School opening has already begun in some parts of the country. And many teachers are forced to consider their options. If you are a teacher who has decided that going back to school this fall isn't an option for you, you will want to listen to this episode of "Teachers in Transition" because Kitty Boitnott, Heart-Centered Career Transition and Job Search Coach talks about the many moving parts of the average job search.
In this episode, Kitty ponders the many questions and challenges facing teachers who are struggling with whether to go back into their schools or not. She also talks about the challenges job seekers will face while job hunting during a pandemic. Many of the old rules and traditional advice goes out the window during times like these.
But if you are job hunting, there are some things you need to know about how to manage your resume and get it through the Applicant Tracking System as well as how to network in theses days of COVID.
#jobsearch #jobhunting #careerchange #careertransition
School opening has already begun in some parts of the country. And many teachers are forced to consider their options. If you are a teacher who has decided that going back to school this fall isn't an option for you, you will want to listen to this episode of "Teachers in Transition" because Kitty Boitnott, Heart-Centered Career Transition and Job Search Coach talks about the many moving parts of the average job search.
In this episode, Kitty ponders the many questions and challenges facing teachers who are struggling with whether to go back into their schools or not. She also talks about the challenges job seekers will face while job hunting during a pandemic. Many of the old rules and traditional advice goes out the window during times like these.
But if you are job hunting, there are some things you need to know about how to manage your resume and get it through the Applicant Tracking System as well as how to network in theses days of COVID.
#jobsearch #jobhunting #careerchange #careertransition
Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is Kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt-out teachers just like you deal not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for"Teachers in Transition." In some episodes, I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes, I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track? These are questions that you need answers to and I can help you find those answers. My name is Kitty Boitnott. Welcome to"Teachers in Transition." Welcome back to episode 71 of"Teachers in Transition," the Podcast and the YouTube channel. My name is Kitty Boitnott. I'm the owner of[ Boitnott Coaching, LLC, and the founder of Teachers in Transition. If you've listened to me in the past, you know that I talk one week about stress management strategies because I'm a stress management and holistic wellness coach. And on alternating weeks, I talk about career transition and job search strategies because I'm a trained and experienced heart-centered career transition and job search strategist. And this week, the topic is career transition and it's the first week in August. And the talk now has turned up to a fever pitch about what to do about going back to school. This fall, some school divisions are delaying the start of the year in hopes that things will tamp down a little bit and then maybe not be quite so. Um, so much of a hotspot for coronavirus. Some locations are going to be doing fairly well. I heard someone this morning say he would be okay with sending his kids back to school because he lives in Massachusetts and they've managed to get their numbers down to the point where he doesn't feel like it would be a tremendous risk, but wherever you happen to live in the country, you may need to think in terms of risk management and weigh the pros and cons and the risks versus the rewards of going back or sending your kids back. If, and when the district starts to go back into the buildings and into the classrooms, if you're a teacher, you may be struggling with the dilemma of what do you do. And this is especially true. If you happen to be of a certain age or you have an underlying health issue, I've already seen articles in the paper about teachers who have decided to take early retirement. I talked to a gentleman a few weeks ago who has decided to quit because he has a health issue that would put him at risk and going back doesn't feel like an option for him. So a number of people that I've talked to already just in the last couple of weeks have either decided that they are not going back at all or in the event that they can go back as a virtual choice. They're going to choose that as opposed to going back into the building. Some people don't feel like they have a choice. And so they're going to be going back into the building and they're going to be concerned about whether or not it's safe. And I don't blame them. I would be concerned too, if it were me, uh, I've been thankful that I have not had to make a decision and have wondered for myself what I would have done. Had I been in my twenties, thirties or forties, um, before I started having any sort of health issues, but w what would I have decided I suspect I would have felt like I didn't have much choice and I would have gone back and I might've felt unsafe, but I would have gone back. Anyway. I suspect, um, now many districts are making decisions based on what's going on in their localities. And if they've decided it's not safe to bring everyone back into the building, or they don't have the capacity to meet all of the protocols and CDC guidelines in an effort to keep people safe, they are going back remotely, at least for the first part of the year. And then it seems like a lot of colleges and universities are all over the place with regard to how they're going back. And I know that for myself, if I teach this fall at the university where I'm a member of the adjunct faculty, it will be totally online. I had played with the idea of making it a hybrid course, and the more I learned as the summer went on, the more convinced I was that it just, it wouldn't be worth it. Uh, and we would probably be disrupted somewhere along the line anyway. So I just decided for myself and my students to make the course online. So each one of us has to make a decision about how we face this pandemic, how we deal with it, what we decide to do, what mitigating factors we need to put in place in order to keep ourselves safe and our loved ones safe. You know, one teacher, I think I've already mentioned her probably called me a few weeks ago. And she was just, she really freaked out about the idea of going back into her classroom and then potentially bringing home the virus to her baby or 19 month baby. And I don't blame her for feeling that way. And you all summer, we've heard these stories about how kids under a certain age, aren't as likely to be carriers and yada yada, and we don't need to worry so much about kids, because even if they get the virus, they don't get as sick and yeah. On and on. And then this week, we, this today, it's in the news about 236 campers who, uh, the camp did everything they thought they were supposed to do. The adults were all wearing masks. The kids weren't because they didn't think the kids carry it. And now 236 kids have tested positive for the virus. And that's 236 families that are now going to be exposed and all of their friends. And I mean, it just goes on and on. And the baseball teams are having their own issues. And so it's calling into question, even in the best of circumstances, how safe is it really to try to get back to normal? And I, I just suspect that we've got to face the potential for a new normal, for the foreseeable future until we get a vaccine or a cure or both for this particular virus. So what is all I'd have to do with job search? If you are a teacher who has decided you're not burnt out teacher, you still like teaching. You love your students, but because of the pandemic, you don't feel like it's safe for you to go back, or you can go back remotely, but you're still concerned about what, what to do in the event that your district decides later to open up. What do you do? How do you protect yourself and your family? And one of the potential answers that as you start looking for a new job, now, I won't kid you as late as our first week in August. It is likely not possible. I won't say it's impossible, but it's not likely that you will have lined up a brand new job before school starts. It's just not likely not, unless you're willing to settle for, you know, delivering packages for Amazon or delivering food for grub hub, or some of the Uber eats some of the, some of the gig jobs that you might be able to find. Um, you might be able to find a retail position. Maybe some places are starting to hire again, that if you're looking for a professional level job, that will be similar to the requirements of your previous teaching experience and we'll pay commensurate to what you were paying, being paid. Now it's unlikely that you would find something in a few weeks. The average job search before the pandemic hit was four to nine months. Now, I don't know what impact the pandemic will have on that, but it makes sense that it might have some impact on it. So what do you do? You may have to figure out a short term solution while you undertake a serious job search, looking for something perhaps that you can do remotely from home that will still take advantage of the credentials that you have, the educational background, that you have, the experience that you have and pay well. But that's going to mean that you need to be strategic about your search, that you'd be intentional about your search and that you frankly know what you're doing. And most people who have decided on a whim or a spur of the moment, or even after some thinking about it, most people don't know how to start a job search with intention and, and smartly. Most people need help. Now, is it possible for you to Google search your way through all of the tools that you need for a successful job search? Sure. There's lots of information. Just turn on. Like know one of the Joe Joe Scarborough says, turn on the Google machine and look it up. You can do that. It will take you longer to do it that way. However, it will cost you time. It will certainly cost you money. And the worst part is that you'll run across conflicting and contradictory advice. And you don't, you won't know whose advice to take. So if, if all else fails, find a mentor. If you can't afford a coach, find someone who's willing to mentor you or find end of group, that you can work with. That is being mentored at the same time here in my city, there are two groups of job seekers that are meeting virtually every week. I suspect that their next job fair that they will be planning for this fall will be a virtual job fair. They canceled their job fair in March because everything hit the pandemic kit right about the time they were planning their trip, spring job fair. Uh, but more and more groups are doing virtual job fairs now. So I suspect that they will do that as well. So find a group like that it's free and the resources are solid and people are there willing and able and ready to help you, but it might be even faster for you to find a coach, to hire, to help you with all of the moving parts of a job search. Because lots of moving parts, the resume, it's just simply a small part of the overall job search process. The resume is one little piece, but if you screw up the resume, it will also delay your efforts at success because you won't be invited for interviews. Won't have made the case that you're the right one person for the job. When run through the applicant tracking system, you'll be at 25% match for the job instead of the needed 60 to 70 to 80% match. Now there's a tool. I think I've probably mentioned it before. It's awesome. I wish I were an affiliate for it, but I'm not job scan dot C O. Use that to help you line up your resume with a job description so that you can make yourself the 80% match to the job that you're looking to apply for. And if you aren't, at least a 60% match, don't even bother to apply for the job because you will not be called for an interview. The resume is a key piece. The cover letter is also important. However, as is your LinkedIn profile. And again, I've probably mentioned this before, but if you aren't on LinkedIn, you might as well forget about bothering with the job search, because if you're not on LinkedIn, as far as job people are concerned, the hiring managers, the rest of the recruiters, the HR directors, if you're not on LinkedIn, you don't exist. They're going to think that there's something wrong that you don't have at least a LinkedIn profile. I have people who tell me, I don't do. I don't do Facebook. I don't do Twitter. I don't have any other social media platforms. That's fine, but you've got to have LinkedIn. If you want to be considered a serious candidate, don't just rely on online applications either. They are very impersonal. It's almost impossible to break through the chat or to, to set yourself apart from all the other dozens and hundreds of people who may be applying for the job that you just applied for. You need to set yourself apart. And one way to do that is to create an active and centralized network. A group of people that you can network with, whether it's on some other social media platform or LinkedIn, but at least on LinkedIn. Now you can follow people and groups on Facebook and Twitter and develop casual relationships that way as well on LinkedIn, you want to be creating, um, networking connections and, and starting conversations with people. And as you build rapport with individuals, you may want to ask them if they'd be willing to let you speak to them by zoom or by the phone about their job, um, and how they got into it and what training they needed to get into it. And what are the longterm prospects they think for the industry in general, for their company, what's the culture of their company. Like you want to invite the people that have jobs similar to the ones you're looking for, who work in companies, similar to the ones you want to work for and who are in the industries that you're interested in. Now, when you ask someone for an informational interview, you're not offering your resume. You're not offering them yourself at all. You're asking them for information about them, their experience, their connection with the company or with the industry. And you're looking to find information. You're also looking to build rapport and relationships. And in this virtual world, that is one of the best ways right now to create new relationships. You're not going to be able to go to a job fair or a networking event, because those have been put on hold for now and for the foreseeable future. So use your LinkedIn profile to reach out to people, to connect with people and to build rapport with those folks. And so LinkedIn is critically important. Cover letters are critically important. Resumes are critically important. Understanding how the applicant tracking system works is important. The networking piece is important. Knowing how to interview well is important. Following up the interview with a handwritten, thank you note as well as an email note, all of these are the moving parts of a successful job search. And oftentimes it's too much to try to figure out on your own without wasting time and money. So you need my opinion need, you need a coach, whether you, whether you need me or not is debatable, but you need somebody to guide you through the process. Now, if you're a teacher, you would benefit from working with me because I understand teachers, I understand the language that they use. I understand the skills that they have, and I can help you to translate those skills into the skills that are outlined in a non-teacher job description, but you don't need me necessarily. You just, you need someone to help you. I'm willing and able and want to help if I can. That's why I do these podcasts, these, these messages each week, I want to help you to figure out what it is that's best for you moving forward in your career or how you can manage your stress in the midst of all this over there. Well, then pandemic chaos. So I'm here to help whether you need to hire me, you know, I'm not a good sales person, so I'm not going to say you need to hire me, but I'm going to suggest that you need help from somewhere, some quarter, some, some professional who can help you to navigate through tricky waters of the job search process. So on that note, let me just say, I hope that you will stay safe this week, this month, as you go into the school year, whether you're going back remotely or in person, regardless of your, your job search prospects, please, please, please continue to take precautions to stay safe, to, to not be lulled into thinking that if, if the numbers are okay in your area, that it's now safe to go out and act like nothing's ever happened. Because I think that's where people get trapped and suddenly find themselves sick to continue to be safe, continue to, to practice safe, uh, hygiene, social distancing, wear a mask whenever you're out in public and stay well. Um, and that's it for this week. If you have any questions, want to ask me anything about the message for today, email me@kittyboynineatgmail.com. Take a look at my website, teachers and transition.com. If you have questions about any of the services or resources that I offer and provide, and until next week, as I said, please stay safe and stable. Yeah. So there you have it, an episode of"Teachers in Transition." I hope you enjoyed the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to"Teachers in Transition" so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode. I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at KittyBoitnott@BoitnottCoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. Hi, I'm Kitty Boitnott and this is"Teachers in Transition."