In the first four months of 2022, 474,000 US teachers and school staff resigned from their jobs. If you look back a little further in the Bureau of Labor Statistics records, you’ll quickly find that 2.6 million school staff have resigned since the beginning of the pandemic (February 2020). That means a career change for teachers has become more common, and many are leaving education to find greener pastures.
If you too, feel that the hardships and bureaucracy of teaching have sapped the joy from the job, it may be time for a career change. Moving on to another job after teaching can be a daunting prospect, so we’re sharing our top tips on career change for teachers to help you take the right next steps (spoiler: you can start on ZipRecruiter).
Career Change for Teachers: Our Top 5 Tips
1. Identify Your Strengths & Interests
If you’re looking for a new job, you should start on ZipRecruiter. This platform will allow you to upload your resume, specify what you’re working for, and search for new jobs. It also sends you positions you might be interested in and qualified to take. So, you might start getting interview requests soon after you create your profile!
Before you start worrying about how you’re going to answer interview questions, start by sitting down with a piece of paper and writing down your strengths, skills, and interests. Try not to filter your answers through the lens of what you think is or isn’t relevant – just get it all down. If you have a strength or skill that you don’t really enjoy using, don’t write it down or put it in a different color. Happiness and satisfaction in your new role is what will keep you happy, so avoid getting a new job that uses the same strength you find tiresome.
2. Get Clear on What You Don’t Want
Next, make a list of all the things you don’t want in your new career. Feel free to moan about all the things you hate about teaching here! This list is only for you and will help you decide which careers and roles will and won’t suit you. Consider things like your schedule as well as what you’ll be doing in your new job.
3. Don’t Be Afraid to “Date”
One thing that can hold teachers back from making a career change quickly is fear that they’re going to make the wrong choice of career. Remember that, unless you’re planning to invest in going back to school, it won’t cost you anything to try on a few different jobs.
Sure, you don’t want to look unreliable on your resume, but most people looking at your resume will see that you left one career to join another and took a few stepping stones to find your footing. If you’re worried you won’t like a new job, try to arrange to shadow someone or volunteer before committing. If you choose a new career and decide after 6 months that it’s not right for you, don’t stick it out – try again.
4. Start Searching on Job Sites
Once you’ve got some idea about what you are good at and looking for in a new role, start searching job sites to find out what’s out there and what you could apply for.
ZipRecruiter is one of the biggest job search sites in the world, with over 9 million active job listings at any time, so you’ll have plenty of listings to work through. Make a note of any job roles that interest you so you can research them further or tailor your resume so you can apply later. See our list of top job search websites for a career change for other sites you can use.
5. Tailor Your Resume
Finally, it’s good practice to tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for. But you can usually create a few different versions you can keep to hand so you can apply for any position without having to go back and edit your resume every time. Go back to the list of positions you’re interested in and create a resume for each type of job you have listed. For more help here, see our posts How to Make a Resume with No Experience and The Perfect Resume Sample.
Get Started on Your Career Change for Teachers
A career change for teachers is always a daunting prospect, but if you keep these steps in mind and remember why you want to find a new position, you’ll be able to push through and find a new career that leaves you feeling more fulfilled (and, likely more importantly, more relaxed!) at the end of each work day. To start your job search, start on ZipRecruiter and begin talking to employers soon!
