Last year at this time I was struggling. A lot. So much so that I invested $10k in an agency to help me find a job outside of education. I just couldn’t do it anymore. Years 33 and 34 nearly broke me.
We were back in the building after 18 months of online teaching and everything was supposed to be “back to normal.” But it wasn’t and I found myself in a really sad and dark place.
A week before schools shut down at the beginning of the pandemic, I finished my manuscript for Love the Job, Lose the Stress, and as we found ourselves thrown into everything that came with teaching during this time, I felt like a fool for having written a book with a title like that!
I found myself no longer loving my job. It wasn’t the stress that was the problem, it was that I found I’d lost my joy in the very thing that used to light me up. Being in the same space where I’d had decades of growth and incredible memories became a different place after Covid disrupted everything. I found that just walking into my bandroom became a trigger for sadness, grief and despair.
The trauma of teaching during the pandemic is real. In my work with teachers who are in the same situation, they are trying to figure out if they should stay in the profession or if it’s time to find a new path because they’ve felt this same struggle.
I knew that if I was going to successfully go into a non-educational field, I would need help with everything from getting my resume updated so it resonated with companies for whom I wanted to work to preparing for interviews and getting clarity with the kind of role I was seeking.
I found a company that specializes in career transitions, made a huge financial investment and dove in to the process with the intent of finding a job that would allow me to walk away from teaching and into something where I could once again find joy and purpose.
I diligently showed up to all the coaching calls. I did the homework. I spent a lot of time asking myself hard questions. I began to get clear on my goals and narrow down the kind of work I needed to do in order to thrive.
And then I found it.
The result wasn’t at all what I expected. After all, when I dropped that kind of money, I fully anticipated I’d be making a change into a corporate role working year-round at something like education or performance travel, curriculum design or arts advocacy.
The process I was going through helped me gain clarity on my goals:
- Find a role where I could have a positive impact on others
- Make a difference for youth who have experienced trauma
- Make at least the amount I was making in my current teaching role
- Have generous time off
- Love what I do
Once I got real clarity on my goals, I found the perfect role that fulfills all these goals (and more) and it wasn’t at all what I expected it to be.
The job that came to the surface for me showed up because it checked all the boxes in my goal list:
- I make a positive impact on others
- I work directly with youth who have experienced trauma (pandemic and more)
- I make the same amount of money I made in my former role
- I work 183 days a year
- I LOVE what I am doing – it’s fresh and new but still familiar
After gaining clarity on my goals by working with someone who guided me through the process and helped me identify the right choice for me, the answer became crystal clear.
Last June I was shocked to find myself asking my middle school feeder director if he’d switch jobs with me. I realized that I still found passion and purpose in teaching music, but all of the additional evening and weekend commitments that go with being a high school band director, expecially since the pandemic hit, no longer brought me the joy it used to. I needed the connections with students and being a teacher is in my blood, but after 35 years of doing this work, it was time for a change, and the change that turned out to be right for me was literally right under my nose.
Since making the decision to swap jobs and move to the feeder middle school, I’ve found renewed happiness in my life’s work. I truly thought leaving teaching was my only option, and for many people that is the right choice, but for me, going through this process guided me to the right place for me to be.
Are you at a crossroads? Are you questioning whether or not you can or should continue down the path of teaching or pursue something else in order to find your joy? Do you wonder how you’d even begin looking for a job outside the education field?
Well, I invested a lot of time and money in figuring out how to find a role that is right for me and I’m sharing what I learned with you!
Join me for Should I Stay or Should I Go? Gaining clarity and making a plan for career fulfillment. I’ll host this informal session for free and share a few key things I learned from my $10k investment to save you some time and money!
At this interactive discussion on Thursday, January 6 at 4:00 pacific time, you’ll learn:
- How to identify whether your current situation is a healthy and appropriate place for you to be
- Important timeline and steps to take to transition from teaching to another career
- How to edit your resume so it appeals to employers you’re targeting
- How to get yourself out there on LinkedIn and other places where you can be discovered
As a FREE BONUS, attendees will receive a copy of my “teacher” resume and the “corporate” resume created by the company I hired so you can create your own resume by translating your teacher skills into verbiage that resonates in the corporate world. (Save yourself thousands of dollars by using this tool!)
We are at the time of year when teachers need to think about next year’s contract. Right now there’s time for you to look at your options, but soon you’ll have to sign a contract and be locked in for another year. Or you need to get some clarity on what you want and take the steps to make it happen. I can help.
If you’re like a lot of the music teachers I’ve worked with over the past several years, you’ve been through a LOT of changes and now is the time to pause, reassess and move forward in a way that supports your mental and physical health.
I hope you’re happy and fulfilled in your current role, but if you’re not and you’re wondering what to do next, you should come to this conversation.
With you on this strange journey –
Lesley