Is switching to teaching worth it later in life?
Changing careers to become a teacher often leads to fast emotional burnout from daily exhaustion and classroom stress. Without mental resilience and genuine enthusiasm, second-career teachers risk burning out completely, leaving them overwhelmed and questioning their choice.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Keeping your current job and tutoring people who need help in your free timeDid this help you?
- 2Looking at volunteer positions at the kind of school you'd like to work atDid this help you?
- 3Trying your hand at substitute teaching firstDid this help you?
- 4Getting a master's to teach at a community college where students are mostly adultsDid this help you?
- 5Fulfilling the need to help others through a hobby rather than employmentDid this help you?
- 6Telling yourself you just need to keep goingDid this help you?
- 7Considering switching to a different path like social work, though feeling similarly unpreparedDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I will tell you I have taught with a lot of teachers who came in to teaching as a second career, some of them have been super successful and some of them failed horribly and burned out, I am currently dealing with the aftermath of this.”source ↗
“I’m working towards my teaching degree now at 42.”source ↗
“My question is, should I pursue my original goal at this point in my life? I hate what I do and would like to do something that I feel I would get joy out of.”source ↗
“I am having doubts about perusing teaching and already don't feel excited to enter the field.”source ↗
“I work with kids everyday at an after school program and feel so emotionally burned out and tired.”source ↗
“I don't know if I am mentally strong enough to be a teacher but currently don't have any other career plans in mind.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Can you switch accounting service lines before starting your job?
- 17Should I get an accounting certificate or degree while working?
- 2How to change careers after years of training
- 7How do teachers move to another state without losing pay and benefits?
- 6Switching to the trades at 45 from a desk job
- 5Should I switch from corporate finance to teaching?