Apologies if you feel this should be in the recruitment thread.

I'm a Regular infantry captain who has served around 4 years. I'm currently exploring opportunities outside the Army (especially teaching) and I'm interested in joining the TA on leaving.

My main query is, how much say would I have in terms of hours I work in the TA infantry? I would like to subsidise my teaching salary with the TA income. For example, as a teacher you can expect approx 12 weeks off per year. Are there opportunities to work in that time or do you have to stick to certain hours within your unit?

Also, if I leave as a captain would I get to keep my rank? Or does each unit have a PID limitation and, therefore, I may not be able to enter that unit?


Apologies if any of this comes across as naive. My experience with the TA is very limited and I am only in the very tentative stages of exploring other careers.


Thanks

You should be able to get what you want without too many problems however each unit is different! There are also a few other options that you may not have considered such as going to the Local OTC as an Officer Instructor initially - you will technically be a student too and there may be more opportunities to work in your vacation...

Your biggest issue would be the inability to make annual camp if it occurs outside the school holidays and be forced to attend courses in lieu during the Easter or Summer breaks. Note also that your PGCE/GTP and subsequent NQT year in teaching are fairly rammed and you may find yourself stretched in to commit as much as you would like.

zenith69uk's suggestion above reference instructing at your local OTC is a good one. I know of teachers in the TA who have done just that and it generally seems to fit better with work. Instructing OTC cadets has its own challenges and is perhaps not for everyone, but life's a long song ...
Have a chat with your local TA battalion and see what they have to offer. I think things will vary incredibly across the TA. My own battalion is choc full of eager young subbies, so your might have to be willing to travel for an available slot (that said, there's a vacancy for a Coy OC if you feel like stepping up ), but apparently there's a deficit of Junior Officers in the TA as a whole so most units should bite your arm off.

Good luck with whatever you choose to go with!

Originally Posted by krakatoa

I would like to subsidise my teaching salary with the TA income. For example, as a teacher you can expect approx 12 weeks off per year.

Friend of mine's a teacher. She spends several evenings a week marking coursework/homework, together with preparing lessons. She also does some training in school breaks.

I'd do some enquiring about how much free time a teacher actually gets...

Wordsmith

My long term girlfriend is a senior school teacher, so I am aware of hours worked and the commitments they have. I feel it would not be a problem sticking to the mandated drill night and two week camp (taken into consideration the earlier comment from RP 57.

I was mainly wondering if I would be able to work more hours in the 12-13 weeks that a teacher gets off per year.

Thanks for the replies

....and I've no idea why there is a blue smiley face in my last post.

This has come up in conversation very recently at our place.
If you are going to do this can I recommend that you have a conversation with your RCMO before you leave regular service, you should then be able to 'transfer' straight across (it might also be an idea to identify the unit you wish to go to and get in touch with their Adjt to smooth the way). We are currently taking any ex-regular that does that with their previous rank, effectively overbearing if there is already somebody of that rank and no free PIDs.

I am a Teacher, and did my PGCE six years ago whilst a Pl Sjt. I found it easy enough to balance the demands of the course and the TA, and the extra money was quite useful! It is just about organising your time effectively and prioritising. Any teacher thats whinges about spending all holiday working is doing something wrong!
Even now, I don't find too much of a problem balancing the two. There are clearly times when the workload increases throughout the year, but the only time my teaching has impacted my attendance at TA is when a parents evening has gone on past the time when I should be on the way to the TAC.
Annual Camp/Courses can be an issue, but my contract states that as a member of the reserve forces I am entitled to two weeks unpaid leave in order to attend annual camp. This is however at the Heads discretion, and there are times when, morally, it would be inappropriate to take time off. My school are very supportive, in fact I've just had two weeks to do a course.
Of course this varies from school to school.

If you have any questions about the PGCE or teaching, feel free to PM me.

Oh and yes! There is generally plenty of thingsyou can do during holidays. All 13 lovely weeks of them!!

Originally Posted by krakatoa

....and I've no idea why there is a blue smiley face in my last post.

When you next post, under the box you type text into, click the 'Go Advanced' button and you'll see a check box for the option of 'Disable smilies in text'.

Problem solved for that post.

Wordsmith

Originally Posted by OnTheBus

Oh and yes! There is generally plenty of thingsyou can do during holidays. All 13 lovely weeks of them!!

But are there enough MTDs to fill them?