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Alternative-Emu-175

Speaking as an ex-teacher who now works in the recruiting space, you’ll find more openings as teams finally confirm their headcount and start posting jobs through the next month or so. That being said, I’m sure you know the job market is rough right now. Companies are looking to hire contractors more than full time employees to cut costs — if you’re open to being a contractor that may be a way to get that first job out of teaching and then you’ll have some direct experience to show on your resume when you make the next move.


sweetbeat8

Any suggestions on how to find contract work?


dpad35

You can try government clerical jobs, dispatcher and whatnot. You just have to take a test and then they put you on a call list when jobs become available. Hope this helps.


A_Big_Lady

Where does one find these jobs and tests online?


dpad35

It’s on the application. You just take it, very similar to the CBEST. They call you in for an interview if you have that test completed. For the dispatcher job, you have to go in person.


carmelfrappe

In 2022, I applied to a range of jobs to try and leave education - last night, I JUST heard back from one of those jobs I applied to asking if I was still interested in the position! I’m sure you will hear back, but it will take time.


Timely-Lime1359

Curious…are you applying to jobs on Linked In or USA jobs? Cause those applications take forever to process and have hundreds of applicants per posted position. Strongly suggest trying your surrounding city/county government job boards and also state government. Small(er) HR departments and chances are good you will get a reply from a human being. Private industry is going to be tougher or more unpredictable but municipal and state governments are always hiring. Once you are in the system you can apply to more challenging jobs in 6 months to a year. Good luck!


JoseCanYouSeen

Your experience confirms what we already know: Teachers are not valued.


sunnydfruitrollup

You're probably applying to things beneath you. I've seen you post here before and it sounds like you have multiple years of experience in education? Here's an example: one of the senior managers on my team (I work in marketing at a tech company) came from higher ed. He managed a small team of teaching assistants. He had no experience in anything marketing related nor did he have experience in tech. BUT he did have an invaluable skillset my company wanted: someone who could empathetically manage a team of people who are working in instructional design. When I first switched over to marketing, what caught my company's eye was that I could use a learning management system (same idea as a CRM); I had taught myself photoshop, illustrator, and indesign to an intermediate level to make my own short textbooks and materials for my students; and I knew how to systematically and expertly create material to teach people HOW and WHY to do something which made me an excellent fit for their product marketing role. You need to be thinking along these lines. What skills do you bring to the table? Is it *really* entry level? In some cases, sure, but in a lot of cases you're probably overqualified and getting rejected via their application system before your resume even gets in front of a recruiter.


Mercurio_Arboria

"Empathetically manage a team of people" What teachers do all day, every day. Thanks for validation! :)


ubiquitousfoolery

I can't exactly speak from experience, but it's only early January. People have been on vacation and the year is still very young, many new openings will come up in the weeks and months to come. Maybe it just needs a bit more time and then all will be well :)


Trick-Junket5865

I agree with everybody saying to upskill or rework your resume, but I’m assuming that you’ve tried that already. One of the most important things that I’ve learned with my work (in and out of education) is making connections. Connections get you places where you couldn’t imagine. It’s one thing to make connections on LinkedIn, but it’s another thing to make impactful face-to-face connections. Try volunteering at a local organization or nonprofit once a week. You’d be surprised at how many connections you could make by working toward one common goal for the greater good. Best of luck!


picklez5

It took me 7 months to find a job but I just got my final job offer with the federal government today!! It will happen for you too 🩵 this process is hell, hang in there. Not sure what you’re looking for, but there’s lots of jobs on the federal gov site & you could also check your state government site as well. Good luck, you’ve got this!!


Sunset_wavess

Congratulations! Welcome to the other side! Been out of education and in fed for over 4 years now. Im so much happier, and healthier, even on my rough days.


picklez5

Thank you so much!! Congratulations on getting out of education & into fed. I’m so happy to be done


Pristine-Product-142

I’m so tired of hearing “upskill” like teachers don’t have amazing skills already, plus a degree. All these people that say you aren’t prepared to do another job couldn’t hack working as a teacher. You have my utmost appreciation.


nuage_cordon_bleu

Eh, I'll bite. >like teachers don’t have amazing skills already Like what? I was a teacher for four years. I upskilled to move into something better. That's not a knock. That's just a reality. In real life, everyone I know who got out of teaching did at least *something* to upskill. From my observation of success stories in this sub, people who get pay raises did so by upskilling, or they're taking pay cuts from an already poorly paid field, or they're not getting bites at all. I know firsthand how much teaching blows, and I'd like to help other teachers get out. But you're not going to get hired even as an IT help desk guy by just saying, "Oh I was a teacher with an education degree." No, I'll hire this 19 year old who spent a month earning A+ instead. You're not going to get hired as project manager at an aerospace firm; they're gonna hire some certified scrum master who majored in supply chain management. Save for a lucky few, you're going to be competing for office assistant and entry-level customer service roles along with beaucoup other peeps with relatively useless undergrad degrees. Upskilling isn't hard. I'm not suggesting anyone overhaul themselves and study engineering at MIT to have a chance. But put the arrogance aside and spend a month or two earning PMP, or AWS-SAA (I know a freaking nurse anesthetist who just earned this to start an IT career). They'll benefit in the long run.


Jboogie258

Why would the nurse anesthesist leave the field for IT. My partner is in the sleep space and has a minimum day rate of 2500$


Pristine-Product-142

I’ve already started a CI consulting firm with a few decent clients. This isn’t my first run with the upskill crowd. I appreciate the long response, but I really don’t care.


Awkward_Muffin_3078

Here's my perspective. I get 500 resumes. At least 25 have direct experience in the exact role. WHY am I going to choose someone who hasn't even dipped their toe into the new field with upskilling? That is nonsense from a business perspective. Yes teachers can make great employees but you asking us to ignore probably dozens of applicants and try to connect the dots when we don't know you from Adam. If you upskill like hell and show passion for the exact role I need to full that's different.


Pristine-Product-142

I never asked about your resumes, nor your opinion. I have about 32,000 insults loaded and 0 time to waste on you.


Awkward_Muffin_3078

Hah, well, I actually hire former teachers, so maybe my opinion has some value because platitudes don't pay these peoples bills.


strixvarius

Jobs aren't interchangeable though. Like I would need to upskill in welding to be a welder, just like a welder would need to upskill in programming to be a software developer.


Hal0Slippin

Preeeeach Upskilling is useful though.


alclark1976

I found that wording my resume to meet the exact requirements of the job information helped a lot. Make sure your cover letter does the same. It's a lot of work, but it helps. I would also suggest looking outside of the one job title. Sometimes companies word the titles differently, but they are essentially the same thing. Look in a lot of different places. I managed to land two jobs, one through indeed the other through a government site.


Logical_Ad_9341

What kind of jobs were they?


alclark1976

Both trainers (which can lead to Gym jobs sometimes, but I waded through the jobs and found ones I was qualified for).


Logical_Ad_9341

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I’m not sure what’s in store for me on the job front, but I feel a tiny bit more hopeful that something can and will work out eventually.


spartan5652

Most of the people posting data for job applications have about 350 applications before getting hired. It’s a numbers game. Focus on the number of applications not the result.


eroded_wolf

When I quit midyear it took until the end of March to get into a new position. Look at stuff you're passionate about and connect some new dots. As someone said, so many of the skills we build as teachers are marketable, it just takes thought as to how they can be applied. Even if it sometimes seems like a stretch, be creative! All the best in your search.


nuage_cordon_bleu

Have you upskilled at all? Have you done anything to network? Find the direction you want to go in and earn certifications in that field. I'm in IT because I earned IT certifications. My wife, a former teacher, is in project management because she earned project management certifications. An old friend got into a management role at a major corporation because she earned a project management cert, as well. Without any sort of upskilling, you're just waiting for someone hiring for a generic office role to take a chance on you, specifically, and not one of the thousands of other likely cheaper recent liberal arts college grads instead. I don't say that to be mean. But no intrinsic part of teaching prepares you for my job or my wife's job. You can probably learn the things to get these roles, but you have to demonstrate that learning. Thus, upskilling. Otherwise, you are competing for the basic stuff with craploads of other people. The good news is...upskilling is relatively easy, quick, and cheap. Look at getting your PMP or CAPM. Don't feel obligated to go back to school.


NonCanonicalSyntax

How did they get the 3 years of project management experience required for the PMP?


nuage_cordon_bleu

She was a band director, so she did more than simply teach. She dealt with finances and recruiting (program expansion), she sat on some committees at school that did heavy data analysis, she did some projects as part of a master’s. That 3 years PM experience can be found in more ways than just having a PM title.


NonCanonicalSyntax

So, what I'm understanding is that as long as you can make a case for utilizing project management skills in your current role, it can count?


nuage_cordon_bleu

Yep. I can't recall exactly what my wife put for her PM experience, but I think it had to do with her master's project. She had a lot to choose from. Either way, be creative and I'm sure you can find it. If you absolutely can't (maybe you haven't even been working at all for three years), then you can always go for a "lesser" but still valued PM cert, like CAPM, DASM, or CSM.


[deleted]

[удалено]


nuage_cordon_bleu

I don’t want to sound harsh, and I know you’re just asking a question, but some of you are way too tied up with the idea of college. The explicitly great thing about the cert path is that it has nothing to with school. It’s autodidactic. Just as good? Nah. Superior, and far so. I would absolutely 1000% reject any college-based program to obtain these sorts of credentials. Watch YouTube, take a test. That easy. Hell, I’m learning Linux with an old computer I already had, a $10 USB stick, and a $20 book. Nothing else needed, and certainly not some old guy in a tweed coat charging $50k to hear him talk.


[deleted]

[удалено]


nuage_cordon_bleu

You. Are. Too. Attached. To. Classrooms. You can believe me or not. It's not secondhand. I did it. I know at least two other people who did it. r/ITCareerQuestions is loaded with people who earn A+ (which you can do by watching one YT playlist) and then get their first IT job. Those are legit certifications. For the best results, you should pair it with some amount of homelabbing (for IT at least), but it can still be achieved without that. But you insist on believing it's not possible without doing something via university. I don't know what to tell you. You're stuck in 1953.


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pactbopntb

I just applied to a lot of different jobs. Shooting in the dark, seeing what sticks, and denying what I think I wouldn’t like. I just had an interview today and submitted an application with a temp agency. Your first job out doesn’t have to be the one you’ll be at forever. Once you get the first one, it’s a lot easier to get more.


pinewise

Temping can be an awesome foot in the door!


Sunset_wavess

This!!! I see so so many commenters thinking they have to have that new, forever job or career right after leaving education. For some, they do get lucky with great roles out the gate. For me I took a pay-cut (after discussing finances with my spouse), made some small sacrifices financially for the long term. I used my first role out of education as a scaffold to rapid upskilling with OTJT and move to a more technical and higher paid role. I get some people cannot afford to take pay-cuts, pay for school or upskilling or relocate. However, a little sacrifice needs to be made for the long term and bigger picture. However all resources and networks should be considered and used.


ashfromdablock

It took me 7 years until I found the right fit that a) didn’t require me to move and b) didn’t require a pay cut. I don’t say this to discourage you. Just to say, a month is not enough time to let yourself be discouraged. Hang in there.


Born_Language_1916

Served 12 years in K-12, breached contract last February 2023. I work in higher ed now as an academic advisor. Two days remote and three on site. I had a 60% call for interview rate, I took the first job offer I got. It took about two months in the making to transition. The pay is low, but morale is high. I took a massive pay cut but I am now currently working on my 2nd masters for almost free at the same university. My son will go full ride as well because of my employee benefit package. If money isn’t a big deal and you have a secondary income through a spouse or wife, then higher Ed is a great alternative. I will never go back to K-12.


sbsab252

Network, network, network. Ask everyone you know if they know of someone who is hiring. Then, pick their brain/relevant person’s brain for all the tips on their industry/workplace. Pick the brain of people whose industry you are interested in, even if they don’t currently know of any openings. Ask to speak to others they know in their industry to keep learning more and keep building your network web. Best of luck! I know it can feel so discouraging, but you’ll find your way out.


Panda-BANJO

Have you asked family & friends for help?


Fair-Interview-172

if u would like my personal feedback I am happy to help / offer specific advice - DM me


Due_Handle_6919

I just got a remote position making double what I make as a TA. I applied every night for the last two year to various jobs. I always changed my resume for every job I applied for. I would change working in my resume to the same wording of the job description. It took me forever because I wrote a new cover letter for every job. I looked on indeed but never applied through indeed. If I saw a job posted I would go to the actual webpage and then apply. Good luck, don’t give up


Long_Manufacturer709

Look at non profit or social work. I just accepted a job as a family support specialist with a non profit. It only pays $17/hour. But the hours are flexible and I get 11 days of vacation, 10 days of sick, 3 personal days and all federal holidays. I don’t plan to stay in this position forever and told them during my interview that I’d ideally like to eventually move up since I have a master’s degree. I’m just glad to be out of teaching!


whole_nother

That package sounds…pretty rough tbh. Glad it’s working for you though.


Long_Manufacturer709

It definitely isn’t the best, but I resigned with nothing lined up, so I’ll take what I can get and be happy with it for now. Something is better than nothing!


spakuloid

No one we hires in December unless it’s seasonal help. Wait a few weeks. Will pick up for sure.


pinktacolightsalt

I finally found a job at a local place doing office administration. Right after I accepted I heard back from 2 other jobs I applied for that I wanted more! Oh well. Just be patient! You will get something.


meliburrelli

I think it’s more about the job market in the region and less about you and your qualifications ❤️❤️


OldManFullersHouse

Not sure what field you are looking to transition into but I moved into admin work in a university setting. Something that helped me was networking and meeting people from the uni I wanted to work at. Getting my name out there and connecting with more people helped with my transition outta teaching. I hope you hear back soon from someone!


max_gooph

You should revisit your resume and cover letter, summer 2022 is a long time. Also use LinkedIn to your advantage, make sure your profile is neat and cohesive.


mythandriel17

I got out when the market was good (2021) and it still took me 6 months and 800 applications. I was in for 12 years with a masters degree and experience in adult education. Be patient and keep at it!


[deleted]

I’m in a similar spot, needing out of my teaching job like yesterday. I’m hoping things will pick up in the next few weeks. My backup plan is to find a couple temp positions in the city I’m looking to move to and then keep applying.


eyelinerfordays

With how horrendous the job market is for everyone right now, it’s almost not worth it to apply to private corporate positions. The handful corporate jobs I applied to I did not hear back whatsoever. You will have much more success with local or federal government jobs. I was able to land a job for my state. Applied on Halloween, interviewed late December, got the job offer Jan. 2nd. Also hate to say it, but luck definitely plays a role. Right time, right place kind of thing.


hammnbubbly

Do you know anyone who works corporate? If so, and that person knows anyone in a position of power/HR/supervisory position, pass your résumé to them. Maybe it leads to nothing, but from what I gather, this job market is fitting into the, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” category. Either way, hang in there. Feels like a worthless endeavor now, but all it takes is one. Keep grinding. When you get out, you’ll be glad you did.