Retraining, career change, or university studies? Which brings in more money?
Hello everyone,
I am a qualified educator and earn quite well.
I've been working at my current kindergarten for two years now, and I can't think anymore because of the stress. So I've reduced my hours from 39 to 25 per week. Of course, I'm earning less. To be precise, I'm €700 less net. I've been doing this for a month now, and I realize I'm barely making ends meet. My husband earns well, but we also have two cars and a large apartment, and we'd love to have a child someday.
Now finally to my problem:
I hate my job! I regret my career choice so much that I don't know what to do anymore. I would love to work in a commercial field, such as an office clerk. But I'd really like something related to graphic design.
A little background: I started an apprenticeship as a bank clerk when I was 16. But I dropped out after a year. I was just too young for it. 😀
Here are the options I have discovered so far:
New training? -> even less money for at least 3 years
Studying? -> consistent money (too little) and difficult with my working hours (daily 8am-1pm)
Distance learning? -> The desired course costs €180 a month. At €700, it's already less, so you can forget it.
Career changer? -> Same salary as now for part-time, but with 40 hours/week.
Maybe someone else has an idea? Or maybe they've gone through the same thing?
I really don't want to come across as if I don't want to work. I would love to go back to work full-time, but I can't handle being exposed to 95 decibels for eight hours a day. Nor can I handle the mental stress.
Thanks for your answers in advance 🙂
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With a commercial training, you will hardly earn more in the first years after training in full time than now with the 25 hours. Until you arrive in this area for about 3100 euros, which you will probably get after two years according to the pay table TVöD-SuE, you can easily plan 5-10 years of work. And then, as a “only” businesswoman for office management, and thus probably in a secretariat or assistance job, you won’t really get further up.
Don’t underestimate the salaries of educators! For significantly higher grades, there is a need for a study or profession in a very well-paid, very in demand area, e.g. in IT. Even graphic design is not a suitable way, this is also not a high-wage area…
So my tip would be more like to see your page of expenditure together and consider which marks you could make there. If you have two salaries and your husband’s “good”, probably higher than yours, you probably live clearly above your circumstances. And right now, if you want to get out of your profession and get into another one, which is extremely likely to be associated with further financial losses, you have to start at this point!
Then you can consider what you really want to do, where your interests and strengths lie. Perhaps your profession would be more appropriate for you if you practice it in one of the other possible fields of activity? You didn’t decide to do this job without reason, did you? And there are some areas away from Kitas where educators can work. Perhaps one of the areas for which a study of social work would be necessary? For example, in the Youth Office area, if you like business activities?
The salary is not the problem in kindergarten, but the work itself. I wouldn’t have a problem if I didn’t get my new job more than full-time in kindergarten. It should only be more than now on parttime. I’d like to go to the youth office. Always had the hope to make a commercial training and then combine my two trainings. For the youth office, I only lack the study of social work. We’d be back with my problem that a study is barely feasible. :
And why should the next-time study of social work not be feasible? Do quite a lot in the area!
You can also consider whether you are looking for another job in your current job in another field of activity. The burdens, for example, in housing groups or in offers of open work are quite different than in Kita, the target group is different, the work itself is different. And just everything that goes more into the area of the HzE would be anything but bad for the change to the youth office then, right?
Well, but weekend and night service is perfect! You’re writing, you want kids, so you don’t have one. And if you work predominantly on weekends and at night, you could even see if these working hours were not even studying in presence or at night. could fit with a fairly high percentage of presence!
By the way, I am a staff member with a child and youth support. In one of our stationary offers, a colleague makes exactly this – secondary studies and to have time air for it, primarily weekend and night services. It’s pretty good for her!
But as already written – it is essential to thoroughly check and reduce your expenditure side in order to have air!
In other areas, it looks quite mau in my surroundings. They’re just looking for people for the weekend and night service. Housing groups like that. Youth centre is not looking. Only OGS and there I have the same mess as in Kita. But I’ll keep looking. Maybe I’ll find something at some point. Thank you for your answers 🙂
What do you want to study? At the FernUni Hagen (and this is a state university) you get away significantly cheaper.
I would like to study graphic design. But also something like BWL is fine. First of all, I have a foot in this profession.
You can study BWL at the FernUni, no problem. https://www.fernuni-hagen.de/wirtschaftswissenschaft/studies/index.shtml
For the Bachelor in full-time studies, you need 6 semesters, the costs for the entire course are 1700 euros.
But, sometimes as an idea: Even if you hate the profession educator by now, can you imagine studying something related? There is a degree course in education at the FernUni. BWLer there are many, but in education you already have professional experience in the field, that would be an advantage.
Unfortunately, too many dreams of graphic design. The career prospects for a firm job are not so great, and as a freelancer you fight for every job.