select it based on your needs first, but, also, keep the needs of your family in mind, too. This article from Angela Watson from Truth for Teachers helped me with this. And if the option you choose doesn’t turn out like you hoped, you can always try again. Keep trying until you find the one that makes you look forward to going to work again each day! There are better days ahead and you will get there!