Needs ideas for a career change

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I have been working as a freelance tutor teaching elementary school/primary school Maths after leaving my previous job almost 2 years ago and it doesn't seem to be working out. After the major exams around May and October, many of my students' parents terminate my services because I have been unable to help their kids improve significantly in their Maths and/or they want to take a break during the school vacations in June, November and December. (I understand this is also an issue for NT tutors who are not current or former school teachers - there is a high demand for those tutors.) I have been unable to teach more than 2 students at a time since I started. Most of my students like me, but not to the point of them wanting to work hard not to disappoint me.

There are tuition agencies here that help you get students, but they take half of your first month's pay as commission, and it's also way easier for students' parents to find another tutor if they don't like me.

I have a Maths degree and many years' experience of volunteering with animals. I would like to keep my weekday mornings free for animal volunteer work to benefit my mental health. I am trying to find something where I work the afternoon and night shift with my current qualifications (not eager to go through another few years of exams again) and do backroom work (minimal interaction with customers and colleagues)

The main reason why I have been working freelance is because the office politics got nasty in my last place. The dynamics were such that I ended up spending more and more time with a certain colleague and doing more and more of her work for her. I got fewer chances to interact with the other colleagues I felt more comfortable with.

This is all I can write for now. Thanks in advance for any replies, and if there was anything I missed out above, I can elaborate when I reply.

Can you really blame them for not wanting to keep you paid if they aren't seeing improvement?

If you like math, have you ever thought about being an actuary for an insurance company?

My degree is in pure Maths, so I am not qualified to do that as I need to have studied actuarial science. Thanks for your reply anyway.

It's never too late to try something new. Why not take a course or two in actuarial science?

Not in the near future... I was feeling burnt out as I was finishing up my first degree, so I can't see myself doing another degree now.

I did finish an online course related to animals though, so I can do some morning work related to animals. I need an afternoon job with regular pay, since the animal work and tutoring is kind of ad hoc and any income from there will fluctuate.

I am just warning you, though, and you probably already know this, but most work is fulltime that is worth doing, or it does not let you control your schedule. So you may have to think of your animal work as something to fit in around your job, not vice versa.

With a pure math degree you might want to look into a job as an operations research analyst. You can get entry level jobs with a bachelor's degree but a master's degree is preferred by most employers.


For further info:

Operations Research Analyst

What happened in my last full time job was that I would do my volunteer work when I took a day off, but subtract other leave days I used to do weekday shopping or something else, I was only seeing my animal and volunteer friends maybe once very few months. Meantime at my day job, I was spending more and more time first being "encouraged" to convert by a colleague (I was a freethinker employee at a religious organisation) and then when I didn't convert, having to do more and more work for that colleague, even doing overtime with no pay during peak season, and getting slowly cut off from other colleagues I did get along with. The scary thing was she acted friendly and caring all the while - I only figured out towards the end she isn't what she seems. Even an NT ex-colleague or two I am on good terms with was fooled by the seemingly friendly climate at first. Shorter hours hopefully mean less possibly of getting caught up in politics like these - I hope I will be lucky enough to find a really good place.

This may or may not happen with future bosses or colleagues, but I would like to know that however the day job works out, there will be this regular balancing presence in my life.

Need to find what your passion and go from there. Working for a religious organization that does not fit within your belief system sounds like something you might want to consider exploring other options. Especially if the organization is trying to "convert" you from away from what is you. One time, I heard that every job is a temporary job because of not knowing what could happen. Should always keep your opportunities open and network with others. If you're looking for your "dream job," I would consider talking with a few people in that field. I read an article in my local newspaper about this very thing this morning. Courtesy of JT & Dale: Talk Jobs column, they suggested that you should ask to speak with those individuals. Then, tell them you are doing a research project assigned by a career columnist. Find out how they spend their workdays. This will help you with knowing yourself better and who you are and what your strengths are as they apply to the role of your "dream job." Then, the column mentioned that you can begin developing a personal brand to sell to individuals in the industry where you want to work.

Just my two cents.