Today's episode was inspired by a list of 7 things you should do if you want to start a new job search. Kitty took issue not so much with the 7 things themselves but with the order of the items.
Listen to Kitty's rationale for why she would re-order the 7 things and what one thing she would add to the list.
To ask Kitty a question, email her at kittyboitnott@boitnottcoaching.com. Make an appointment at https://teachersintransition.com/calendar.
And please share and review this podcast to help other people to find it more easily.
Today's episode was inspired by a list of 7 things you should do if you want to start a new job search. Kitty took issue not so much with the 7 things themselves but with the order of the items.
Listen to Kitty's rationale for why she would re-order the 7 things and what one thing she would add to the list.
To ask Kitty a question, email her at kittyboitnott@boitnottcoaching.com. Make an appointment at https://teachersintransition.com/calendar.
And please share and review this podcast to help other people to find it more easily.
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 burn 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 and transition.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to episode 140 of teachers in transition the podcast and the YouTube channel. My name is Katie Boitnott. I'm the owner of point, not coaching and the founder of teachers in transition. I consider myself a heart-centered career transition and job search coach who specializes in working with burnt out teachers who are ready for a change, but don't always know where or how to start a new job search. So this week I'm going to be talking about career transition. I, if you've listened to this podcast in the past, you know that, um, alternating weeks, I talk about two very special subjects. One is stress management for teachers because I know many teachers are out there feeling very stressed and overwhelmed. And the alternating weeks, I talk about career transition because I also know there are many teachers out there looking for free help and advice on how to start and succeed in changing careers. So this week I want to talk a little bit about career transition and how and where to start. And I found a down and dirty sort of quick list of seven things that you should think about or do when you are considering starting a new job search. And I don't have any issue with the list itself, but I do have an issue with the order in which the list is offered. Now, if the author didn't intend for this list to be, uh, in order of importance, then my apologies to the list-maker, whoever that person may be. But here, here are the seven things on the list. And then I'm going to share with you what I think would be a better ordering in order of importance and priority. So the way the list currently reads it says review your past success and accomplishments, update your resume, update your LinkedIn brainstorm. What type of companies you want to work for, make a list of companies you want to apply to start networking and plan ahead for references. Now, again, as I say that I don't have any issue with any of these seven items. Uh, my issue is more or less with the order and with the fact that I think one important and perhaps the most important item on the list has been left off. And I guess it's been left off because everyone assumes it. They assume that if you're going to start a job search, you've already figured out what it is that you want to do. But in my experience, most of the people who come to me only know one thing for sure. And that that is they want to leave the classroom behind. They want the classroom K-12 education to be part of their past, not part of their future. Some don't even want it to be part of the present, even though in general, it has to be for the present while they plan for a change in the future. So the first thing and the most important thing, and the thing that I stress probably more than any other, one thing in my course jumpstart, your job search is that you have to spend some time thinking about meditating on visualizing the kind of job you want next, because until you have figured out what it is that you want next, you can't write a resume and you can't update your LinkedIn without having to do it all over again. Once you have figured out where you're going, I use this analogy a lot. You may have heard me use it in the past and excuse me for repeating it, but it's an important analogy. And I think one that bears would be, imagine planning to go on vacation, imagine booking airfare and hotel before you've decided where you're going before you've selected a destination. Now nobody would do that. It's not even possible. Where, where would you find a hotel in a disclosed location? So you have to figure out where you're going first. Then you book the airfare. Then you book the rooms, not until you figure out your destination. And the same is true. Think of the airfares being your LinkedIn profile and your hotel rooms as being your resume till you know where you're going. You can't work on either of those things. So in my approach to job search, especially for teachers who have been so caught up in their jobs teaching, and haven't really explored what other options there might be out there for them. They don't have a clue what else they might be qualified to do. They just don't know because they haven't been looking yet. My first big piece of advice is take some time upfront in the beginning. It will serve you well in the long run. I promise for you to sit with yourself, think about what your aptitudes are, what your talents are, what your God-given gifts or what are things that you do more easily than anybody else. You know, what kind of work would feel less like work. If you could engage in it and more like fun, and you'd be paid for it, think about those kinds of things. That's where you start your job search. Then you can take a stock to do assessments, figure out whatever it is that you need to do to determine where you should be heading in your next career or where you want to be. Take out the. Where do you want to go next in your career? And then you can start to review your success and accomplishments because your past success and accomplishment should be presented in the context of what it is that you want to do next, not in isolation, in the context of what is it that you want to do next. Once you figured out a direction, then you can write your resume. Then you can update your LinkedIn profile. Then you can start to brainstorm the types of companies that you want to work for. But I would suggest moving that up above updating your resume and LinkedIn profile, making a list of the companies that you want to apply to. That should be up above everything else should be decided before you start writing your resume. Otherwise you're going to be tweaking your resume for weeks to come. So deciding upfront first, where is it that you want to go long before you ever get to writing your resume is the correct order. In my opinion, along with working on your LinkedIn profile, then you can also start networking yes. And use your LinkedIn profile to help you network online, finding people who work in the companies you want to work for and connecting with them and asking them, what is it like to work for that company? Do they like working there? What kind of job do they have do? How did they get to be qualified to do that kind of work? And then finally, and I agree, lastly, planning for lining up your references. One note of caution do not, do not do not offer your references on your resume. Just don't it's fallen out of favor. Nobody wants to see it. If they want references. They'll ask for references, do not presume to offer references or even to tell on your, you don't put it anywhere on your resume. That references are available upon request. Of course they are every HR director and human resources director and hiring manager knows that they'll ask for references if they want them, but don't presume to send references. Certainly don't send references that you haven't checked in with first so that they have a heads up that somebody might be asking them for reference. So lining those up last. I agree with putting it in this, that, that, that particular order, but everything else is up for grabs. As far as I'm concerned, you first figure out what you want to do. Where do you want to go? Then you take stock, assess, assess your aptitudes, your strengths, your God given gifts. Think, think in terms of the kinds of work that would feel less like work and more like fun, but you get paid for it. Think about the companies you want to work for. Think about the kind of job you're interested in research. It makes sure it is what you think it is. No, a lot of people make a lot of false assumptions about what kind of jobs are entailed in certain kinds of job titles, some job titles don't at all reflect what the job is. So be sure you know, what the job entails and then create your resume around that. Your LinkedIn then should be an, uh, an overarching summary of everything you can do, but your resume should be laser targeted to the job that you were applying for. So be careful think in terms of where you want to go and then booking your airfare and her tailwind or writing your resume and your LinkedIn. And don't forget your cover letter, your cover letters, at least as important as your resume and your LinkedIn profile. So don't overlook the importance of writing a compelling cover letter. And that's it for this week. I hope you have found that helpful, no disrespect to the person who came up with the list. Thank you for giving me a jumpstart to talk about and to offer a different perspective on, and I hope that if you found this helpful, you will share it with other people. Tell them about teachers in transition the podcast, the website, if you would please review this podcast so other people can find it more easily. Shoot me questions, ideas for future podcasts episodes. If you would like email me@kittyboardnoddedcoaching.com. And if you'd like to talk about your specific situation, set up an appointment for a free complimentary discovery session@teachersandtransition.com forward slash calendar. I'll include all of the links to all of this information in the show notes, and for now have a wonderful week, continue to stay safe, to take care of yourself, get the rest that you need so that you can stay well and healthy. 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@kittyboitnottatnotcoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. I'm Katie Boitnott and this is teachers in transition.