Vacation Reading

Even though Christmas isn’t here yet, you may already be thinking about your New Year’s resolutions. Getting a new job, or transitioning to a new career altogether, is a popular resolution. But, like with most resolutions, you may be unsure where to begin.

If you’ve found your way here, you’re a teacher or have a background in education and you’re interested in a career change. Since there are still several months before the end of the school year, you have a good chunk of time ahead of you. But it’s important to use the time effectively.

You may already have an idea of what you want to do…or maybe you don’t. If you're up for a little reading during your well-deserved Christmas vacation, here are a couple of great books to check out.

• I am a big fan of What Color is Your Parachute? Its status as a career-searching classic is well-deserved. It’s updated annually, which is great, because we all know how quickly the current career landscape changes. Though I am a big proponent of public libraries, I think owning this book is preferable, so you can highlight, take notes and have it on hand as a reference. There is also a workbook, which is full of exercises to help you pinpoint your next career moves.

• When I graduated college back in the mid-Nineties, I came across Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type in my local bookstore.  I purchased it after flipping through it. It’s been updated since, the last time in 2007. Because this book is more focused on you and helping you identify your personality type, it doesn’t need updating as frequently as What Color is Your Parachute? In addition to the exercises, which can tell you a lot about yourself, the book contains profiles of people which are really engaging and fun to read.  

Changing careers involves actions, so you'll have to do a lot more than reading. But I've learned that reading books can be a great place to start. You'll learn about yourself, and about the process, and hopefully build more confidence that will help you make this change.

Career-Changing Tips from the Web

•  Teachers are in a great position to transition to writing for kids. Here's a story from Fast Company about an approach that worked for a lawyer-turned-YA author.
• A great case study of a teacher who successfully transitioned to a career in marketing.
• Branding: It’s not just for companies. Creating a personal brand can help you land a new job. Here are some tips.
• An inspiring read about reinventing yourself with a great slide show.
•  If you aspire to leave teaching at the end of the 2012-2013 school year, take a look NOW at your social media profiles and make sure they reflect you in the best possible light.  This article from Mashable has some helpful charts suggesting what should and shouldn't be there.

Welcome to my new and improved blog.

A year ago, I began this blog, then ignored it. It was meant as a means of documenting my last year in the classroom, where I’d discuss how I made my transition to a new career. The truth is, I spent much of the past year floundering, trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and being overwhelmed. Many of my students were difficult and dealing with the challenges drained me, but it also added to my resolve to leave. 

Earlier this month, I officially resigned from a fifteen-year teaching career. And I decided to chase my real goal: to work from home as a freelance writer. So I’m back, and I’ll be sharing ideas and tips for my fellow teachers who need and want to do something different. Maybe you’re a veteran who knows in your heart it’s time to go. Or maybe you’re a recently minted teacher, frustrated by the current job market and ready to consider alternatives. I hope this is helpful. 

Ode to the Résumé

I have to write a resume.

I love to write, and am told I do it well. I can sit down and spew out reasonably coherent things pretty quickly. And I have an extensive vocabulary full of otherwise useless words, like "spearhead" and "validate" which are ideal for résumés. 

Maybe I should rephrase. I can write for a variety of purposes: informing, persuading, describing. I dabble in fiction and like to write poetry, but am usually not brave enough to show it to anyone but my dog. And I know oodles of dynamic words conducive to résumé writing.

Thus, I should find the task of writing a résumé minimally stressful and not very challenging.

But the opposite is true. I haven’t written a real résumé since the Clinton administration. Since 1996 I have had only one employer and never tried to leave. There have been a couple occasions where I’ve put quick résumés together as a formality. The idea of adding a fictional stint in the adult-movie industry often tempted me, because I knew no one at my job was actually going to read it. 

And now, I will need an excellent one, but I’m freezing up. A lot.

I have never sent a résumé electronically. Back when I was seriously seeking employment, people were using snail mail exclusively. I’m not even sure if formats have evolved. Back when I needed my very first résumé, a graduate school classmate recommended a professional who’d done hers. This classmate seemed to be landing interviews, so I forked over a whole night’s worth of waitressing tips, about $100, and got a professional résumé. I got a couple interviews, but as I continued to look at books of samples, I began to think my professionally-done résumé was not delivering the results I wanted. A friend and fellow job-seeker let me have a copy of hers, and it was way better than my professionally-prepared one. But I learned a couple of things. First, a résumé done by a professional may not always be better than one you do yourself, if you do the legwork. And second, it’s always good to review and reassess your résumé as you go through the job-hunting process, whether you’re a career changer or a new graduate.

But the biggest lesson of all? Don’t let two Presidents come and go from the White House without updating your résumé at least a couple of times. 

About Me

If I plan everything (or almost everything) correctly, the 2011-2012 school year will be my last. And since planning is a huge part of teaching, the odds are with me. I hope. Since I started teaching in 1996, I have not been unemployed, or gone without a steady paycheck. My willingness to walk away may reveal my frustration with the current conditions in the teaching profession. You may be thinking, She’s been teaching since 1996…surely she has tenure and seniority? I do, for now. There was time I took comfort in the thought of always having the safety net provided by tenure and seniority, but I predict their days are numbered. And while I feel confident in my ability to do my job, I have no confidence and no trust in the system employing me.

I thought I’d be a career teacher. My first job and only teaching position has been with the New York City public schools; initially I planned to stay a few years and then move on to better conditions and higher pay in the surrounding suburbs. But I gained my footing after my first couple years in the classroom, and my interest in a suburban job waned and then flickered out altogether. Teaching in an inner-city school brought with it lots of challenges and difficulties, but the students had a lot of heart and most of them were wonderful to work with. Since teaching is, or used to be, about working with students, I chose to commit to city kids, and the NYC schools.

And so I stayed. I never looked back, and never regretted my decision. 

Now, it’s time for me to leave.  My students are still likeable, bright, and challenging, but they don’t always do well on state exams. And since we’ve arrived at a place where nearly all of a teacher’s worth comes from how well his or her students do on standardized tests, I believe my days are numbered. The possibility exists for someone influential who is backing test-score-mania, like President Obama, or Governor Cuomo, to have an epiphany and say, “Wait a minute, something’s not right. There’s more to good teaching than test scores.” But I doubt it. It’s almost an election year, after all. 

I’m not going to wait for anyone to have an epiphany. My list of issues and grievances with my current profession could fill many, many posts, and I could go into more detail about why I’m choosing to give up and walk away while many of my fellow teachers fight on. But I don’t want this to be about the past, I don’t want this to be about politics. I want to embrace the possibilities I find, even if I don’t know what they look like yet. 

I hope to help you do the same.