Originally Posted by Unregistered

i'm a local uni grad with second upper honours. around 1 year of work experience so far. been considering making the switch to teaching, either gp or social studies/history/english.

i think i'd enjoy the teaching part (as with most aspiring teachers), but reading through forums and various blog posts online, the non-teaching aspect of the job seems like a huge bummer.

out of these i'm most concerned with the burnout/being overworked than anything else.

so my question is, how bad is it, really?

i don't mind staying late occasionally during busy periods but if the norm is to work from 7am to 8pm everyday then i'd think twice.

do teachers really have to burn EVERY saturday (even half day) for cca? from my secondary school days i remember the teacher wasn't around every saturday when we had cca meetings/activities.

are school holidays always burnt and how much protected time is truly protected?

the lack of 'prospects' in terms of money and corporate ladder climbing isn't that huge an issue for me. i'm not the most ambitious or competitive person...i'm just looking for a job where i can find some form of satisfaction/enjoyment and where i get sufficient time outside of work to have a life pursuing my personal interests.