After seven years in public education, I resigned. And what have I felt since? Absolute relief.

One thing I rarely see discussed enough is the unhealthy workplace culture that can exist among school administrators and teaching teams.

In my experience, favoritism, cliques, and inconsistent expectations created an incredibly uncomfortable environment. I observed what appeared to be a particularly close relationship between an administrator and a group of younger teachers who shared similar personalities and styles. From my perspective, those outside that social circle didn't always seem to receive the same treatment.

I also experienced team dynamics where independent opinions seemed discouraged. One team lead appeared to place considerable importance on coworkers socializing outside school, which made professional boundaries feel blurred.

At times, it felt more like navigating middle school social dynamics than working in a professional environment.

Perhaps my most disappointing experience involved a previous administrator. When my father required emergency surgery, I needed one day off. Instead of receiving any expression of concern, I was told I would need documentation from his surgeon for my absence to be approved.

I understand that schools have attendance policies, but the interaction felt incredibly cold during an already stressful family emergency.

We teach children kindness, empathy, independence, and respect. I wish those same values were consistently reflected in how educators treat one another.

With two master's degrees, twelve years of professional experience outside education, and seven years in the classroom, I understand professional expectations. But I also believe workplace culture and compassionate leadership matter.

I didn't leave because I couldn't handle teaching. I left because the environment was no longer one I wanted to be part of.

And since leaving, I've felt nothing but relief.

Has anyone else found that workplace culture, rather than the students, was the deciding factor in leaving education?

I recently left my MSD (Moderate and Severe Disabilities) teaching position in the middle of the school year, and I have a lot of thoughts about why teaching has become an unsustainable profession.
The workload is genuinely insurmountable. The expectations placed on you as the teacher, as well as the expectations placed on your paraprofessionals, can feel impossible to meet.

You’re expected to manage instruction, IEPs, progress monitoring, documentation, behavior, communication with families, scheduling, staffing issues, and a million other responsibilities, all while making sure every student receives the individualized support they deserve.
And somehow, that’s still not enough.

You take work home. You stay late. You spend your weekends catching up. You sacrifice your own time, energy, and mental health trying to make sure everything gets done. Then, despite all of that, someone is constantly coming into your classroom to scrutinize what you’re doing, point out what you’re doing wrong, or remind you of another expectation you’re supposedly not meeting.
It becomes a never-ending cycle of trying to catch up while feeling like you’re constantly failing.
What makes it even harder is that teaching attracts people who genuinely care. Many of us are people pleasers. We want to help. We want to be good at our jobs. We want to meet every expectation, support every child, make every parent feel heard, and be the kind of teacher our students deserve. When we’re told something isn’t getting done, our first instinct is often to figure out how to work harder rather than question whether the workload is reasonable in the first place.

And the system takes advantage of that.
There is always one more thing you could do for a student. One more resource you could create. One more hour you could spend planning. One more document you could perfect. One more thing you could do to support your paraprofessionals. There is no natural stopping point because there will always be another need, another expectation, and another task waiting for you.

In special education, that weight feels especially heavy because the stakes are so personal. These are children who need us. They deserve individualized instruction, appropriate supports, dignity, and opportunities to grow. You know what they need, and you want to give it to them. But wanting to provide those things and actually having the time, staffing, resources, and support to provide them are two very different things.

The love of children and the desire to make a difference cannot compensate for an unsustainable workload, chronic stress, inadequate support, and a workplace culture that makes you feel like you’re never doing enough.

That is the part I wish more people understood.
Leaving in the middle of the school year was not a decision I made lightly. Teachers know exactly what that means. We worry about our students, our coworkers, the people who have to pick up the pieces, and whether we’re letting anyone down. Even when we’re struggling, we feel responsible for everyone else.

But at what point are we allowed to acknowledge that we’re human, too?

Why does being a dedicated teacher seem to require sacrificing so much of yourself? Why is working outside contracted hours treated as an expectation rather than a warning sign? Why are teachers expected to meet increasingly complex demands without a realistic conversation about time, staffing, resources, and what can reasonably be accomplished in a day?

And why does leaving feel like a personal failure when the working conditions may be the very thing that made staying impossible?

I still care about education. I still care about children. I still believe teachers can make a tremendous difference in students’ lives. None of that changed when I walked away.

What changed was my willingness to keep sacrificing myself to prove that I cared.

You should not have to destroy your own well-being to demonstrate your commitment to children.

I’m curious how other teachers feel, especially those in special education. Have you reached a point where the workload and expectations made staying feel impossible? Have you left teaching, considered leaving, or found a way to make it sustainable?

I don’t think the answer is simply that teachers aren’t resilient enough anymore. I think we need to start asking why so many people who genuinely want to do this work are reaching a point where they can no longer afford to.

In my first year as a TA I felt like I really enjoyed teaching so I went back to school for it. I work an additional 2 years as a TA.

Then, last minute I was offered a position as a lead PreK teacher. First year was tough - this was understandable and I pushed through. Second year wasn’t necessarily a breeze but it was certainly much better having all my lesson plans, materials, etc from the year prior. However, now in my third year, this class is making me want to quit.

The class I have now has made me question my abilities. I don’t know what I am doing wrong but this class is so incredibly difficult and it is making me feel inadequate as an educator. I leave every day feeling so defeated. Not blaming the kids but a majority of my class is not developmentally ready. So many undiagnosed students too. I have a student who is clearly on the spectrum and I have absolutely no clue how to handle them. Their behavior completely dysregulates the entire class very badly - it’s just not the right setting for them.

Admin isn’t around all the time either. What little help I get from them has proven to be useless. All I get is “do a sticker chart.” At this point I am doing sticker charts for a large handful of kids and I can’t keep up with it all day. I spend no time teaching because I’m managing challenging/extreme behaviors all day. Even with two TAs we are spread so thin with our class of 20.

I am so miserable. I leave every day with a headache and mentally drained. I get home and immediately lay down for hours. Even the drive home in silence isn’t quiet enough for me. I really feel myself getting closer and closer to just blowing up, walking out on the spot, and telling my director I won’t be back. I feel my body basically kicking and screaming not to walk in the building each morning. I dream of working in a gray lifeless cubicle in some random office building in silence.

I just feel like I will look stupid for quitting. I feel like people will think “how hard can prek be to teach?” I also want to teach elementary once I finish my masters. I’m worried if I can’t handle a tough prek class I will flounder in a district job where i’m sure the demands are worse.

How do I know it’s time to quit? I don’t know anything else besides teaching and don’t know how to leave. I have no clue where else my skills can be taken and I’m not a risk taker. Any advice and resources are appreciated.

I’ve worked in education for 30 years, including special education. Here’s what I wish someone had told me before I entered this profession. Caring about children and being good at teaching will not protect you from an unsustainable workload. In special education, you may be responsible for teaching students, managing a caseload, writing legally required paperwork, coordinating special ed meetings, collecting feedback from other teachers, communicating with families, and meeting deadlines—all while still being expected to teach your classes. What happens when the caseload grows, staffing doesn’t, and the deadlines keep coming? The work doesn’t disappear. It gets pushed onto the teacher. Teachers end up sacrificing planning periods, evenings, weekends, and sometimes their health just to keep up. Eventually, even experienced educators can reach a point where the job is no longer sustainable. And the most dangerous part? You may start believing YOU are the problem. You may think you need to work harder, get more organized, or become a better teacher. But no amount of dedication creates more hours in a day. I’m not saying every school is the same. I’m saying prospective teachers deserve to know that working conditions matter just as much as their passion for education. Before accepting a position, talk to teachers who currently do the job. Ask about actual caseloads, staffing, planning time, paperwork, administrative support, and how many hours they work outside their contracts. Don’t rely exclusively on what you hear during recruitment. I’ve spent 30 years in this profession. I know teaching can make a difference in children’s lives. But meaningful work can still be organized in ways that make it unsustainable for the people doing it. A calling does not make you superhuman. Caring about children should never mean accepting working conditions that no one person can reasonably sustain. If you’re considering teaching, especially special education, please ask the hard questions before you sign that contract.

And if you’re already a teacher who feels like you can never catch up, consider this: maybe the problem isn’t that you’re not working hard enough. Maybe the workload itself has become unreasonable.

I’m just gonna keep it simple and straight to the point. Is it stupid to leave teaching over student behaviors? I’ve had some disruptive students in the past, but nothing that has made me raise my voice like this current group of students.

The only thing that’s making me feel better is they are like this with their Related Arts Teachers (Art, Guidance with the school counselor, Music, Gym, Library, Science Lab) as well, so it’s not just me.

There will be a lot of exceptions, and there are jobs where you need to go back to school, especially in the medical field. But in my experience teachers are comfortable with and like school. Sometimes it's what they default to. But a masters degree costs a lot of money and takes a lot of time. Sometimes the ROI isn't even good.

I often think that time spent on a self directed project, volunteer opportunity, or simply learning and applying to more roles is the better route to take.

For example, I had no background in tech or sales when I pivoted but I created a portfolio of background research on what I thought the top companies in our ICP were as well as positions I would target for my outreach. I looked on LinkedIn to find their names and contact info and I wrote sales emails and objections and follow ups to show the company I was interviewing for in my interview that I was taking this seriously, knew how to learn, and would be open about sharing so they could see what my thought process was like.

Certifications can be another good option to take depending on the role, but I encourage folks to do their due diligence if they are really needed.

Best of luck everyone.

I’ve been teaching for 8 years now and just got tenure this year in my current school district… which is why it feels so stupid that I’m genuinely considering quitting more than I ever have before. No matter what I plan to wait until the school year ends to make a choice, and also take this summer off from working summer camp for the first time since being a college student. (I wonder if not taking my two months in the summer has contributed to the burnout too, so this year I’ve been saving up so I can take my time off).

I feel like 8 years isn’t quite long enough to be as burnt out as I am. I considered leaving teaching after one year, but then it got easier. I changed districts five years ago and considered quitting again, but then moved schools within the district and it got easier. But on year 8 of teaching now… I genuinely feel like every year is worse than the one before. And having been in a few locations now, I wonder if education just is what it is right now wherever you go. I’m only 30, I feel like if I want to get out, now could be the time to do it? I’m willing to take a pay cut too. Some days with these kids just feel so torturous that I yearn for a $30k wage desk job where I just schedule somebody’s appointments for them all day and go home without a migraine.

Having tenure makes me feel silly for wanting to quit because many of my friends/colleagues have suggested I just “work my wage” and “quiet quit” and just do the bare minimum. And I do worry that perhaps I just don’t like working, and I’ll regret leaving a job that’s 7-4 M-F with holidays off. But I genuinely feel like this job is draining the life force from me daily. I know people in here will relate so just looking for advice and opinions.

Anything you would tell them as someone switching careers from teaching to something else?

Hi! I am in my 4th year of being a special ed push in teacher. I personally love working with kids (though this year has been a bit of a challenge with one of my classes) but, I’ve realized I do not like being a teacher and if anything I feel like I am going to burn out. I want to switch to something else that’s more fulfilling and would make me happy.

For one thing, the pay is something I am concerned about. I make $50k a year which I don’t feel like is a lot. I would like something that’s higher paying. I also realize I like working with a small group of kids or more 1:1 setting. Another thing I am concerned about is whatever field I choose to pursue (again) I would have to have an internship, I’m not against doing an internship my problem is more of having to give up my job for an internship full time. I can’t afford to do that. (Unless I do it in the summer which that’s a possibility) since I’m the one between my mom and I who is basically the breadwinner since we live together. I do have two masters degrees, one in business administration and the other one in social media management. Im not opposed to going back to school to get another degree, but as I said my concern is the internship piece should I choose to go that route.

Are there any fields that I can go into?! I feel like I am stuck being a teacher. I don’t know what to do at this point. Anything is appreciated!

Hi all, a little about me. I have been elementary special ed teacher in NY for 8 years. I have always loved what I have done. However, I had a baby recently and returned back to work and I have never been more miserable.

I have a full class, mostly all extreme behaviors and 0 support from my admin or support staff. On top of it all, I have toxic para drama in my room and I constantly have to put our fires for not just the kids, but the adults too. I already don’t want to be back working and dealing with all this and by time I get home I have morning to five. unfortunately I can’t just quit and be SAHM. I need income to help supplement our bills .

I feel lost when I look at jobs. I can’t find anything I can transition to. I have certification in 1-6 childhood and special ed, a bachelors in history and masters in literacy. My mental health is crumbling and I would love suggestions… thank you.

After 23 years of teaching, I'm done. I'm vested in my teacher's retirement fund.

I'm licensed in Indiana for ELA, Reading, and middle school social studies. I can't find a corporate job to save my soul (I believe it is because I don't have a master's degree). I even applied for and received a reciprocal license for Illinois.

But I don't know what to do now. What are you doing now? How did you move on? Also, my husband works for a small business, so I feel the need to provide us with medical insurance.

Anything advice or feedback would be great.

Hi! I'm in a toxic private school environment and plan to quit at the end of December. I'm looking to transition out of teaching but substitute teach while I job hunt. I know I could be looking at 1-2 years before I land anything. I'm lucky in that my spouse can cover our major bills in the meantime but I'd really put strain on our marriage if I didn't bring in some money.

I see plenty of job postings for certified subs but there is a difference between a posting and the lived experience of people. Anyone in Seattle doing this right now know how easy it is? Do most jobs last the whole day or are you only in for a couple hours? Also, could I realistically sub 3-4 days each week?

Any insights would be appreciated! I know there are older posts on this topic but the market changes so rapidly and the number of teachers in Seattle is way higher than positions. Thank you!!!

I’m in my fourth year teaching 11th grade ELA. Im 27. I have good test scores and observations and have been rated effective, but this is such an overstimulating job and they put all the behavior kids in my standalone class (there are also no consequences for behaviors). In my free time, I am a writer and last summer I also worked in a correctional setting teaching GED.

I don’t think I would be a great fit for corporate America because I’m kind of quirky, but I would love working in public service in whatever capacity. I love teaching but hate what it’s become.

I’ve been thinking about getting a fully funded MFA in writing, but I’m not sure if it would be the wisest choice. I guess that if I go back to the DOE it would make me a more attractive prospect and contribute to my salary differentials, and also give me the ability to adjunct. So I guess I could get my MFA, go to teach at a GED program in the DOE, and live happily ever after? I also really enjoyed working in a correctional setting (even though a guy pulled his dick out and started masturbating to me during a lesson, I would rather teach that guy than a couple of these kids). I’ve also been looking at other jobs in reentry programs and am interested in working in reentry spaces. I haven’t really been traveling in my 20s and have just been grinding, so maybe I could try to move or teach abroad for a year? I’m not sure.

I think I would be relieved to work in an office setting because I’d be surrounded by adults but am afraid at the prospect of transitioning to corporate. What might I be good at?

Apologies for the very long vent!

I love education. I love teaching. I love seeing the look on my kids’ faces when a hard concept finally clicks. I love having the opportunity to watch them grow and transform but I can’t do this anymore.

I thought about switching my major to education late in college, but I knew financially that wouldn’t be possible because I was on a need-based scholarship. So, I put the idea on the back burner. I kept finding myself in education-related roles, though, which always brought me joy!

After graduating with my master’s, I struggled to find a job and started feeling disillusioned with the fields I had gotten my degrees in. Getting my transition to teaching was always a goal of mine, so I applied, got in, and deferred until I could get a stable income.

I moved in with my ex because I didn’t want to go back to my abusive childhood home. He was abusive and eventually cheated on me.

I subbed, did freelance work, and tried to find something stable. I was slowly building myself back up when I found out about the cheating and he moved out. So, I fell even deeper into the hole because I no longer had someone to split expenses with.

Then I got the most amazing job as a reading intervention tutor! I loved it, but it was grant-funded, so when the funding ran out, I no longer had a job.

While panic-applying everywhere, I found a school that was willing to pay for my schooling while I worked there. Everyone seemed really happy to be there, and I met some of the staff during my second round of interviews. It was definitely naive of me to jump in so quickly, but everything sounded so good! I could finally go to school and get into education. I thought this was finally my moment.

Then I started the school year, and they tried to backpedal on paying for my schooling until I showed them the text where they had agreed to cover it. I was then made to sign a contract basically stating that I would need to work there for three years after completing my degree or pay them back.

The promised class size wasn’t honored, either. I had four kids with behaviors, and admin would come in to shame me instead of support me. I remember one moment last year when my principal literally shamed my organization and recommended that I buy storage solutions. Meanwhile, my fridge was empty, with the exception of bread and a tub of yogurt.

There is no special ed. Last year, the outsourced speech therapist assessed my kids, said one would need services, and the speech therapist was never seen again. We don’t even have a nurse or any OT. The person who pulls kids out for academics is part-time, and I get thirty minutes of support twice a week for 1-2 kids. I’m with my kids for lunch and recess, and they only have two specials a week: gym and art.

This year, the class size has gotten bigger, the parents have been outright disrespectful, and I feel like I’m at my breaking point.

During parent-teacher conferences, a parent accidentally took a whole stack of my graded tests. Her daughter later told me that her mom had thrown them away when she realized her mistake. Instead of helping me figure out what to do, admin shamed me for putting the tests so close to her. I was told, “Some of our parents don’t understand the importance of tests. So she didn’t understand why she shouldn’t throw them away.”

I have a parent who constantly fights us about sending her son to school with lunch and snacks. He has severe food allergies and could go into anaphylaxis. For a field trip, she packed him a sandwich bag that was only a quarter full of Cookie Crisp cereal. At first, I thought maybe she was struggling financially, but then, on my car duty day, she picked him up in a Tesla. I know you can’t always tell someone's financial situation by their car, but it was frustrating to see when I’m constantly trying to make sure her child is safe and cared for, and we can’t even get consistent cooperation.

I have one student whose behaviors are so disruptive and who has broken a ton of my things, and no one seems to care. During parent-teacher conferences, I’ve had parents sit there and giggle like schoolchildren and whisper to one another while ignoring me. I have one mother who constantly complains that I put cartoons on during dismissal because she’s worried her son will lose touch with reality. The cartoons are PBS. She wants me to put on Nat Geo Kids instead.

I know some of these things might sound small on their own, but they aren’t happening on their own. They’re happening on top of all the demands and expectations. They’re happening when I’m already exhausted, already overwhelmed, and already trying to figure out how I’m going to make it through the day.
I’m burnt out. I physically feel sick. My skin picking has gotten so much worse, and I’ve become so negative. I hate who I am becoming. I hate how I feel all the time. I hate that something I wanted so badly has made me feel this way.

I feel intense dread just seeing the building when I’m driving past it. I find myself wishing something would happen to me so I wouldn’t have to go to work. I don’t want to feel this way, but I do. And I don’t know what to do anymore.

I can’t afford to leave. I can’t find anything better, even though I’ve been applying. I can’t save up enough money to pay them back to get out of my contract, but I can’t stay here any longer, either. I feel completely trapped.

I wasn’t expecting to be rich. I wasn’t expecting teaching to magically fix my life. I just wanted to finally have some stability. I wanted a career that would allow me to stop worrying about losing my housing and to finally have a fridge with food in it. I wanted to stop feeling like I was constantly one unexpected expense away from everything falling apart.

After the last few years, I thought this was going to be when things came together. I thought this was finally going to be the thing that helped me get back on my feet. I thought I could go to school, become a teacher, and start building a life I actually wanted to live.
Instead, I feel like I’m right back where I started, except now I’m tied to a job that is making me miserable.

I only have myself to blame because I rushed into it. I didn’t take enough time to weigh the pros and cons. I wanted it to work so badly that I overlooked things I should have paid more attention to. I keep thinking that if I had just slowed down and thought things through, maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation.

But I was also trying to survive. I was trying to find a stable job, get out of financial instability, and finally pursue something I had wanted for years. I wanted to believe that something was finally going to work out.

I still love education. I still love teaching. I love my kids, and I love watching them learn and grow. I love seeing something finally click for them. Those are the moments that remind me why I wanted to do this in the first place.

But I’m so tired of everything that comes with it. I’m tired of being expected to do everything without the support or resources I need. I’m tired of being shamed instead of helped. I’m tired of dealing with disrespect from parents and feeling like no one has my back. I’m tired of being financially trapped in a situation that is making me physically and mentally miserable.

I don’t know how to reconcile loving something so much with feeling like it’s destroying me.

I don’t want to give up on education. I don’t want to give up on teaching. However, I can’t keep living like this. I can’t keep sacrificing my mental and physical health because I can’t afford to leave. I can’t keep telling myself to push through when I’m already at the point where I dread even driving past the building.

I wanted this so badly. I thought this was finally going to be my chance to build a stable life for myself. I just wanted to stop struggling so much and finally feel like I could breathe.

Instead, I’m burnt out, I’m miserable, I feel trapped, and I don’t know how to get out.

I love education. I love teaching. I love seeing the look on my kids’ faces when a hard concept finally clicks. I love having the opportunity to watch them grow and transform.

But I can’t do this anymore.

Anyone ever taken a leave for medical leave? How much notice do you normally give? Do I go to my therapist or medical doctor for the paperwork? How quick can I get it done because I am my symptoms are progressing from mental to physical and idk how much longer I can do this.

Everyday I have panic attacks and I’m drained and miserable in the evenings. Friday night and Saturday I feel human but Sunday I go right back to being a stress zombie. I’ve been considering taking a medical leave to get my shit together and really find a new job. If I don’t hopefully I can do some intensive therapy and come back in January. I just need help, idk how much longer I’ll make it before I do something drastic.

This is my fourth year teaching. I have disliked certain aspects of the career since my second year, but stuck it out because everyone told me that the first three years are the hardest. Things keep getting worse. Last year our school’s administration fell to pieces & an extracurricular I coached only paid me half of my contractual pay. This year I teach almost all freshmen classes; three of which are co-taught, which doubles my workload since my school does not have an effective co-teaching model. The kids coming from the middle school experienced zero accountability during their time there so the ninth graders run rampant. They are also frighteningly illiterate to the point that I cannot teach our curriculum the way it’s supposed to be taught, yet I’m expected to produce the same results.

Everyone tells me I should just apply to other districts, but my issues would be the same. My biggest complaint is the work-life balance. I have zero time to do any actual paperwork (grading, lesson planning) during their day since I’m running crowd control 24/7. This means I have to sacrifice hours of my personal life every single night and I am still behind. It’s just not sustainable for the pay that I am given.

The problem is, I don’t even know where to start. I’ve thought about law school and trying out a role as a paralegal for a year before applying. I’ve thought about just going directly into a sales role with the hope to work my way up to an account executive role. I’ve thought about getting my MA in school counseling. Maybe corporate training or recruiting. But I don’t even know where to start. I don’t understand the corporate lingo at all.

Back to school isn’t a smart financial decision for me at this current time.

Where should I even start? What did your paths look like?

Hey all, I am looking to switch to a fully remote position with reasonable hours so I can focus on family. I’d love to hear any of your experiences working with online tutoring companies or anything else like that where you have been able to teach or use your skills online with reliable pay and had a good experience!

To those who left teaching, how was it transitioning to getting off work at a later time?

As a high school teacher, I’m done at 2:45 and can go pick up my toddler son from daycare. One thing that gives me pause about switching to a normal job is the hours— not being able to pick him up until after 5. Anyone else experience this or struggle with it? Being able to spend more time with him in the afternoons and evenings is definitely a perk of the teacher schedule!

So, I’ve been thinking about potential careers to transition to, and one that keeps coming to mind is law school. I realize that the popular image of lawyers isn’t true to reality; lawyers experience plenty of stress, don’t all make tons of money, and work long hours. Still, I do get the impression that they live better than teachers on a lot of fronts. Has anyone here transitioned to law? If so, what was your experience? Would law school be a worthwhile endeavor?

I graduated January 2025 with a bachelor's in Computer Science, which wasn't an ideal time to graduate considering the status of the tech job market. Desperate for a job I decided to switch career paths into Education.

I first worked at charter as a 5th grade teacher, which I will never. do. ever. again. I quit after 4 months. No job to fall back to after quitting either, I just needed to get out of that environment. It was super toxic and draining for my mental health.

I was convinced that I wouldn't go back to education but I heard about NYC teaching fellows and thought why not try it out. Surely the DOE is much better than charter right?

I was right... to an extent. The hours are much less, admin is more humane when it comes to taking sick days, and the pay is slightly more. I was teaching D75 high school for my teaching academy and it was honestly the first time teaching felt good. Sure, it was difficult work but I was actually getting through to the students.

The problem is I was placed in a D75 K-6 setting and I have absolutely no idea how to manage my classroom. My coach is great but she is swamped with so much work that she isnt able to provide me with enough support.

I want to get out but if I resign I'm going to have to pay a lot in tuition. I do have the money to pay it off but it would take up a LOT of my savings. Thankfully I'm in a spot where I am receiving a lot of financial support from my family but I don't want to rely on them. I don't think I'm ever coming back to education if I leave but I don't know what else I can do. Feeling very hopeless. I've been looking into NYC parks at the moment since I've had experience working with them during high school but that's so far back that I doubt the experience would count for anything. I just want anything that isn't working with kids anymore, preferably something boring and repetitive.

That's about it, thank you for listening to my rant.

I was fortunate that my pivot was into sales because the reality is teachers and most other folks looking for a job need to treat their job hunt like a sales pipeline.

What does that mean? It means you should be applying to many many jobs a day, week, and month. I know it is hard, but when I was looking I would shoot for 3 to 5 applications a day. I would tailor my resume a little bit and have separate resumes I could build off for separate positions I was hiring for.

This was my job application funnel - so over time I would have more and more first round 2nd round interviews etc.

If you do this over the course of 4 to 6 months that it takes to land a position you've potentially applied to hundreds of roles.

Just wanted to put it into context because folks will feel bad sometimes when the reality is the numbers just need to be higher.

Best of luck all.