📣If you’re up right now working on your resume, hoping to transition out of teaching, keep these things in mind:
- NEVER lie about your actual title. If your title is “10th grade English teacher”, don’t change it to “Instruction Designer.” They WILL verify it at some point in the vetting process.
- You need to be 100% honest on your resume, which means you should not hide the fact that you are a teacher, BUT… that doesn’t mean you need to lead with the fact that you’re a teacher.
- Lead with the skills and competencies the corporate job posting asks for instead.
- Using a succinct headline, just like a newspaper does, helps to draw the reader in to want to look at your resume.
- Use an ACTIVE voice – instead of “Responsible for…” write “Directed/Led, etc….”
- A good resume makes the case that you’re the best candidate. BUT, a GREAT resume makes the job of anyone reading your resume EASY to know that you are the best candidate. Make my job easy as a recruiter/hiring manager/headhunter? I’ll move your resume forward.
- When discussing being a teacher, don’t just list what you do, show them HOW WELL you do it. You’re not a teacher, you’re a DAMN GOOD teacher. You’re not leaving teaching because you’re bad it, in FACT, you’re very good at it, and you want to take the skill sets that you have and express them in a new environment. (Look at the accomplishments in the example below)
- Yes, you DO have skill sets that the corporate environment is looking for. Project Management, Communications Strategy, Performance Management, Strategic Planning, Content Development – just read the Wikipedia articles for these business terms. You have those skill sets. Expressed differently? Sure, but you have them. For example, every teacher is a project manager. How? What is project management? Simply anything with a beginning and an end and manages three things – Scope, Budget, and Schedule. Isn’t that what you do every school year?
- Want to learn more? See more examples? Have a chance to ask any questions you want? Learn about other aspects of the job transition, including networking, salary negotiation, and interview preparation? Join my free FREE (yes, free. No sales pitch. Free-fitty-Free) webinar in a few weeks. Register here: https://yournextjump.com/lifeafterteaching/
- Look carefully at the sample resumes below. This person transitioned from a 10th-grade english teacher to a mid-level manager at one of the world’s largest management consulting firms. Its possible. It takes work. Focus on buttoning down your presentation. Putting the same 💩 resume out there and expecting different results is just not smart.