Monday, August 15, 2011

What career is for me? I quit English teaching, hated it. Now I do boring clerical work. Any ideas?

I don't want to be a teacher anymore, but that's what everyone suggests to me. People seem to think I'm nuts for leaving teaching. I taught in an urban district where kids threw desks, but I don't want to teach even in an affluent one. I like kids and am decent with them, but I'd prefer to work with adults. I shadowed an Orientation and Mobility Specialist and didn't like it. I took a counseling cl and liked it but wasn't crazy about it. I ruled out librarian and speech pathologist. I've applied for jobs at nonprofits, recruiting, admissions counseling, higher ed administration, and didn't get them. I can keep trying but my resume doesn't have the experience those jobs want. I went for an informational interview at an educational publishing company but nothing came of it, despite my followups. Now I feel stuck. I'm not outstanding at math or computers, but I did graduate in the top ten of my high school cl, so I'm good at most school type things. I don't want to be in front of a crowd all day putting on a show (part of why i didn't like teaching), but I'm not a wallflower either. People tell me I'm friendly and make a good impression. I like interacting with people but I'm not a salesperson. I'm squeamish so I wouldn't try to be a nurse. I'm willing to go to grad school as long as I feel pionate about the career choice. I have to stay in the Northeast though due to my husband's good job... I feel like I've taken every career test out there (I'm an INFJ), but they keep suggesting the same jobs I've already explored. Is there something I'm missing? I tried my old college's career center and they just pointed me to websites like Idealist.org and gave me the same old quizzes I'd taken already. Any advice/thoughts are welcome. :-)

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