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How to find a job outside of my field?
DustyBottoms
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm a teacher. Music, specifically. I have a Bachelor's in education and a Masters in music (required in NYS to achieve permanent certification). Also required for permanent certification is full time teaching experience. It's pretty tough to get teaching experience when nobody is hiring and in reality programs are being cut. I've held a number of positions over the past 5 years - all were either temporary to begin with or eliminated due to budgetary constraints. My current position ends before Thanksgiving, and unlike every time I've been in this boat in the last 5 years, no more opportunities are arising. I live with my wife who is also a teacher (substituting) but most of what she is able to make goes to paying off student loans. We were able to survive for the past year and a half because of various full-time positions I have had. All I'll have left after Thanksgiving are my private music students, which won't even bring in enough money to pay rent (which is ridiculous here on Long Island).
For a number of reasons, including the above, I am somewhat disillusioned with the teaching profession. I still plan to pursue employment opportunities in teaching but there is just NOTHING out there. Even now, I am busting my butt in a temporary capacity with no health insurance and less than half of the salary of a permanent teacher. I lost almost $700 this week due to schools being closed for Sandy. I like teaching, but I like being able to support myself and my wife a lot more.
Problem is, my resume is almost entirely teaching experience at this point. I have some administrative assistant experience (from college/grad school). I have retail experience from 4 months at Macy's (which I left for a teaching job) and 2 years at GameStop when I was in college... over five years ago. I don't know where to start with making my resume useful for something not related to teaching. I really don't even know where to start looking. I'm overwhelmed by Craigslist and underwhelmed by the response (or lack thereof) I've gotten to the few applications I've submitted for retail environments (Best Buy, Petco, Apple...)
I don't know where to start and I need ideas. Please help!
For a number of reasons, including the above, I am somewhat disillusioned with the teaching profession. I still plan to pursue employment opportunities in teaching but there is just NOTHING out there. Even now, I am busting my butt in a temporary capacity with no health insurance and less than half of the salary of a permanent teacher. I lost almost $700 this week due to schools being closed for Sandy. I like teaching, but I like being able to support myself and my wife a lot more.
Problem is, my resume is almost entirely teaching experience at this point. I have some administrative assistant experience (from college/grad school). I have retail experience from 4 months at Macy's (which I left for a teaching job) and 2 years at GameStop when I was in college... over five years ago. I don't know where to start with making my resume useful for something not related to teaching. I really don't even know where to start looking. I'm overwhelmed by Craigslist and underwhelmed by the response (or lack thereof) I've gotten to the few applications I've submitted for retail environments (Best Buy, Petco, Apple...)
I don't know where to start and I need ideas. Please help!
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For example: not only do you have retail experience with retail already via gamestop (handling cash, inventory, etc), but your teaching skills can help educate potential customers when they have questions to the store's products and able to explains things to them articuately.
Any other people skills you've developed in your teaching career would also apply. The resume is actually just there to get the recruiter's attention and the most important thing is the interview...
I might be going on a limb here, and I'll probably need to look at your particulare skill sets and what jobs you actually applied to. However I think the most important question that seems to be missing is: what do you actually want to do for a living?
So I need something to hold me over until either I find a permanent position or I decide that my "interim" job can become a career. After spending the last ten years of my life knowing that I wanted to be a teacher and dedicating 95% of my time to the pursuit of that goal, I am absolutely stuck and have no idea what else I would like to do now that I am (sort of) given the opportunity to do something else.
I'm not picky here - a friend mentioned that a local cable company was hiring installers but it turns out they're only hiring from within now. I also considered UPS but they have nothing available in my area that matches my needs. I'm just looking to see what's out there.
You mention spinning my abilities as a teacher - I've thought of that and given the opportunity to have an interview, I know that won't be a problem. I am more just concerned that the reason I'm not getting a call back from anyone is because every application I've filled out requires my full employment history. I have to imagine that any recruiter looking at the resume/application is completely and utterly confused as to why I am applying, and most applications (that I have tried, online) do not give me room to explain.
Do I just apply to full-time retail management positions and hope that someone likes the skillset I'd bring to the equation? Guess I need to start carpet-bombing resumes...
Thanks for your feedback. I'm still feeling quite depressed and lost but the longer I think about it the more likely I will come up with something that will be successful.
NY and NJ are both in shitsville on budgets and the first thing on their chopping block is public education.
Your welcome to join us down south in the DC Metro area - lots of teaching positions here. I'd recommend VA, DC, then MD (in that order) for education employment.
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
See now we are getting somewhere... At least now that we know you still want to teach... it's not the job it's the money. You believe that teaching is a dead end job that doesn't play well... Ever considered a vertical move? Be a principle? teaching courses for adults? Teaching college? Teaching privite school? Teaching in boarding school?
Let the interviewer worry about that. If they are at least interested in you they'll give you an interview and that'll be one of the questions you'll be expected to ask of. You'll need to give an adquate answear... If I were you I'll keep it pretty canid... say you are tired of teaching and need a career change, and you've heard "X" career in "X" company has high potential and very rewarding career exerience and that's why you applied for the job.
We've all been thru the hurdle once at least in job hunting... it can be pretty bleak at time, especially in this economical enviroment. I wish you the best of luck. Just like everything in life... you'l have to go the extra mile to beat the rest of candidate into getting the job...
P.S. Corporations do hire people to train their staffs as well... as well 10 years of working in any place will give you quite an advantage over a lot of people... don't be discourage and don't think your years of teaching was in vain. Again.. Good luck.