Mother Talkers

More Career Advice, Please

by Elisa

Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 10:18:20 AM PDT

Once again, Berkeley Parents Network ran a couple letters seeking career advice. I will run them here, too:

I am a credentialed preschool teacher with an AA degree. I have worked for the same wonderful preschool for 7 years and love my job. However, I am realizing that financially, being a preschool teacher is difficult. The poor pay-scale of the child care field is becoming an issue as my partner and I are raising our own family and making ends meet in the Bay Area on a preschool teacher's salary is very stressful (my partner also works, but it would help our situation greatly if my salary were more than 30K per year). I am wondering if I should go back to school (this will be financially difficult for my family, but could be worth it if I will make more money with a BS or BA). Or, perhaps there is a career counselor who would know how to transition from being a preschool teacher to something fulfilling that pays more (or is this impossible with only an AA degree)? Has anyone out there made such a transition? Any suggestions are appreciated.
Possible Career Switcher

People who responded recommended seeing a career counselor. (I agree.) One person linked to a government website with information on teaching, including requirements and salaries. Another former preschool teacher listed other possible careers:

I am a former preschool teacher. I loved my work, but was also not making enough money. For my birthday a few years ago, my mother paid for career counseling with Toni Littlestone, who is in the Albany/Berkeley area. I was so confused and conflicted, I really needed coaching, advice, and help, so I went to see Toni and worked out a new life plan. We started with assessment, and I learned so much. One thing I learned is that I am somewhat a physical type of person, and someone who likes to help people. I like to go on hikes, do yoga, and work in my garden. Moving around with the preschool kids worked well for me, and jobs in an office sounded like torture. I know my choice would not be for everyone, but I decided to re-train as an aesthetician and hair stylist. At first, I had value judgments about that, but in the career counseling process, Toni helped me explore my deeper needs and values, not just my snap judgments about people's career status in the world. Now, I make well over $60,000 a year, cut hair for all ages (including kids), do facials, scalp massages, etc, love talking with all my clients, and truly enjoy my work. I could make more money, but I prefer to work only four days a week. I go to trainings and conferences, and like learning new things. I also explored becoming a lab technician, a physical therapy assistant, a baker, a labor and delivery nurse, a child life specialist, and a children's librarian. All those careers sounded good, too. The choice was hard, but I am happy. After my mom paid for all those sessions with Toni, I have to give her haircuts and facials for life, but that's no problem! Good luck with your search.
happy with my career path

As another letter writer pointed out, it is sad that a nanny, who requires no job training, makes more money than a preschool teacher -- at least in the Bay Area. When are we going to bring more respect to traditionally “women’s” work?

In a separate, but similar letter, a SAHM wondered what she could do to work from home:

Hello there~~

I'm the mother of 21 month-old twins and have just recenty gone back to work as a teacher. I thought I would like getting a break from the kids, but just the opposite is true! Does anyone out there have suggestions for working at home? I'm sure most parents are in my position-- once you have the baby life changes and you want to be there for as much time as you can especially in the begining. I've also come down with ulcerative colits since the boys were born which can make even leaving the bathroom hard some days. I have to work at something to bring in at least $2000/month. I've thought of taking in another child, but that doesn't pay much, I'd have to take in several and that feels like a lot with the twins already!
Any suggestions?
Thanks~~
Jennifer

That’s the million-dollar question, Jennifer. What say you, MotherTalkers?

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Tags: career advice, preschool teacher, Berkeley Parents Network, teaching, career counselor (all tags)

Permalink | 10 comments

  • No work-at-home advice (0 / 0)

    but for the career-changer, one strategy I used many years ago was to look for people who were doing what I thought would be a great job.  I was working with kids with autism, but at the lowest pay level.  I started talking to supervisors, consultants, people I met through my work.  I asked them what degrees they had and what their career path was.  This led me to my graduate program and kicked off my career.

    by Sue in Queens on Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 11:00:14 AM PDT

  • it's hard to say (0 / 0)

    because the woman's not very specific in her qualifications, interests or what kind of office setup she has in her home, but I do remember from a few years ago there was a trend in independent contracted personal assistants/secretaries. This meant women would act for a few clients who needed, for example, a part-time PA, managing all the needs. Most of the women who did this were SAHM.

    by Rachel on Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 03:58:25 PM PDT

  • tall order (0 / 0)

    Jennifer has got a tall order there.

    She needs to make 2K a month.  From her home.  That's a lot of money.  I'm assuming she needs to make this while she manages to care for her twins too, since putting them in daycare would easily eat up the 2K a month she would make.

    My advice to her would be to try to find a way to scale down if she could right now so she didn't have to work, since it sounds like she doesn't want to teach anymore.  Sounds like she has a lot on her plate already, and I'm assuming since she wants to work at home, someone else has the health benefits going for her.

    by NJmom on Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 05:01:51 PM PDT

    • I wonder if that's 2k (0 / 0)

      exclusive of childcare, or inclusive of childcare. If it's including childcare, perhaps she could hire a "mother's helper" or college student to give her a hand.

      $2k is a lot of money straight off the bat; it took me about three years of freelancing to get to the point where I'm at now. So perhaps she's a little unrealistic in her expectations - I think she has three main issues to address: 1.) the salary needs; 2.) the desire to spend more hours with her children; 3.) her health situation. If she accepts that fulfilling issues two and three are going to be easier than number one, she'll probably find it an easier go.

      Having said that, there are ways of making decent money at home. I've heard of curriculum consultants, test examiners (hey, as long as we have NCLB, exploit it, sad as it is). There's also tutoring, plus I wonder if she could get a job freelance copyediting for school textbooks. So in short, she's not without options, but working from home isn't as easy as saying, okay, I want to work from home and "shazam!" here it is! (I speak from bitter experience here!)

      by Rachel on Fri Feb 08, 2008 at 06:41:35 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • asdf (0 / 0)

        I'm thinking it's 2K after childcare, maybe it's what she is making after she pays daycare now?

        I agree, there are lots of ways to make money from home, but as you said, it takes time and determination.  It's not like a mom is going to fall into a 2K a month job, that lets her stay at home all the time, and can be done around the kids, if we're reading this right.

        While it is nice to be home with your kids, sometimes the best, and least stressful, option is to keep your job.  If you really need to bring in X amount of money to stay afloat, it's not going to be easily replaced with a work at home job, and it could end up being 100X more stressful!

        by NJmom on Sat Feb 09, 2008 at 07:37:55 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        • I agree (0 / 0)

          I also think that in this woman's case, she's also got ulcerative collitis - which is not an easy condition to manage while working full time and, bless her, twins! Perhaps she needs to take a leave of absence to get her health together and maybe spend some time plotting the trajectory of a home job?

          by Rachel on Sat Feb 09, 2008 at 01:47:57 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

  • career counseling (0 / 0)

    For my birthday a few years ago, my mother paid for career counseling

    what a great mom

    by thankgodforairamerica on Sat Feb 09, 2008 at 05:26:11 AM PDT

  • Career counseling - really that helpful? (0 / 0)

    I did those skill/interest inventories in hs and college, to be told that I'd be a great florist or undertaker.  Seriously.  I majored in English and psychology as an undergrad, and promptly moved to a very small town where most jobs really depend on networking.  Which is hard to do when you don't know anybody.  I ended up with a horrible commute and working in staffing, which I loved PARTS of, but overall, hated.  When I got pregnant, it was a REALLY easy decision to stay home.

    My youngest will (most likely) be starting full day pre-K in the fall, and I'm having a major "what do I want to do when I grow up" conversation with myself.  My ability to network in town has gotten much better, but really, I have no idea what I want to do.  No idea at all.  

    Long story aside, has anybody else actually done "real" career counseling?  Did you find it very helpful?  What did you really get out of it, if I can be nosy?  

    by K C on Sat Feb 09, 2008 at 02:28:36 PM PDT

    • I went to a few sessions... (0 / 0)

      at a Jewish center in San Francisco. What I found most helpful was taking the Myers-Briggs personality test and having a career counselor go over the results with me. She was able to ask more detailed questions from the tests, for example, something that came out is I like to shop for clothes. But fashion designer was ruled out for me because we realized that the black and white ensemble I was wearing and tended to purchase for work was very practical and not risky or creative as you would expect from someone really interested in that field.

      I also received a list of 10 possible career choices. Realizing that No. 2 was "newspaper reporter," I stayed at my current job. The career counselor also made sure to point out that i was in a good position; that I had a media job -- a good fit, according to my list -- that paid me enough to pay my bills. Sometimes, you need someone objective to point that out to you.

      Nonetheless, there were many other interesting potential career options for me, which I had never thought of before: translator, paralegal, and a few others that escape me. I did have to pay a (small) fee, but I felt I got a lot out of it.

      by Elisa on Sat Feb 09, 2008 at 06:48:58 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • Thanks! (0 / 0)

        Thanks for the feedback.  I know I'm incredibly lucky to be in the position that, for the first time in my life, I don't really HAVE to work, and have the luxury of really figuring out what I want to do.  Oddly, I've found it pretty overwhelming to have so many options and flexibility.  Career counseling is sounding like a  better and better idea.  Thanks, Elisa!

        by K C on Mon Feb 11, 2008 at 08:31:57 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

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