Teachers in Transition

Teachers in Transition - Episode 150 - What You Need to Do Know if You Want a New Job

February 09, 2022 Kitty Boitnott Episode 150
Teachers in Transition
Teachers in Transition - Episode 150 - What You Need to Do Know if You Want a New Job
Show Notes Transcript

It's already the middle (almost) of February, and while reports say that teachers are leaving in droves, the question is where are they all going? And do you want to be one of them?

If you are a teacher hoping to make this year your last in the classroom, you have got to start looking NOW for where you want to land next. Download this free checklist of the "Checklist of 10 Things You Need to Know & Do if You Want to Change Your Job or Career" at https://kittyboitnott.lpages.co/checklist/.

If you would like to chat about your specific situation, make an appointment for a complimentary Discovery Session at https://teachersintransition.com/calendar.


Speaker 1:

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 boy. Not I'm a career transition and job search coach. And I specialize in helping burnout out teachers just like you deal, not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day to a 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. 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 boy, not welcome to teachers in transition.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to episode 150 of teachers in transition the podcast and the YouTube channel. My name is kitty boy, not I am the owner of boy, not coaching. And the founder of teachers in transition. I am a heart centered career transition and job search coach who specializes in working with burnout teachers who are ready to make a change in their career. I'm also a certified stress management coach. And so if you've listened to this podcast in the past, you know that I alternate topics each one week talking about stress management strategies. And on alternating weeks, I talk about career transition. This week, the topic is career transition. And I want to say to anyone who may be listening and toying with the idea of leaving teaching behind and moving on a new career, that it is time to get off the fence. By the time you hear this message, it will be toward the middle of February, 2022. We're marching right along into the year. It's no longer the new year it's into February and almost to the middle of February. And that means that letters of, uh, intent are not officially on their way, but it does mean that HR offices are taking stock of what openings they anticipate to have next year. And they are looking to recruit new talent into the classrooms for 20 22 23. And they're hoping to retain the teachers that they have already on board. What many HR directors are fearful of is the mass Exodus. That seems to be happening across the country with teachers leaving in droves and larger numbers of teachers than ever in, in recorded history are, are saying that they would leave if they could, or they are already one foot out the door, or they've already left. And I'm currently working with some people who've already left. They decided that it was not worth it and they are done and they've quit. Now I understand those individual situations and choices that sometimes we have to that my best advice is that if you can hang on until you have found a new job that is preferable, partly because it continues to give you the income that you need, and you don't have to delve into savings or borrow money from loved ones to pay the rent and buy the groceries. But the cliche that it's better to look for a job when you have a job is a cliche because it's true. People are a little bit skeptical of candidates who come to them. Mid-career who have left or ready. The concern is if you've up and left one job whats to keep you from up and leaving this job. And it makes them a little nervous. Uh, uh, it's, it's not a necessarily a deal breaker, but it does tend to make hiring managers a little on the nervous side to be bringing in someone who has precipitously or impulsively left a job. And they don't care the circumstances under which you left you. There's no explanation that will fully satisfy them, especially if they've never been a teacher. And don't understand the circumstances that you happen to be dealing with these days. So best advice don't leave until you've lined something up that you know is going to be a good fit for you. Now that's the best circumstance we don't always live with best circumstances. So if already left or you are, are thinking, you may not make it to the end of this week, then do what you have to do, but know that you cannot afford to delay your job search a minute longer. If you are feeling that stressed about your current job, that means you need to start looking immediately. And I'm going to offer in the show notes today, a checklist of 10 things you need to know I've been promoting this checklist for months now. So you may already have it, 10 things you need to know. If you think you're ready to make a job change or to leave the classroom. I forget exactly what the title of it is, but it's checklist of 10 things you need to know. And it offers the specific steps that you need to follow, including starting with what is it that you want to do. And for many of the people who come to work with me, that's the number one big old fat question. If you, you, you know, you wanna leave, but what are you leaving for? What are you interested in doing? What are you qualified to do? Now? I want you to spend less time on what you think you might be qualified to do and more time on what is it that you would like to do because perhaps it's possible. It might not be, but perhaps it's possible that you could go for what you want instead of what you think you might have to settle for. That takes time, though, that takes some level of intention. It takes some self reflection. It might take some self assessment. It requires you to do some internal work to assess what your aptitudes are, what your strengths are, what your weaknesses are, what your flaws are to consider what kind of work environment you're looking for. That was a big one for me when I was in the middle of my own transition and not sure what I was going to wind up doing, because I trust me. I never, I never thought for a minute that I was going to be a coach. That was not my preplan. I was just as confused and felt just as thew and overwhelmed as anybody who might be listening to this podcast or watching this YouTube video right now, I was, I was a mess. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew what my experiences were, but I didn't know what they added up to that might make for a viable career. But thinking about what I wanted as far as work environment began to help me solidify what it was that I wanted for me. I was over the idea of wanting to do any traveling. I was not interested in an early morning commute anywhere. I was really, really wanting to be able to work from home, to be my own boss, to set my own schedule that had a tremendous appeal to me. And that is when this whole notion of becoming a coach cropped up. And I realized that I had the education. I didn't have specific coaching experience yet, but I certainly had the level of education that would warrant my ability to transfer skills from my educational background, into the coaching arena. Uh, in my case, I have two master's degrees and a PhD, all of them related to education. But my experience in education made me a qualified to be talking to teachers about what it is that they do and given my own burnout and my own desire to not be in the classroom anymore. I certainly could talk about that and all the reasons why it didn't make sense for me to be going back just like it doesn't make sense for you to stay. If you, you no longer feel fulfilled and happy in your teaching job. So that was the first sort of aha moment that I had, that I wasn't looking for an office job. I wasn't looking for a job that would require that I'd do a lot of traveling. I had done that. You know, that sounds really romantic travel required until you have to do it living out of a suitcase one half of the month. Isn't just not as romantic as it sounds. And when you're in a city for business, you don't have time to do the kind of, of sight seeing that you might like to do if you were there on vacation. So it's traveling a lot is not all that it's cracked up to be. At least it wasn't for me. Now, if I were younger, I might feel differently, but I wasn't and I was tired and I wanted a job where I could be in charge of my own environment. Um, so that's, that was part of what I led me to think about coaching as a viable alternative. So I want you to think about what would be a viable alternative for you. Not everybody wants to work from home. Some people need the synergy of working with other people. They need the socialization that comes with working in an off this environment with people that they can bounce ideas off of. So what is it for you that would be an ideal work environment? That's one question you want to ask yourself as you're thinking about what kind of work would you like to do next in your career? Now, like I said, we're in the, on most of the middle of February, the school year will be ending before, you know, it it's practically like between spring break and the end of the year, it's a blink of an eye and we're halfway to spring break already. Right? So what you need to be thinking in terms of is if, if you really, really, really want this to be your last year of teaching, you've gotta get busy and start looking for a new job right now, no delay like right now, like today start looking. And if you feel like you need help, get help, whether it's from me or another coach, but get the kind of help you need to help you avoid making the mistakes that most beginner job seekers make. Cause they don't know any better and understand that the job search process is just that it's a process. It will take the time it takes. It will never move as fast as you want it to. You cannot wait until March or April. And think that you'll find a job necessarily by June. Not unless you're planning to go into retail or Starbucks or someplace where you'd be making just, just about minimum wage age. So if you wanna be making a lateral move using the education that you've invested in, you need to start your search immediately. And there's still frankly, no guarantee that you will have found something by June. I read just recently that the average job search process is taking on average 29 weeks. Now that's a little over seven months. So between now and August, you might have time to find something but not between now and the end of June necessarily. So that's something to consider something to think of a out don't delay. If you need the 10, the checklist of 10 things, you need to know if you're ready for a career change, click on the link and download it and use it. And if you would like to talk about how I might be able to help you make an appointment@teachersintransition.com slash count and let's chat, I wanna wanna know about your individual circumstances and how I might be able to help that's it for this week, have a wonderful rest of your week and I'll see you next week.

Speaker 1:

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 kitty boy, not boy.coaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. I'm kitty boy not. And this is teachers in transition.