If you are thinking that you might quit teaching - you are not alone.

Every year almost 10% of teachers leave the profession - and of those just beginning their teaching careers, nearly 50% will leave within 5 years.

And yet, very little help or support is available for teachers in this position. 

Most teachers are unaware of how employable they really are - and how many highly transferable skills they have to offer other careers. 

This post gives teachers thinking of leaving the profession, support and advice to make the right decision - and some ideas of what to do next.

If you're thinking of leaving teaching, it's important to understand why. 

There are many reasons why teachers leave the classroom - but your decision is probably based on a combination of the factors below .. 

• Long hours, low pay, or reducing budgets
• Workload, planning, marking, assessment
• Excessive detail required by school leaders
• Curriculum and assessment reform and new initiatives
• Lack of planning and preparation time - the additional time required for extra curricular events ..
• Performance management, appraisal
• The difficulty to progress up the pay spine
• Poor behaviour and attitude from students
• Moderation of marking and continual cross-referencing of what you do
• A data lead approach to management and teaching
• Completing homework, behaviour logs
• Difficult or challenging parents
• Duties and managing detentions
• Writing policies
• Lack of training

The modern teacher works in an environment where students (and their parents) are more challenging than ever before .. and where management expects continued improvements against assessment standards every year.  This puts a unique pressure on teaching staff.

But why is understanding your reason for leaving so important?

There are two reasons.

There are two big reasons why understanding your feelings at this time are important. 

Firstly, leaving teaching can be a rollercoaster of emotions - and recognising how this is affects you will make the transition easier.

Because teaching is a job which demands an emotional investment like no other career path I know.  This makes leaving more difficult than simply 'getting another job'.

Being clear about your own reasons for leaving - and the emotions you feel as you consider this decision - will help you make the transition without anger, guilt, or a period of depression .. which many teachers experience. 

The second reason is that too many teachers put off leaving an unhappy classroom job.

Bouncing out of your job in an unplanned way, either through breakdown or prolonged absence, damages your health and future employment prospects.

Much better that a change is managed, before the job has an impact on your health.   You can come back to teaching in the future .. there are always jobs available.

So how do you make this decision easier?

The best way to come to a decision that is right for you, is to ask the right questions.

When you analyse your feelings, consider the following ..

Tony Robbins says that change is much easier when the pain of remaining the same, is greater than the pain required to change.

Being super-clear about the pain of staying in your current job .. and measuring this against the pain of leaving, is a good way to make this decision easier.

The bottom line here is that you only live once - remaining in an unhappy job or unsustainable working environment, is likely to have consequences for you and your family.

There are lots of alternatives for someone with your skills - you might not realise this yet but what you do, is highly valued.

Many teachers think the skills they develop in the classroom are so specialised, that they would have to ‘start again’ from the bottom of any alternative career they choose.

That really doesn't have to be the case. 

Because employers love ex-teachers for several reasons:

Most other jobs don’t require this crazy level of commitment. Employers know when they employ an ex-teacher they get someone who isn’t afraid of hard work!

A new employer won't have to train you out of bad habits, and because you are an effective learner - you will improve fast.

Good communication skills are important almost everywhere .. you have practised and improved yours more than most people alive!​

You have a set of valuable skills, which employers almost everywhere are looking for. 

Don’t undersell yourself .. your classroom experience has given you a wealth of transferable skills to put on application forms and to talk about confidently at interview. 

In the applications you write, it is up to you to make these transferable skills obvious - and to be proud of the person they make you into.

You have an awful lot to offer a new employer.

I have created A PDF Guide to show you just how many options you have .. you can download this below:

Reflect for a minute on the transferable skills above for a moment, and realise that these apply to almost every job that exists today!

There are some alternative career options that value your education experience specifically - some ideas are below:

• Other teaching jobs (not in the classroom) - e.g. teaching support, personal tutor, TEFL teacher, Adult education lecturer, FE lecturer, Prisons instructor, Distance or open learning college tutor.
• Education Administration - any administration or management job in school, college or FE.
• Jobs Related to your Degree - rewind to when you graduated and you had lots of choice about what to do next - these choices still exist.
• 'Any Degree' Jobs - 60% of jobs advertised requiring a degree don't specify a specific subject.
• Subject Specialism Roles - jobs exist in most of the school subject areas, you are experienced there - why not work somewhere you can use this knowledge?
• Training and Development Roles - Companies and other organisations all have training and development programmes for their staff, your skills will be highly valued there.
• The Charity Sector - ex-teachers who want to make a difference are often drawn to the charity sector where they can make their contribution in a different way.
• Educational media and publishing - you have valuable experience teaching specific things which publishers need to produce media and material for schools.
• Other jobs working with children - e.g. Community or youth worker, play worker, education manager, after school club coordinator.
• Counselling and Pastoral Work - e.g. counsellor, family therapist, community home/school teacher.
• Education Welfare - social worker, health visitor
• Other Government Departments - your local or national government will recognise and value your skills, there are a wide variety of jobs available in other public sector organisations. 
• Advice and Information based jobs - e.g. careers advisor, information/education officer, environmental education officer, learning mentor, museum education officer, youth training and education worker.
• Further Education or Training - while this isn't strictly speaking a 'job', it is an option for many ex-teachers wanting to refocus their lives. 
• Community Project Leader - a wide variety of community projects are funded by government and private businesses, your organisational experience could be extremely valuable to manage them

There are 373 alternative job ideas inside the PDF which I am offering for download with this post. 

But there is one option which offers advantages like no other ..

Look again at the transferable skills which a teacher practises every day .. 

Not being afraid of hard work, a fast learner, a good communicator, being organised and resilient, responding well to change, working well with people, not being afraid of leading, being a creative problem solver, using your initiative.

These are exactly the skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur!

Many teachers are now starting businesses online to earn an additional income, or to replace their current jobs.