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June 17, 2015 From the Front Lines

So You Resigned From Teaching. Now What?

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Teresa

Teresa Cooper is a 30-something divorced mom and teacher from North Carolina. She has a Masters of Science in Education for Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University and a BA in Psychology with a minor in Creative from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Having struggled with anxiety and depression most of her life and later having birthed a child with autism, she is passionate about spreading awareness and acceptance of mental illness and autism. After 13 years in education, she has a wealth of knowledge to share on education and bonding with children.
  • PTSD in Teachers: Yes, It's Real! - August 19, 2018
  • Teacher Anxiety: How to Cope With Anxiety Under Stress - July 29, 2018
  • Depression Kills Teachers if Left Untreated: It Should Not Kill Their Careers - July 23, 2018
  • Amidst Declining Mental Health in Teachers, What Can Administrators Do? - June 30, 2018
  • 5 Things I'd Tell Myself in My Earlier Teaching Years - October 15, 2017
  • How Class Dojo Saves My Sanity Daily - October 1, 2017
  • Surviving the School Year: Game of Thrones Style - August 27, 2017
  • What to Change Behavior? Start With Class Meetings in Special Education - August 20, 2017
  • When Your Administrator Doesn't Like You - July 3, 2017
  • Conquering Teacher Biases Against Disabilities: Important Strategies - May 8, 2017

Stressed-teacher-460x276Many positions exist out there for teachers who need a new job, but you need to know where to look. When people found out that I had resigned from my job, they immediately asked the question, "So, where are you going?" I had no idea what to tell them because I resigned before even finding a new job. I just shrugged and said, "I don't know." I didn't make a plan, really, other than to find a new job and at that point, I felt too superstitious about the interviews I had completed to tell anyone that I felt like I had some good prospects. Privately, I continued looking for jobs in all the familiar places. So once you've resigned from teaching, what do you do next? Several options exist, but it all depends on what you want to do.

Option 1: Look for teaching jobs in surrounding school districts. I know, that seems like an obvious first-step, but that doesn't mean you should overlook it. As I know from working in a previous school district, not all districts are created equal. You may just find what you wanted all along by looking in a surrounding area.

Option 2: Look for another type of job either in your school district or in a surrounding school district. I kept hitting the button that said "licensed" when conducting my job search until I realized that one of the most awesome sounding jobs actually existed as a "classified" position. What if you want to try something new, like working as a parent educator? Or maybe you want to work as a student adviser in another capacity. Jobs exist out there that require your experience as an educator and your desire to help families, and some of them exist within the school system. Keep an open mind and maybe you'll find that what you really want to do is more than what you're doing now.

Option 3: Try looking for jobs at local colleges. Maybe you don't have a Master's Degree, so you couldn't teach college-level courses, but what if you find another job that takes your experience teaching as a prerequisite requirement? I located an Educational Consultant position at a local college who wanted someone to work in professional development of school employees on the topic of Autism. I would love that job. I also saw a position at the community college as a Youth Case Manager that would fit my work experiences perfectly. Maybe you can fulfill your passion and use your expertise elsewhere!

Option 4: If you're an experienced teacher, you may find that the state department of education has job openings for positions that you're more than qualified for. The perk? They usually pay more.

Option 5: Test developers are almost always looking for people to help develop test questions, assess test reliability, and score tests. Former educators often fit perfectly in these jobs because we know more about curriculum requirements than anybody.

Option 6: Seek employment in areas that are completely unrelated to teaching or helping out youth. Maybe you can't find a job in any of the other places. At that point, you've gotta do what you've gotta do. Look outside of your comfort zone. Retail management? Administrative services at the local hospital? The world is your oyster. Go for it!

Once you've resigned from teaching, make sure you keep your chin up and your options open. Apply for positions in a multitude of areas. Keep looking and applying in whatever environment you feel you can reasonably continue working. Then keep the faith that it will all work out, because it will. Just remember that you worked in education, so you can handle anything!

 

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Related posts:

Default ThumbnailAdopting a State Legislator for a Day: Teachers Get Political Default ThumbnailPay It Backwards: Reach Out to Your Former Teachers Default ThumbnailWe Believe: An Open Letter on Behalf of Every Teacher Changing Schools: How do you know when it's time to go?
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