I had a choice to make earlier this year (about 8 months ago), and I made a decision which I am still slowly easing into.
That decision was to resign from the Education Service and pursue a different career.
It is still too early to tell how it will turn out, of course. But I am thankful that I made the decision, and am excited about the future.
Before we jump to any conclusions, let me say that I have found satisfaction in the Education Service. It has been my pleasure and honour to have had a hand in educating the youth of my country.
However, I have also reached a point from which I could see with better clarity and understanding, the path ahead of me if I were to continue in the Education Service, and pursue advancement along the civil servant's track. I have also had the benefit of having friends who have pursued other paths, and therefore I have had the luxury of comparing the path of inertia against the alternatives available.
It boils down to which path offers me the most efficient use of my time. Given that I have a limited number of years to contribute to this world, which path offers me the greatest output (multiplying the chance of success by the potential gain of each path)? The answer I came to in March, which I then agonized over and re-analyzed several times, was one that lay away from the Education Service.
And so I tendered my resignation. Of course, there will be the usual speculation about my unhappiness with my current workplace, but that is hardly the issue here. The issue is really about something which HR professionals and economists should be looking at in greater detail, which is the idea of people as independent suppliers of labour, rather than just employees.
I will deal with the re-conceptualization of work and employment in a separate post. Now I just need to pack and tie up loose ends.
It's almost as bad as moving house.
