SLOW DOWN!
I have continued to be involved in online communities of transitioning teachers, offering help whenever I can. I’ve spent countless hours answering questions, offering feedback on portfolios, projects, and LinkedIn profiles. I’ve even scheduled 30-minute phone calls with teachers looking to transition to instructional design. The teachers I feel I haven’t been able to help are the ones who have jumped straight into updating their resume and applying for every job they feel qualified for.
Stop & Breathe
I did the same thing. All I wanted was an escape route from teaching as quickly as possible. Part way through the Teacher Career Coach course. I jumped right into revising my resume to include the keywords from each job description and formatting it to work with applicant tracking systems. Then I pored through job listings and applied to every job that I felt qualified to do with a reasonable salary. Needless to say, I got nothing but ghosted.
You know that little spinning circle you get when a website is loading slowly? Just looking at this image causes my blood pressure to rise. Have you ever had one of those days when the internet seems slow, everything takes forever to load, and you have all you can do to keep from clicking on anything you can think of to try to speed it along? In reality, every click is just slowing it down more. That’s pretty close to how it feels when you first commit to transitioning out of the classroom. Every rushed action is like a desperate mouse click, getting you nowhere.
I just wanted someone to see my experience and expertise and understand the value I would bring to a job. I spread the word every chance I got that I was looking for employment. I hoped someone would have a connection to an opportunity where my skills would be valued and the employer would see my maturity, education, and professionalism and realize they were lucky to find someone so qualified to do the job. I imagined friends and family hearing of someone looking for a trainer, office manager, or executive assistant and tell them they knew the perfect person for the job. Once that imaginary employer met me they would be so grateful to have me join their team, that they would make a salary offer I couldn’t refuse. The Teacher Career Coach course gave me a roadmap for the transition and a wide variety of career options to explore, but I also knew I didn’t have the time or money to go back to school. I continued poring through job postings, submitting my resume, praying a job and I would find each other soon. Spoiler alert: it didn’t work.
Don’t Skip Steps
Looking back at this early period of the process, I think it was a combination of low-grade panic and wishful thinking. Everything beyond this point seemed so overwhelming and out of reach. I have read posts from former teachers who were that lucky, but it’s rare and often involves jobs with significantly lower salaries. If you haven’t chosen a specific career path, done your research into the industry, created an upskilling plan, and focused on taking thoughtful steps, you are probably just spinning your wheels. Every job application you submit is like hitting that refresh button when a website isn’t loading fast enough.
You may find ways to save time and you may find ways to save money, but you should not try to skip the steps in the process. (See future post “Action Plan”)
