It’s time to celebrate a New Year! Are you in the mood?
If you’re still teaching and you aren’t excited about it, heading into a New Year might seem like a downer. For many teachers, it means heading back to school after two weeks of sleeping in, seeing family, and (finally) reading a good book.
Instead of falling back into your old habit of wishing you weren’t teaching but trudging in every day, I have a challenge for you. Can you start this new year with just one new habit that can help you transition out of teaching? Here are ten ideas to pick from. Just pick one and move towards your goal with baby steps!
Resume Ideas
- Break out your resume and update it using the guidelines in Life After Teaching. Translate your teaching skills for your target job. Research online to find a simple, clean resume format. Create a new resume every three months to keep practicing these skills.
- Customize your “Key Skills” for each and every job. If the job description wants project management, focus on how teaching gave you project management skills. If it wants technology, focus on the technology you used as a teacher.
- Send out at least one resume per month. When you first get started, don’t be too picky about the job so long as it’s one you’d be interested in. The more interview experience you get (both in the form of interviews, offers, and rejections) the more you’ll learn.
Networking Ideas
- Head to Meet Up and find a local group you like. It doesn’t have to be career-related, but it’s fine if it is. Attend one session every three months to get to know the people. Connect with them online to build your social media literacy.
- Network where HR managers are, not where your peers are. If your goal is a new job, go where someone could hire you. That means seeking out HR managers where they network and where you can make an impression.
Social Media Ideas
- Create or sign into your LinkedIn account. Upload a professional photo and write up a clear and concise bio. Then spend 20 minutes connecting with people you know because you’re only as valuable as your network. Do this once a month, if not more frequently. (But don’t sent more than 20 invitations at a time or you could be blocked as a spammer.)
- Sign up for BufferApp and set up a buffer. If you aren’t all that active on social media, sign up for a BufferApp account and buffer some posts. Just once a week is fine to start, but that will get you out there and involved in the social community.
