updates: the ominous recruiter, interviewing with Covid, and more by Alison Green on September 8, 2022 Here are three updates from past letter-writers. 1. Recruiter made ominous comments about my current job (#2 at the link; first update) I’m back again with a much nicer update. I sort of regret my last update. I wrote it from a very emotional place shortly after we received the bad news. When I read the comments on the post (several days later, when it was too late to thank all the lovely people who told me about potential places to apply — thanks, everyone!), I saw a few comments about the recruiter being bound by confidentiality so of course he couldn’t warn me. I never actually thought it was reasonable to expect him to warn me in plain language, I was just scared and angry and that came through too strongly in my letter. I did end up speaking to the recruiter again. When he called me, the first words out of his mouth were, “I have never had a situation like this in all my years in this line of work.” He swore he reached out and set up that phone interview for me, and THEN found out the news about my job, which is why he was strongly encouraging me to jump ship. That’s why none of my other coworkers heard from him early. I ended up doing a couple more interviews that he had set up (including another one with the company I had phone-interviewed with, where he really wanted me to go) because I was scared of not finding anything, but I still didn’t have a great experience with him. He basically said “so are your expectations lower now that you’re about to lose your job?” and referred me to fully-in-person positions with rigid schedules and no tuition assistance, which was the opposite of what I was hoping for. When I had accepted an offer, I tried to recommend a former coworker for one of his open roles. He was upset I didn’t go with the position he thought I should take and said, “Oh, I’m actually already working with Sally. We’re going to get her a much nicer offer than that.” (I later spoke to Sally — she didn’t like him either, and she found a new position without him!) Here’s the real good news: everything worked out perfectly for me! The new company that bought my old company offered me a sizable bonus to stay on through the transition period. I found a new job (referred through my network) that was willing to wait that long for me to start, is almost entirely remote, and has tuition assistance and other great benefits. The role I’m in now is very low-level, but the pay is on par with my old role. It’s a growing national organization and my boss and grand-boss have both already talked about promoting me once I finish my degree so there’s definitely plenty of room for advancement; I was actually hired to replace someone who just finished his degree and got promoted to another team. I’m learning a lot and I’ve been openly encouraged to do schoolwork when I have downtime. Training mostly remotely has been somewhat challenging, but all of my coworkers have been very welcoming and helpful. I loved my old job, but this change ended up working out really well for me. I start school at the end of this month and I’m feeling good about my future. 2. Interviewing with Covid symptoms (#2 at the link) I contacted both places where I was scheduled to interview, and they were both very understanding. One of the two interviews I originally had scheduled for when I was showing symptoms was changed to a Zoom interview, but upon starting the Zoom meeting, it quickly became clear that they were looking for skills and experience that hadn’t been specified in the job ad and that I didn’t have. At least I didn’t have to go to their office to find that out! The other interview initially was going to be over Zoom as well, but was rescheduled to a later in-person date instead. It went well, and today I got a call offering me the job… which I turned down because I had already taken another offer in the meantime! My new job is fully remote, has somewhat flexible hours, is in a field I’ve been wanting to break into, and will be a 10% raise from my current position (entirely due to my negotiating the offer, which I likely wouldn’t have done without the advice of AAM helping me out!), and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the employer. It’s not a dream job, no job is, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction! On the symptoms front, I never had any symptoms show besides the lack of smell/taste and perhaps some minor fatigue, and my senses of smell and taste recovered significantly over the weekend. I still wonder if what I had was Covid, even after two negative rapid tests, but as long as long Covid doesn’t rear its ugly head, I suppose it doesn’t matter much in the end. I’m definitely glad, though, that I did the right thing and let them know rather than risking spreading whatever I had to my interviewers and their contacts. 3. Is it unwise to plan a two-week Eurotrip while job hunting? (#5 at the link) I wrote to you in March about taking a Eurotrip during a job hunt. I’m happy to share my positive update! Most importantly, I took the trip. I visited Prague, Munich, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and I genuinely had a wonderful time. I started my job hunt in late January and thought I would have an offer by the time school wrapped up in mid June. That did not happen. Right before I left for my trip, I did a final round interview that I felt really good about. I was hoping to start my trip with a job offer … but I got a rejection email not even 24 hours after landing in Europe and had a bit of a “main character moment” ugly crying on the train from Munich to Prague. I was crestfallen, but I kept my promise to myself that I wasn’t going to do any job applications on the trip. I started mentally preparing to return to school in the fall, which I really did not want to do. But sometimes things work out. As I was in the airport heading home, I got an email from a hiring manager I’d done an informational interview with a couple months beforehand. I formally interviewed for a role on a Wednesday, did a final round interview that Friday, and got an offer on Monday morning. Two weeks later, I started a wonderful job at a tech company with a mission I support. I successfully transitioned out of the classroom and into a higher-paying, remote job in tech! I’m one of thousands of teachers leaving the education world now, during a truly dire time for public education in the US. I think you could do a story on why teachers are leaving the classroom and/or advice for them as they do so. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be happy to share my story and insights. This blog provided laughs and invaluable insights during my grueling 6-month job search. Thank you for all you do to maintain it. You may also like:can I bring my own furniture to a new job, an ominous recruiter, and moreasking coworkers to hang out socially, interviewing with Covid symptoms, and moreI have a job offer -- but it's been weeks and there's no start date in sight { 56 comments }
Q without U* September 8, 2022 at 12:42 pm #3 – I don’t know what resources are available to teachers leaving the profession, but there does seem to be a knowledge gap. We’ve gotten some applications from teachers who don’t explain how or why their skills might be transferable to the position. Maybe they think it’s obvious, but it’s not to us and so those applications don’t go anywhere.
Chairman of the Bored* September 8, 2022 at 12:49 pm Same here. I’d be very open to hiring a transitioning or former teacher for some of the open training-focused roles on my team, even if that requires first spending time teaching them the technical aspects of the job. However, it’s tough to make that case internally when I have a resume that seems to have been written for another job in education and seemingly doesn’t make any effort to bridge the gap between education and a private technology company. This describes almost all of the teacher resumes that I’ve personally encountered.
Skills* September 8, 2022 at 12:51 pm What are some teaching skills that you think would be applicable for roles you hire for?
H.C.* September 8, 2022 at 1:39 pm I think the most obvious transferable skills would be training-related, whether in technical aspects or more general work-related matters (HR mandated courses, organizational policies/procedures, onboarding new hires, etc.) Other related ones might be troubleshooting problems, process improvement, performance evaluation, and customer/client service.
Princess Trachea-Aurelia Belaroth* September 9, 2022 at 1:41 pm Make sure you’re taking into account all the non-instructional work teachers do when they are applying for jobs. They do a huge amount of coordination, collaboration, compliance, project management, personnel management, and just nose-to-the-grindstone processing work on a daily basis. Obviously they should figure out themselves how to represent this on a resume, but if you’re going out of your way to consider where you can use teachers, keep these skills in mind. Many teachers are trying to get away from instruction in general, not change to instructing adults (though many are doing that as well, obviously).
Please Remove Your Monkeys from My Circus* September 8, 2022 at 12:53 pm Yes. I work in informal education (think nonprofit cultural institutions) and have classroom experience, so I have a good understanding of the transferable skills involved, but I frequently find myself making the case to colleagues for applicants who haven’t really made the case for themselves. We get amazing candidates whose application materials really sell themselves short.
Ellis Bell* September 8, 2022 at 12:57 pm I’ve been told I write an unusually good cover letter/application in teaching, but I’d say it’s what was simply expected in my former profession, which was private sector. Loads of teaching applications I do now are just local authority forms and you get judged mostly on an all day teaching interview, lesson observation and pupil interviews. It’s really common to get referred by friends or get poached when a senior leader moves schools.
seps* September 8, 2022 at 1:22 pm I would agree with this. My org hired what we called an “education and training coordinator” and 8 of 10 applicants were K-12 teachers. For those that included cover letters, we didn’t get the feeling that they’d read the job description or understood what the position entailed.
Love to WFH* September 8, 2022 at 1:25 pm I once now met with a teacher looking to transition to tech. I found his resume almost unintelligible — the terminology used in education is VERY specialized. So the first step is requiring your resume and getting feedback from someone outside of education.
Aspiring Chicken Lady* September 8, 2022 at 1:35 pm Education resumes are very different from non-education resumes. It is definitely worth rebuilding from scratch, and using the top section of highlights to directly respond to how your transferable skills and experiences directly relate to the challenges posed in the job posting. Your goal in the first 4 inches is to convince the reader that you understand what they need, and that you know how you fill that need.
OP#3* September 8, 2022 at 2:00 pm Yeah, it took a lot of time and energy for me to learn how to translate my education experience to the corporate world. It was a lot of playing mad-libs. Teachers tend to be humble, but they do SO MUCH and can handle just about anything thrown at them.
Wannabe Former Teacher* September 8, 2022 at 2:48 pm I’m a teacher who is trying to get out, and I spent a long time reworking my resume. I was honestly shocked at all the accomplishments I’ve achieved over the years. In my experiences in education, our accomplishments are hardly ever acknowledged so it was easy to underestimate what I had done. I’ve turned down one role so far because the salary was way too low. I’m hoping I can find something that isn’t too drastic of a pay cut.
GlitterIsEverything* September 10, 2022 at 6:06 pm Wait, you’re hoping not to have “too drastic of a pay cut” as compared to a teacher’s salary? At a minimum, you hold a BA, possibly a master’s degree. You’re capable of multitasking, working with a wide variety of personalities, establishing project plans, and so much more. And your goal is “minimize the pay cut?” Please don’t sell yourself short. Read through AAM’s section on pay negotiation. There’s no reason for you to not at least maintain your current pay level.
SansaStark* September 8, 2022 at 2:56 pm Hopping on this train to agree with this. I can infer some things because I have close friends who are teachers but that’s a hard sell to my boss who would prefer concrete examples. Find ways to connect the dots between the skills/duties in the job posting with things that you’ve done and put them in your resume/cover letter. Maybe you’re great with databases or a skilled project manager but without concrete examples, I don’t always see how the skills are transferrable and it can look like you’re just applying to anything that isn’t teaching. I need to know why you’d be good at *this* job.
Jessica* September 8, 2022 at 12:48 pm LW3’s suggestion is terrific! I would love to see this content just as an interested bystander, and some of it could be seriously useful to teachers.
Rainer Maria von Trapp* September 8, 2022 at 9:41 pm Yes — I fully agree. I’m looking at leaving secondary (middle/high school) teaching after 17 years. I would love to talk about and/or read about the experience. I never thought I would be considering leaving this profession that had always been a calling, but now feels fully overwhelming and claustrophobic.
Follow up to 3* September 8, 2022 at 12:49 pm #3 could you share what specific positions you applied for? I’m toying with the idea of exploring options outside of the field of education but I’m not sure where to start.
OP#3* September 8, 2022 at 1:55 pm OP #3 here! I started off applying to DEI jobs because I’d done a lot of DEI work at my school, but when I wasn’t getting calls back, I started applying to customer success roles. That’s the field I work in now. I know that L&D/instructional design, training, and customer success are all popular paths for former teachers.
Sack of Benevolent Trash Marsupials* September 8, 2022 at 12:50 pm #3 – I have a friend in this position and would love to be able to direct her to some insight into how to make the transition, as she hasn’t had much luck! I think it would be great to share with the readership of this site.
T. Boone Pickens* September 8, 2022 at 1:05 pm Reddit has a ton of resources available in case your friend hasn’t check that avenue out yet.
A Teacher* September 8, 2022 at 12:56 pm Teacher–I also have an athletic training license and certification. I know I could move to case management or other health related fields where my education and teaching experience would be valued . I did work comp years ago before entering education. I know I could go back to athletic training. I still like my job for the most part but it is nice to have options if I want them.
Hlao-roo* September 8, 2022 at 12:59 pm Congratulations to all the letter writers for their new jobs!
RunShaker* September 8, 2022 at 1:12 pm all wonderful updates! I’m also glad to hear OP#3 took their trip. I’m not in education but was pursuing an education degree & decided to changes majors my junior year. I lost credits due to switch but obtaining a business degree paid off in the end. Watching my teacher friends struggle is insane. I’m not surprised schools are struggling to hire in all levels. I too would love to see a story on why teachers are leaving so I can share.
Lady_Lessa* September 8, 2022 at 1:42 pm I think that the open thread on Fridays would be appropriate. I read some teacher blogs, and would like to mental compare what I read there to your story.
Snow Globe* September 8, 2022 at 2:36 pm I think this country is facing a huge crisis in public education, and it is really important to have discussions about why. I have several close friends who’ve taught elementary school for 20+ years, and the stories I hear from them are infuriating. One friend has a countdown on her phone to show the number of days until retirement.
RebelwithMouseyHair* September 11, 2022 at 8:44 am Why teachers are leaving? they’re underpaid and overworked, overstretched, underrated and treated like scum by students, parents and hierarchy. (Speaking from France here but it sounds like it’s much the same in the US) The software for online lessons crashed recently and I saw a cartoon where the Education Minister was saying “what, you can’t just double the number of students? it breaks down? that’s not how teachers work!” sigh.
Laura* September 8, 2022 at 1:48 pm I love reading stories of fellow ex-teachers! Alison if you did want to get input from readers for a piece on leaving teaching I’d be more than happy to add some UK-based insights, I left teaching a few years ago worrying it would mean starting a new career from scratch and that I’d wasted all that time, I couldn’t have been more wrong. I do feel like there’s a surprising lack of information for teachers on how they can translate their (substantial and valuable!!) classroom experience into other industries.
Amy* September 8, 2022 at 2:08 pm Re: Ed Tech jobs I’ve worked in Ed Tech for 15 years and we hire straight from the K-12 classroom for training and sales roles. That said, I’d strongly encourage teachers to find a contact to review the resume and coach them on the transition. I was was a teacher and frankly had no idea what the job or industry were really about when I started. I just interviewed well and managed to paper over my confusion. Also had a hiring manager who wasn’t really paying attention. It probably took me 1-2 years to get up to speed. My company has increased scrutiny on hiring teachers recently after we realized we were having very high rates of losing former teachers in the first year. While as a former teacher, I might not want it to be true, in general, we have better luck training and retaining people from other industries, not those coming from the classroom. My 25 year old self probably wouldn’t be hired today by my company. There are a lot of transferable skills but just as many differences. If you want to transit and know anyone connected with K-12 Ed / Ed Tech, I’d try to track them down and really get the skinny on the industry.
Chidi has a stomach ache* September 8, 2022 at 4:26 pm This is interesting — are there any theories you can share as to why the retention rate for former teachers was lower than folks from other industries?
Amy* September 8, 2022 at 5:14 pm Many things but especially that the transition from non-profit to for-profit can be rough. My company spend a lot of time thinking about helping teachers and students. We’re not all sitting around rubbing our hands like Scrooge McDuck. But we do also have to prioritize business decisions. It’s definitely a shift for some people.
J* September 9, 2022 at 11:58 am In my industry, it’s often about pace. For teachers, they have some predictable lulls in their day. That’s not to say they’re not interrupted by students or busy or take work home with them. But in my industry, they aren’t used to an environment where you’re expected to respond to emails ASAP instead of during a plan hour. They expect downtime after a lesson – think a 10+ hour day with homework but with controlled lulls on a regular 1 hour schedule versus 8 hours of intensity. Those both usually are quickly adapted to. But then there’s some expectation we’ll have slower seasons a la summer or holiday break. And we don’t. So there’s another thing they adapt to and overcome. There’s also definitely a different workforce environment. My friend is a teacher who switched to being a receptionist at a medical office and left that to go back to schools because of the types of people she interacts with in a day (women her own age especially but also she really liked the youth interactions). It all just adds up to some level of resentment and change, even if they adapt. All of those seem so small but are consistently cited as just issues people never overcome in the transition to tech. If I really had to guess, a lot of people who didn’t know what to do for work became teachers because it was a known path with examples they’d seen their whole life. Going into a new field is full of unknowns and a lot of people don’t love uncertainty/change. Many would rather stay at/return to a bad job/industry they know than deal with the frustration of a new job with new people. And I get it! I think a lot of them also assume it’s just their industry that’s toxic and surprise! many others are. Or they’re burnt out and they think the job alone will fix it. A “wherever you go, there you are” scenario. My friend who reverted back to education outside of a classroom actually went through intensive therapy as part of that change and it’s clear she’s so much happier and that’s part of why she was able to return to schools. I wouldn’t be surprised if she went back to a classroom or if she just sat at the school secretary desk for the rest of her career. Either seems just as likely now that she’s really working on herself.
ferrina* September 8, 2022 at 3:20 pm OP1, I’m so glad you landed on your feet! I don’t think you should regret your last update- you weren’t that harsh and it makes sense that you were under a lot of turmoil. The recruiter doesn’t sound like he made anything better. I’m still confused why he said anything at all- with confidentiality, he shouldn’t have said anything and just offered condolences when he saw you again. Not surprised to hear he wasn’t the best at job placement.
Where’s the Orchestra?* September 8, 2022 at 3:25 pm Honestly I think OP one had a very accurate impression of that recruiter from day one. I also wonder how much his commission was for those jobs he attempt to force OP and her coworker into? It doesn’t at all sound like he listened to either of them with regards to what they were and weren’t looking for. This is not a knock on all recruiters – there are some good ones out there, this guy just wasn’t one of them.
OP #1* September 8, 2022 at 7:26 pm He definitely didn’t really listen to us! “Sally” was determined to stay in the same industry, even if that meant taking a lower role, but he kept trying to push her into other industries she had zero interest in. She found a job in the same industry through her existing network connections. The other interview I went to that he set up was for a higher level role that I didn’t feel I was qualified for. He insisted “women have a tendency to downplay their accomplishments! You’ve been working in X program for three years, you can do Z role. Men would just say ‘Yeah, I’ve heard of X, I’m sure I can do that.'” and basically talked me into doing this interview. Like, yes, I’ve been working in this program for three years, but I’ve really only done ONE task in it. It’s a very broad system! (It was a fully in-person role, but my commute would have been <10 minutes, so I was willing to give it a shot as a stretch, since he seemed so sure they would be willing to support/train me.) He had told me he didn't know the main interviewer, but he had known the grandboss for years and he was such a nice guy and I shouldn't be nervous at all. So I went to this interview. The main interviewer was a lovely person. About halfway through the interview, Grandboss came in and practically interrogated me about VERY specific parts of my future goals, like he didn't believe I was really interested in the field. As though accounting is the hot new TikTok trend that kids are getting into on a whim. It was very intimidating and honestly kind of embarrassing. The feedback I got was that I interviewed well, but they were looking for someone with more experience. Yes, DUH, I already told you I didn't have the experience they were looking for! I think he over-represented my qualifications to them, and over-represented their willingness to train to me, and ended up wasting everyone's time. The role I'm in now is basically a "feeder" role to get people started in the organization, and most people leave the role via promotion. I feel like my future is bright here. :)
coffee* September 8, 2022 at 10:58 pm “We’re going to get her a much nicer offer than that.” What is wrong with that guy?! I’m glad you have a nice new job.
Where’s the Orchestra?* September 9, 2022 at 8:53 am Yeah – I have absolutely zero surprise that both OP and Sally found new jobs on their own, especially given what OP just said above. Makes me suspect that that recruiter was just all about how many commissions can I get by jamming pegs into place. And the people/pegs, well they and their opinions didn’t really matter at all.
FormerHSTeacher* September 8, 2022 at 3:32 pm I transferred my teaching skills and science knowledge to becoming a Learning Consultant for a medical software company. Basically I am doing my same job, teaching, just for adults who use the software. I also have leveraged my knowledge of technology to get this job. While I didn’t know how to use video editing software before this job, it was an easy skill to pick up and they were ok with training me. I didn’t know the LMS they were using, but I had experience in others so the transition was smooth. I found that by reading the job descriptions I could find where my skills fit into what they needed. The hard part was finding the right role to look for. The best one for me was “Learning Consultant” and there were a huge variety of jobs to choose from. OHHH and I highly recommend using AAM’s advice of you don’t have to have 100% of the skills/requirements in the job description. I didn’t have the experience in the medical software, but took a chance and sent in my application. I clicked really well with the Manager and both Curriculum Developer’s with the team and I got a job offer within a week of the final interview. After reading this site for 3 years I was so glad I took the leap.
Richard Hershberger* September 8, 2022 at 4:57 pm “He was upset I didn’t go with the position he thought I should take and said, “Oh, I’m actually already working with Sally. We’re going to get her a much nicer offer than that.” (I later spoke to Sally — she didn’t like him either, and she found a new position without him!)” I know the type: Smarmy, and unlikely to come through.
Where’s the Orchestra?* September 8, 2022 at 5:11 pm Lol, I read him similarly: superficially charming but a real jerk when he can’t actually BS his way out of the jam. From my personal experiences with these guys they are so busy flapping their gums* that they can’t be bothered to pay attention to what anybody else is saying to them. *I call it flapping their gums because while they are making noise, they aren’t actually having a conversation because they aren’t paying any attention to what the other person is saying.
BasketcaseNZ* September 8, 2022 at 5:31 pm Yeah, these are also the recruiters who will cover their own rear ends when things go wrong, making claims about what they told the candidate about the job during the interview process when the role turns out different to expected, etc etc.
Elle Woods' Pink Sunglasses* September 8, 2022 at 5:27 pm #1 – Okay now I wanna work at your new company… I’m taking this as inspo to start my own job hunt. #3 – Love the “main character moment” processing! If you’re going to cry about a job rejection, might as well do it on a cool train going to cool places.
Американка (Amerikanka)* September 9, 2022 at 10:41 am #3- I can relate about crying about job rejections in public locations. I once found out about a dream job rejection right before my graduate class. Of course it was the class session where I had a final presentation. Despite my best efforts to hold it in, I had tears quietly running down my face in class. Fortunately, I told the professor about the job rejection right before class (he knew about my job search and gave me resume tips). While he still had high expectations about my presentation (as he should), he at least did cut me a little slack. As a bonus, I was able to hold back the tears during the presentation.
Frustration Nation* September 8, 2022 at 6:13 pm Changing careers is always so daunting. I’ve worked in reality TV production for 20+ years and am very eager to move on to something less gig-based (as are many of my colleagues), and the amount of time and energy I’ve put into exploring the corporate world, learning about job possibilities, rebuilding my resume multiple times, crafting exceptional cover letters, and just digging for opportunities is enormous. And I’m finding very few people are interested in creatives, even when I translate my skill set into more corporate language. OP3, I salute you! Glad to hear someone has been able to make a big leap!
Liz in the Midwest* September 8, 2022 at 7:59 pm #3, I once got a job rejection upon my arrival in Europe for a two week trip! I, too, cried a lot in beautiful places. And I, too, got a much better job (where, also, I then met my husband, another reason to be glad I didn’t get that first job!). Welcome to a very specific club.
Dmo* September 8, 2022 at 9:36 pm Daphne Williams is the person for this, any teachers who are thinking of jumping ship!
Science KK* September 8, 2022 at 10:30 pm OP2, since you didn’t take a PCR test it’s hard to say, but it also could have been a sinus infection. I woke up one morning with smell but absolutely no taste at all, took 3 PCR tests and two rapid tests which were all negative. I did some research and appearently sinus infections can cause the same symptoms. I did a neti pot and felt significantly better right away. I majorly disinfected it daily & threw that one out when I recovered though. All that being said, I still wore an N95 mask for two weeks following that out of an abundance of caution, had anyone working closely with me do the same and literally went no where but work and home. I’m 99% sure it was a sinus infection but I wasn’t putting anyone else at risk for even a 1% chance.
Tuba* September 8, 2022 at 10:34 pm That recruiter was a sleezeball and it doesn’t matter the he was right. He treated you like trash by holding something that could be ~anything~ over you. I’m glad you were in no way involved with him placing you because he’s already shown not to have good judgement. I hope you will find something else soon!
Bowserkitty* September 8, 2022 at 10:37 pm OP1, I think many of us have pretty bitter kneejerk reactions to finding out about layoffs and such. My first was in my mid-20s and immediately after our group meeting (there were 80+ of us and they put us all into smaller “information sharing” meetings at 8:30am to break the news) I made the mistake of posting my own knee-jerk reaction on Facebook. Luckily my best friend (who also worked for the company) called me ASAP and told me to take it down. Then he took the rest of the day off and treated me to lunch :’) I’m glad he helped me save face and stay professional. It’s not an easy situation though!
Bowserkitty* September 8, 2022 at 10:38 pm I should say I’m not faulting you at all, I think your reaction was 100% justified! Not to mention it happened here anonymously! Just don’t feel bad about what you said, that’s my point.
Okapifeels* September 9, 2022 at 11:25 am #2, my organization has tons of these sorts of tasks and Alison’s read is accurate. Employees who don’t want to do the work love assuaging their guilt by going around and reassuring themselves that you, and employees like you, are doing the work. What’s interesting in what I’ve seen is that a lot of these people are actually those who struggle in some way with their normal workload—so, they’re actually telling the truth that they’re “too busy,” in that they are going to struggle to complete their work if they do the daily tasks like they’re supposed to. In my experience they’re rarely the lazy employees, just the ones that struggle with/over stress about their workload. There’s not much you can do about it on a peer to peer level beyond what Alison suggested, but yeah, your boss really needs to know that your coworker keeps putting off this duty.
Athena* September 9, 2022 at 3:32 pm Alison, if it interests you I definitely think a piece on the state of teaching in the US would be so valuable. My sibling and their spouse are both teachers so I hear a lot of the horror stories about how they’ve been treated the past few years.
Former Gremlin Herder* September 10, 2022 at 12:14 pm I’m a teacher who who left after five years. I spent last year in a non-instructional position but left to get away from the awful politics/mission of the school I worked for. I’m now in a training position with a non-profit who’s mission and values I align with better. I miss teaching a lot, but the flexible hours, 12% pay raise, and lower stress are worth it to me right now. I knew I wanted to get out for years, but it is really challenging. Teaching really sucks your energy and schools out a lot of pressure on their teachers to commit to next year early (like, January!) so it was hard to even start my job search. On top of that, what other commenters have said is true-figuring out what non teaching roles even entail and how to make your resume display your skills is tough. Reading this blog gave me so much insight on non-teaching work and the norms outside education. I followed Teacher Career Coach for some ideas, but I would honestly love to see insights from Allison and this community on this process!
TravelingTeacher* September 10, 2022 at 9:48 pm I 100% agree about having a feature or something about transitioning out of teaching. I am a loyal AAM reader and teacher. I just switched schools as a last-ditch effort to make this job manageable, but I’m seriously considering trying to get out all-together before I’ve sunk even more into my state pension system. I’ve been thinking for months about writing into Alison, but I don’t have a specific question. And to the OP — I’m glad you made it to Bosnia, such an incredible and underrated country!