Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is Kitty Boitnott.
I'm a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for "Teachers in Transition." In some episodes I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes I'll be talking about career transition.
What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track? These are questions that you need answers to and I can help you find those answers. My name is Kitty Boitnott. Welcome to "Teachers in Transition." Hi, this is Kitty Boitnott of not Boitnott Coaching and "Teachers in Transition." Today I want to share a little bit about how to approach a job change or a career transition.
As I have shared in the past I in these episodes on the "Teachers in Transition podcast" and the YouTube channel. I'm alternating episodes talking in one about stress management strategies and in the other about career transition and job search tips. So today we're talking about career, and what I'd like to do is share with you a resource that I have available. It's available at teachersintransition.com/careerchangeroadmap.
And I'll put this in the notes below: teachersintransition.com/careerchangeroadmap. So, here are three specific steps that you should take to identify a career that you can love. Now I work primarily with burnt out teachers, people who have decided that for any one of a thousand reasons, teaching is no longer a viable option for them long term.
They're either overwhelmed and stressed out and dealing with that to the point of getting sick or they're just not happy and their situation, they don't feel they have the support of their parents or the administrators.
The kids, um, are there to learn the full, like I said, one of the thousand reasons, um, dead end, no, no room for lateral movement unless you want it mean or promotion, unless you want to be a principal pet low pay, not keeping pace with cost of living and certainly not commensurate with the level of education that you're required to have. And so for many, many reasons, people come to me feeling burnt out, um, at a dead in and stuck and they don't know how to initiate a change.
They feel like they're limited in what they can do, which want to say is not true. But many of them feel that they don't know what else they can do. And so they're, they're looking for coaching, help, advice, counsel, and that's what I provide.
So, here's this resource and I want to share with share it with you so that you can understand that the first thing to do is not necessarily to fill out an application and upload a resume that you've put together hastily or that you even had someone else perhaps write for you professionally. Lots of people do that. I don't recommend that, but I know lots of people do it. And I've been guilty of doing it myself.
In fact, I paid $395 for a professionally written resume six years ago that I have never used. I still to this day feel like I just took that $400 and flushed it right down the toilet. That's how I felt then and still do. So, don't do that. I want you to approach your job, change in a thoughtful, intentional, smart way. So. To start, the first step is to get clear about what is it that you love to do? What are your talents? What are your specific and unique gifts and talents?
There are things that you do day to day that you take for granted that you do so much better than anybody else and you think everybody else can do it. You're wrong about that. You are uniquely able to do certain things that other people would either not want to do, have no desire to do or can't do. So what you want to do before you start making, creating a resume or start applying for jobs is understand what your unique talents and aptitudes are.
There are loads of free and low fee assessments online. The bookstores are filled to the brim with a job search books, job help books, people who've written about the whole process of job search. In fact, I've written an ebook called "10 Things You Need to Know if You Think You're Ready for the Job or Career Change." I'll include the link for that in the comments below so that you can download that if you would like. You'll also be able to download this document.
So what you want to do is to get clear and taking inventory and understand what is it you do really well. And more importantly, what do you enjoy doing? How would you want to spend your days moving forward into a new career? And then after you've taken the inventory, you prioritize. List in order the things that you do particularly well that you can do better than anyone else and list them in the order of the way you love to do them. You know you don't love everything the same probably.
So make a list of the things that you are a particularly good at and that you also enjoy doing. And then step three is based on step two. Take that list--that inventory--and create a potential list of the kinds of careers you might be interested in. And once you've identified those, don't commit to anything yet you want to conduct some discovery conversations first. Now, do me a favor and don't approach someone and ask them if "you can pick their brain." I'm particularly tired of that phrase.
People have approached me in the past morning to "pick my brain" and I learned to not appreciate it. Don't do that. Do Invite people for coffee and share with them that you're not looking for anything at all. You know, looking for recommendation, you're not looking for some sort of leg up, you're not looking to give them your resume, none of that. You're not looking to do anything other than learn about what they do and maybe ask some questions about the company that they worked for.
What kind of culture do they have? What do they have? What kinds of expectations do they have of their employees? What's the mission statement and the Vision Statement and is their day-to-day activity aligned with those mission and vision, vision statements, you to find out that kind of stuff. And you can do that by creating relationships, networking, getting out and meeting people and asking lots of questions. You're not, at this stage, at least you're not promoting yourself.
You are taking in information. And based on that series of conversations that you should have, you'll get a clearer picture of whether the direction you've picked is the right direction for you. The more clarity you can create around that issue, the better. And then as a bonus tip, I recommend that you not listen to the little voices in your head that give you all the hundreds of reasons why you can't do whatever it is that you want to do.
They'll, they all convinced you, they're right there ready to give you all the reasons why you can't do something. They're there because of fear. Everybody's afraid. Everybody has imposter syndrome. So don't let that stop you from doing what you need to do to live a happier and more fulfilled life.
Okay. So those are the three steps plus the bonus of how you go about identifying a career you can love again, and that is my intention for you, that you find a career that is fulfilling for you, that takes advantage of your particular and unique strengths and talents, your experience, your education, and that you can move forward even if your next job is not necessarily your dream job. It can be a bridge job getting you closer to your ultimate dream job.
Now, I would invite you, if you'd like to take advantage of a no-obligation strategy session. Sign up, go to kittyboitnott.coachesconsole.com/calendar. My name Kitty Boitnott dot coaches console--just the way it sounds.com forward slash calendar. And let's talk 20-30 minutes. No obligation to you, no cost to you, but I will allow you to share with me where you are in your individual situation and perhaps help you brainstorm a little bit.
What would your next steps be and do you need help or are you on the road to making the right kinds of decisions for yourself? Without help from me, I will tell you either way. I routinely say to people, I may not be the person that you need or I may not have the information that you need. I will be honest and tell you if, if I think I can help, I'll tell you that.
The main thing is you get 20-minutes to 30-minutes to talk through all the stuff that's jumbled up in your head and all the stuff that's got you confused and perhaps feeling stuck that you can't talk about with a spouse or your parents or your friends, even, without them feeling like they're obligated to share their advice and their advice is not going to be objective.
And it's not going to be as impersonal as getting feedback from someone who has no skin in the game and is only listening with the intention of helping you get started on the right path for your next career. So if you'd like to sign up for that no obligation session, it's again at kittyboitnottdotcoachesconsole.com/calendar. To download this particular document. Go to teachers and transition.com/careerchangeroadmap.
I'll put that link below and if you would like to download the eBook, "10 Things You Need to Know If You Think You're Ready for a Job or Career Change," I'll include the link for that. All of this is free information for you and you want to arm yourself with as much information as you can before you make a change as drastic as changing your job or your career. So that is it for today.
I hope that you will have found this information helpful and I hope you'll take advantage of the resources below. If you would please subscribe to the station and uh, be alerted then to future episodes of teachers and transition, that would be great. And I would also love to hear your comments, um, your thoughts about this information and whether or not you're getting help from it. And what kinds of questions might you have?
I'll check to see if I might be able to answer those in future episodes. So don't be bashful about asking questions and if you'd like to reach out to me individually, you may do tha at kittyboitnott@boitnottcoaching.com. Have a great day. I hope to see you again soon. So there you have it, an episode of "Teachers in Transition." I hope you enjoyed the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to "Teachers in Transition" so that you can be alerted of future episodes.
And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode. I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at Kitty Boitnott@boitnottcoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. Hi, I'm Kitty Boitnott and this is "Teachers in Transition."