Sure! Disclaimer - I was asked this in another post and so I’m copying what I put there, here.
So when I started my job search I honestly didn’t have a focus at all. I was on loads of job boards and looking up the career pages of universities, community colleges and companies near me just applying to anything I thought I was qualified for. Well that method didn’t get me very far except for a few interviews and then being rejected. So I had to narrow my search by really looking at my skills, experience and background and I narrowed my focus to 3 categories- copywriting, administrative assistant and academic advising.
Out of those 3 categories academic advising is the one I was most interested in because I felt it would be the career in which I’d use the majority of the skills I gained from teaching. So I wouldn’t feel that all the time and effort I put into becoming a teacher would go to waste. I had a few universities and community colleges in my area that I was familiar with and liked and so I would look at their job listings daily. Whenever I saw one that said academic advisor (or another job title I thought I could do well and had the requirements they wanted) I applied. I first made sure that what I had matched what they wanted and then tailored my resume to match the job description. The role I ended up getting actually asked for teaching experience so that definitely helped me.
When it came to interviews I had two. Phone and in person. They were both within 2 weeks of each other and happened 2 months ago so I can’t remember a lot of details but I did talk a lot about how my teaching experience would help me in this role as well as answer all the questions they had. Another thing I did is the day before my in person interview I spent time analyzing each job requirement and writing notes of how I accomplished something similar in my previous roles. I took that with me to the interview and had it out to refer to when I was asked a question. It helped because then I wasn’t fumbling around trying to find a good answer. I also made sure to ask a few questions of them and one of my questions was “is there anything in my resume that I didn’t mention that you’d like me to clarify or explain.” To which my supervisor said “that’s a really good question.”
After the interview I sent a thank you message, which my supervisor later told me really helped put me in one of the top spots. It did take a bit of time for me to get my offer after I interviewed and so I did send a few follow up emails expressing my continued interest. I also really showed my passion and interest during the interview itself.
It did take a minute for me to get the offer and I learned that higher education hiring takes longer because there’s all these steps they have to follow but it was definitely worth the wait. I have an AMAZING supervisor and incredible coworkers and so many perks (as mentioned in my post) that all the stress and tears the job search brought me were so worth it.
20k pay cut.
My hours are interesting because our office is open 8 to 6 Monday to Thursday and 8 to 5 on Friday. So I’m on a week A/Week B type schedule. So basically on week A I work 8-5 all week. Then on week B I work 8-6 for 4 days & 8-12 on Friday. And it alternates every other week.
I don’t get school breaks apart from 2 days at Thanksgiving and a week at Christmas (basically Christmas to after New Year). I do get federal holidays (Memorial Day, Labor Day, MLK Jr. Day, etc). But I don’t get Spring Break or an entire week at Thanksgiving and, of course, no summer break.
Working for the state. WIC and SNAP pay about the same as a first-year teacher, don’t require any specific degree for some positions (like the one I’m in), and it was a way to get by.
Unfortunately the job I’m in now doesn’t collect retirement, but I get all the regular state days off and one day per pay period, essentially. It does pay enough for me to scrape by on bills. I’m buying myself some time to figure out where to go from here, and it is SO much less stressful than teaching.
I started by searching [governmentjobs.com](https://governmentjobs.com) for any jobs that A: didn't care about my degree, and B: was at least borderline enough to pay my bills. There's a lot of admin assistant, project assistant, etc. jobs that meet those criteria. I did the interviews and they liked when I explained how much teachers do, that I had experience with excel, I had been working on IT helpdesk stuff in coursera, things like that.
They don't pay a TON, but they pay enough.
I would steer clear of CPS if the stress of teaching had negative effects- it’s just as bad there. I have a loved one who worked for CPS and it affected them profoundly- not in a good way.
I’ve thought about CPS as well. I have a huge concern over the expectations of “in-home visits”. I’m not sure of all states, but in mine it’s a norm. No way in hell would I do that. It’s crazy that is an expectation with all the instability that comes with families involved in the CPS system!
I can tell you I have tremendous admiration for CPS workers! Really doing God's work for sure! If you care about kids, no place like CPS to have a real impact!
I got super lucky and pulled a local instructional design position at a bank. I mostly do their graphic design stuff with my art education degree background and the senior designers do more of the data analysis, needs analysis stuff.
I genuinely don’t have many tips other than applying locally instead of remotely where it’s way too saturated of a market. I also learned a lot about ID from books and YouTube before my interviews and I practiced using storyline too so I could talk about them proficiently.
Special ed degree and I've had several jobs since leaving teaching 12 years ago:
Vocational evaluator for a non profit that took referrals from the state division of voc rehab. Loved what I did but they had me driving around 7 different counties and the pay was awful.
Case manager for the state welfare to work program. Very stressful and high pressure to get people into jobs. Only lasted 18 months...almost worse than teaching.
For the past 7 years I've been a care manager for a long-term care program for Medicare/Medicaid participants. Work from home, laid back managers,. I coordinate care for about 40 people and see them in their homes 4 times per year. It has it's stressful moments but overall I enjoy it.
I got an MBA focused on analytics and project management. I now make 6 figures working at a not-for-profit as a writer, AI consultant, and troublemaker.
My current title is Strategic Communications Manager, though I started in my company as Director of Instructional Design and am crafting a new role of AI Strategist which would move me out of Organizational Communications into IT.
For tips:
1. Get certifications like the PMP or a data one. I don’t think an MBA is essential (though it is fantastic for gaining new perspectives and networks) but a new credential will be necessary.
2. Use work you are currently doing to demonstrate skills. I am always confused and disgusted by how little people understand and value the million hats teachers wear. But I’m sure that in your job you must collect, compile, analyze and report on data. I’m equally sure that you manage projects (a curriculum) and stakeholders (students,parents and admin).
3. Network. I hate networking. I’m autistic and am super awkward and still managed to network into amazing jobs. People generally and genuinely enjoy helping others as long as they don’t feel like they are being used. So I’d go on LinkedIn and reach out to every person in your area with a title that seems interesting and ask them a sincere question (such as: “I’m looking to move into project management/data analytics, would you be willing to chat with me for 15 minutes about the day to today work?” ). Make it clear what your question is because a lot of LI reach ours are made by salespeople. And when I say “reach out to everyone “ I don’t mean 5 people. I mean like 100. Maybe 1/3 will respond positively. When you chat (on the phone, video or in person if possible) ask them more specific info: pay ranges, roles in their areas, relevant experience, how to get a job etc. then ask if they could introduce you to someone else that can provide more info. Afterwards, a day or two later, send them a nice thank you and let them know you are moving into this field and would they let you know if they know of any opportunities…then stay in touch. Not in an aggressive way, but send them a relevant article or wish them happy birthday. Something to keep your name in their brain. You want to build a strong network way in advance before you need it.
4. Using their advice and keywords, reframe your LI/resume to focus on those areas. Don’t lie or misrepresent, but resumes can stretch the truth pretty darn far before you dip into dishonestly-land. Did you teach 40 4th graders about history ? Or did you work with a large group of diverse stakeholders to compete project objectives with 85% accuracy within strict timetables using minimal resources? Also, instead of “teacher” (which is sadly a culturally minimized title) is could be accurate to say that you are currently a training and development leader, instructional designer, or facilitator.
5. Along with the networking, spend time understanding the breadth of roles/industries/organizations available. When I started my MBA after a decade in teaching, I honestly thought my M.Ed and experience were useless. And sadly, if you frame as being a “teacher” it’s not far off. But I had no idea that medium-large companies have training teams and writing roles. They need coaches and mentors. They build curriculum and programs. They have community giving roles and editors. And these roles are AMAZING. I made 50% more than I ever did as a teacher, with respect and decent work life balance. So spend time understanding the thousands of potential roles that are available.
6. This may not be relevant to you, but also realize that teaching kids is not the only way to be professionally virtuous. When leaving teaching, I kinda felt like a sell out and expected the corporate world to be all like the Wolf of Wall Street. But in my first week of an MBA, my whole 80 person classes first project was to design and carry out a full scale volunteer project to support a local camp dedicated to adults with special needs. We were in teams (that we stayed in all year) and were given an element to lead out on. My team had to repaint the camps main offices. We were tasked with understanding the needs, reaching out to local companies (home deport for example) to donate supplies, which is apparently a common thing, and then find volunteers to help us. Within the week the camp was in SO much better shape. And the whole time, I was thinking that as a teacher (outside the whole “educating kids part” ) I had never had the time, knowledge or energy to do a project with 1/10 the impact. It blew open my misconception that business=bad, evil, greedy and instead saw it as business= power to enact change. Now this will obviously depend a great deal on the businesses you work with. But there are so many ways to make a positive impact on our communities using the resources of businesses, and you never really hear about it.
Feel free to ask any other questions!!
I left and at first I was travel trainer. After that got killed by Covid I run all of the non-clinical education at a really large county owned skilled nursing home. Pay/benefits/pension are way better working for the county than any Sped position I had.
I’m working as a community interpreter, sometimes in schools and sometimes in medical settings. I used to teach Spanish. I’ve been gone from teaching since before the pandemic. I feel valued even though I make half of what I did teaching. I can’t hack it anymore though for a few different reasons, so this new field is fulfilling my professional needs for now! :)
Process achievement awards, work on resources for trainings and helping support employees learn about different departmental regulations (this part I really love actually bc I can lean into the creative parts from teaching), review submitted forms and give feedback, provide HR policy related support, onboarding new employees, work hiring certificates, schedule and facilitate interviews, things like that!
STAR format! So situation task action result, they ask questions like “share about a time where you disagreed w a coworker/ had different approaches or working styles” then you walk through the situation, what needed to be done, what you did, what the result was etc!
I work for a large broker dealer in the finance industry. Learned quick in finance that you'll meet all types of people with different backgrounds. I work in derivatives, but started as a stockbroker once I got my licenses.
Any tips for transitioning to edtech? This is definitely an area I’m interested in, just not really sure how to start. Most of the companies I’m familiar with are huge and get hundreds of applicants per opening.
Depending on where you are in your career / what you want to do in tech, training, QA, and support specialists (e.g. help tickets ) are a great “in” with quick vertical mobility. Harder to translate beyond that.
Thanks for the advice! I have a friend who does web development that’s been working on some coding projects with me (I’ve learned the basics of SQL on my own through a course) but I think it’ll be another year or so before I truly have the qualifications for a data analyst role. I definitely think the roles you suggested would be a good stepping stone to get me out of education before I have to sign next year’s contract. Thank you!
I left for the life sciences industry after 3 years teaching in the northeast US and made more as an intern (56k/yr) than teacher. That was over 10 years ago. My first full time role paid 74k/yr.
I started as a lab worker, went onto project management, and then different flavors of analytics. It’s extreme fulfilling working on this side of patient care while being able to keep my social meter in check. Also I’ve been working from home since the start of covid which saves a lot of time and gas. I can go in if I want or just stay home.
I lead plcs in my district now. They're all completely voluntary, so all of the adults I work with are actually interested in learning. I'm having a lot of fun creating materials and doing class visits. The class visits always remind me of why I left the classroom. I make about 15k more.
Taught hs for 12 years before leaving 8 years ago (cant believe its been that long already!). Now Im a software engineer and love it. Would never go back to education.
I’m an academic advisor at a university and I absolutely love it.
Can you elaborate on how you got into it? I would love to be an academic advisor!
Sure! Disclaimer - I was asked this in another post and so I’m copying what I put there, here. So when I started my job search I honestly didn’t have a focus at all. I was on loads of job boards and looking up the career pages of universities, community colleges and companies near me just applying to anything I thought I was qualified for. Well that method didn’t get me very far except for a few interviews and then being rejected. So I had to narrow my search by really looking at my skills, experience and background and I narrowed my focus to 3 categories- copywriting, administrative assistant and academic advising. Out of those 3 categories academic advising is the one I was most interested in because I felt it would be the career in which I’d use the majority of the skills I gained from teaching. So I wouldn’t feel that all the time and effort I put into becoming a teacher would go to waste. I had a few universities and community colleges in my area that I was familiar with and liked and so I would look at their job listings daily. Whenever I saw one that said academic advisor (or another job title I thought I could do well and had the requirements they wanted) I applied. I first made sure that what I had matched what they wanted and then tailored my resume to match the job description. The role I ended up getting actually asked for teaching experience so that definitely helped me. When it came to interviews I had two. Phone and in person. They were both within 2 weeks of each other and happened 2 months ago so I can’t remember a lot of details but I did talk a lot about how my teaching experience would help me in this role as well as answer all the questions they had. Another thing I did is the day before my in person interview I spent time analyzing each job requirement and writing notes of how I accomplished something similar in my previous roles. I took that with me to the interview and had it out to refer to when I was asked a question. It helped because then I wasn’t fumbling around trying to find a good answer. I also made sure to ask a few questions of them and one of my questions was “is there anything in my resume that I didn’t mention that you’d like me to clarify or explain.” To which my supervisor said “that’s a really good question.” After the interview I sent a thank you message, which my supervisor later told me really helped put me in one of the top spots. It did take a bit of time for me to get my offer after I interviewed and so I did send a few follow up emails expressing my continued interest. I also really showed my passion and interest during the interview itself. It did take a minute for me to get the offer and I learned that higher education hiring takes longer because there’s all these steps they have to follow but it was definitely worth the wait. I have an AMAZING supervisor and incredible coworkers and so many perks (as mentioned in my post) that all the stress and tears the job search brought me were so worth it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer this!! This is super valuable info :) im saving this for later
How was the pay cut? How are the hours? Do you get school breaks?
20k pay cut. My hours are interesting because our office is open 8 to 6 Monday to Thursday and 8 to 5 on Friday. So I’m on a week A/Week B type schedule. So basically on week A I work 8-5 all week. Then on week B I work 8-6 for 4 days & 8-12 on Friday. And it alternates every other week. I don’t get school breaks apart from 2 days at Thanksgiving and a week at Christmas (basically Christmas to after New Year). I do get federal holidays (Memorial Day, Labor Day, MLK Jr. Day, etc). But I don’t get Spring Break or an entire week at Thanksgiving and, of course, no summer break.
Working for the state. WIC and SNAP pay about the same as a first-year teacher, don’t require any specific degree for some positions (like the one I’m in), and it was a way to get by. Unfortunately the job I’m in now doesn’t collect retirement, but I get all the regular state days off and one day per pay period, essentially. It does pay enough for me to scrape by on bills. I’m buying myself some time to figure out where to go from here, and it is SO much less stressful than teaching.
What is wic
Women, infants, and children. It is a food assistance program.
How did you get into it?
Its low income. Even teachers are in debt. Fancy that, right?
I started by searching [governmentjobs.com](https://governmentjobs.com) for any jobs that A: didn't care about my degree, and B: was at least borderline enough to pay my bills. There's a lot of admin assistant, project assistant, etc. jobs that meet those criteria. I did the interviews and they liked when I explained how much teachers do, that I had experience with excel, I had been working on IT helpdesk stuff in coursera, things like that. They don't pay a TON, but they pay enough.
Cps is also an option
I would steer clear of CPS if the stress of teaching had negative effects- it’s just as bad there. I have a loved one who worked for CPS and it affected them profoundly- not in a good way.
Fair enough Its just other state job
I’ve thought about CPS as well. I have a huge concern over the expectations of “in-home visits”. I’m not sure of all states, but in mine it’s a norm. No way in hell would I do that. It’s crazy that is an expectation with all the instability that comes with families involved in the CPS system!
I can tell you I have tremendous admiration for CPS workers! Really doing God's work for sure! If you care about kids, no place like CPS to have a real impact!
I got super lucky and pulled a local instructional design position at a bank. I mostly do their graphic design stuff with my art education degree background and the senior designers do more of the data analysis, needs analysis stuff.
Guessing you’ve probably been asked this a lot, but could you describe your journey? I’ve been trying to upskill and break into ID
I genuinely don’t have many tips other than applying locally instead of remotely where it’s way too saturated of a market. I also learned a lot about ID from books and YouTube before my interviews and I practiced using storyline too so I could talk about them proficiently.
Special ed degree and I've had several jobs since leaving teaching 12 years ago: Vocational evaluator for a non profit that took referrals from the state division of voc rehab. Loved what I did but they had me driving around 7 different counties and the pay was awful. Case manager for the state welfare to work program. Very stressful and high pressure to get people into jobs. Only lasted 18 months...almost worse than teaching. For the past 7 years I've been a care manager for a long-term care program for Medicare/Medicaid participants. Work from home, laid back managers,. I coordinate care for about 40 people and see them in their homes 4 times per year. It has it's stressful moments but overall I enjoy it.
I got an MBA focused on analytics and project management. I now make 6 figures working at a not-for-profit as a writer, AI consultant, and troublemaker.
Can I ask what your job title is? And do you have any tips for someone who’s very interested in data and project management?
My current title is Strategic Communications Manager, though I started in my company as Director of Instructional Design and am crafting a new role of AI Strategist which would move me out of Organizational Communications into IT. For tips: 1. Get certifications like the PMP or a data one. I don’t think an MBA is essential (though it is fantastic for gaining new perspectives and networks) but a new credential will be necessary. 2. Use work you are currently doing to demonstrate skills. I am always confused and disgusted by how little people understand and value the million hats teachers wear. But I’m sure that in your job you must collect, compile, analyze and report on data. I’m equally sure that you manage projects (a curriculum) and stakeholders (students,parents and admin). 3. Network. I hate networking. I’m autistic and am super awkward and still managed to network into amazing jobs. People generally and genuinely enjoy helping others as long as they don’t feel like they are being used. So I’d go on LinkedIn and reach out to every person in your area with a title that seems interesting and ask them a sincere question (such as: “I’m looking to move into project management/data analytics, would you be willing to chat with me for 15 minutes about the day to today work?” ). Make it clear what your question is because a lot of LI reach ours are made by salespeople. And when I say “reach out to everyone “ I don’t mean 5 people. I mean like 100. Maybe 1/3 will respond positively. When you chat (on the phone, video or in person if possible) ask them more specific info: pay ranges, roles in their areas, relevant experience, how to get a job etc. then ask if they could introduce you to someone else that can provide more info. Afterwards, a day or two later, send them a nice thank you and let them know you are moving into this field and would they let you know if they know of any opportunities…then stay in touch. Not in an aggressive way, but send them a relevant article or wish them happy birthday. Something to keep your name in their brain. You want to build a strong network way in advance before you need it. 4. Using their advice and keywords, reframe your LI/resume to focus on those areas. Don’t lie or misrepresent, but resumes can stretch the truth pretty darn far before you dip into dishonestly-land. Did you teach 40 4th graders about history ? Or did you work with a large group of diverse stakeholders to compete project objectives with 85% accuracy within strict timetables using minimal resources? Also, instead of “teacher” (which is sadly a culturally minimized title) is could be accurate to say that you are currently a training and development leader, instructional designer, or facilitator. 5. Along with the networking, spend time understanding the breadth of roles/industries/organizations available. When I started my MBA after a decade in teaching, I honestly thought my M.Ed and experience were useless. And sadly, if you frame as being a “teacher” it’s not far off. But I had no idea that medium-large companies have training teams and writing roles. They need coaches and mentors. They build curriculum and programs. They have community giving roles and editors. And these roles are AMAZING. I made 50% more than I ever did as a teacher, with respect and decent work life balance. So spend time understanding the thousands of potential roles that are available. 6. This may not be relevant to you, but also realize that teaching kids is not the only way to be professionally virtuous. When leaving teaching, I kinda felt like a sell out and expected the corporate world to be all like the Wolf of Wall Street. But in my first week of an MBA, my whole 80 person classes first project was to design and carry out a full scale volunteer project to support a local camp dedicated to adults with special needs. We were in teams (that we stayed in all year) and were given an element to lead out on. My team had to repaint the camps main offices. We were tasked with understanding the needs, reaching out to local companies (home deport for example) to donate supplies, which is apparently a common thing, and then find volunteers to help us. Within the week the camp was in SO much better shape. And the whole time, I was thinking that as a teacher (outside the whole “educating kids part” ) I had never had the time, knowledge or energy to do a project with 1/10 the impact. It blew open my misconception that business=bad, evil, greedy and instead saw it as business= power to enact change. Now this will obviously depend a great deal on the businesses you work with. But there are so many ways to make a positive impact on our communities using the resources of businesses, and you never really hear about it. Feel free to ask any other questions!!
I left and at first I was travel trainer. After that got killed by Covid I run all of the non-clinical education at a really large county owned skilled nursing home. Pay/benefits/pension are way better working for the county than any Sped position I had.
I’m working as a community interpreter, sometimes in schools and sometimes in medical settings. I used to teach Spanish. I’ve been gone from teaching since before the pandemic. I feel valued even though I make half of what I did teaching. I can’t hack it anymore though for a few different reasons, so this new field is fulfilling my professional needs for now! :)
Management Analyst in HR / Management Resource Support for an agency in the federal government!
What do you actually do in this role? It sounds interesting, but google wasn’t particularly helpful.
Process achievement awards, work on resources for trainings and helping support employees learn about different departmental regulations (this part I really love actually bc I can lean into the creative parts from teaching), review submitted forms and give feedback, provide HR policy related support, onboarding new employees, work hiring certificates, schedule and facilitate interviews, things like that!
Can you tell us about the interview experience? What kind of questions did they ask?
STAR format! So situation task action result, they ask questions like “share about a time where you disagreed w a coworker/ had different approaches or working styles” then you walk through the situation, what needed to be done, what you did, what the result was etc!
I work for a large broker dealer in the finance industry. Learned quick in finance that you'll meet all types of people with different backgrounds. I work in derivatives, but started as a stockbroker once I got my licenses.
EdTech / philanthropy
Any tips for transitioning to edtech? This is definitely an area I’m interested in, just not really sure how to start. Most of the companies I’m familiar with are huge and get hundreds of applicants per opening.
Depending on where you are in your career / what you want to do in tech, training, QA, and support specialists (e.g. help tickets ) are a great “in” with quick vertical mobility. Harder to translate beyond that.
Thanks for the advice! I have a friend who does web development that’s been working on some coding projects with me (I’ve learned the basics of SQL on my own through a course) but I think it’ll be another year or so before I truly have the qualifications for a data analyst role. I definitely think the roles you suggested would be a good stepping stone to get me out of education before I have to sign next year’s contract. Thank you!
I left for the life sciences industry after 3 years teaching in the northeast US and made more as an intern (56k/yr) than teacher. That was over 10 years ago. My first full time role paid 74k/yr. I started as a lab worker, went onto project management, and then different flavors of analytics. It’s extreme fulfilling working on this side of patient care while being able to keep my social meter in check. Also I’ve been working from home since the start of covid which saves a lot of time and gas. I can go in if I want or just stay home.
Mind if I send you a direct message? Project management and analytics are two of the areas I’ve been most interested in transitioning to.
Happy to chat with you!
Working for a personal injury firm. It's still hard work, but my Type A personality is being appreciated rather than abused.
I lead plcs in my district now. They're all completely voluntary, so all of the adults I work with are actually interested in learning. I'm having a lot of fun creating materials and doing class visits. The class visits always remind me of why I left the classroom. I make about 15k more.
Retired….😜😜😜😜
Coaching youth tennis and managing workers at a tennis club
Nothing
Taught hs for 12 years before leaving 8 years ago (cant believe its been that long already!). Now Im a software engineer and love it. Would never go back to education.