Exploring Timescales to Exit the Classroom

When it comes to navigating a career change, no two journeys are the same.

Within the teacher career change community there are a huge range of reasons for leaving the profession, as well as individual circumstances and personal factors at play, so it’s important that you carve out the path that works best for you … whilst trying not to compare your journey to anyone else's!

For some career changers, it may be possible to have some control over your exit timescales - deciding when to hand your notice in, building up a business alongside teaching, or taking the time to really feel prepared and ‘ready’ to leave (you may never feel truly ‘ready’ - and that’s ok too!). For others, you may find yourself needing to make a swift exit due to being signed off sick or struggling with burnout. Whatever your situation, it is possible to tailor your plan of action to suit your own timescale.

In this article, I’ll share how you can make it work …

Scenario 1: Navigating an Exit When You’re Signed Off Sick

In this scenario, you might not have the luxury of time to plan your exit. Perhaps you’ve reached a point where teaching is severely impacting your mental, emotional and physical health - stress, burnout, anxiety and physical exhaustion are all very common reasons that teachers find themselves signed off sick from work and unable to return to the classroom.

If you’re in this position now, first … take a deep breath. It’s time for you to prioritise your own well-being and it’s important to remember that no job should come before that.

If you are signed off sick, or might need to be, please do seek support from your union to understand your rights during this time (e.g. around pay, communication with school, leave periods). You don’t have to hand in your notice, and PLEASE don’t let a sense of guilt, obligation or embarrassment tell you otherwise.

You are in an extremely vulnerable position and you have every right to be safeguarded with time off to heal and someone to advocate for you - it’s not a declaration of war to ask for union help, the process protects all parties.

It’s important to consult your school’s Sickness and Absence policy asap to understand your rights in terms of contact, support, time off, pay etc. If you choose to leave, your union will be able to advise you on navigating an exit including agreeing a reference, but most importantly, don’t just hand in your notice! You’re entitled to paid time to recover. If you don’t take this, you may find yourself out of work and still too unwell to look for and secure a job. If you need help, please take it.

Scenario 2: Navigating an Emergency Exit (When You Need to Leave RIGHT NOW)

You’re not signed off and just need to get out and fast. Let’s explore some practical steps for anyone who needs to make an emergency exit from teaching:

Focus on short-term financial planning. Do you have any savings? Can you start cutting your outgoings asap and work out how long you can live on reduced wages? What is your financial baseline (the minimum amount that you need) for a new role and do you have any buffer whilst you’re job hunting?
Consider a job for now. Your next job does not have to be your dream ‘forever’ job. It might be something temporary to bridge the gap until you find a role that allows you to thrive again in the long-term. What’s likely to work for you right at this moment is a job that will give you a bit of breathing space to re-group away from pressures of the classroom - something that operates at a slower pace and demands less of your mental energy. Something that will also keep your weekends and evenings free so that you can rest and recover from stress, burnout, or any other health problems.
Go easy on yourself. No one skips out of the classroom, full of confidence and giddy about the 100s of opportunities there are out there… Your confidence is likely already at a low point, and mustering up the energy to look for and apply for jobs when you’re already running on empty is no easy feat! Work on your career change in small frequent bursts, gather support from loved ones and other members of the community around you, and rest and recover when you can if you’re juggling a full teaching role too.

Scenario 3: The Two Term Exit Plan (When You Want to Leave But it’s Not Urgent)

In this scenario, you know that you want to leave teaching but you’re also in a position to wait it out for a term or two so that you can craft a solid exit plan and perhaps accrue some savings too!

It can be helpful to have a clear leave date in mind to give yourself something to work towards. Teacher notice periods are notoriously long and inconvenient, so make sure you’re aware of when you need to hand in your notice so that you’re able to leave when you want to. If you’re not sure how teacher notice periods work, have a read of ‘Navigating Notice Periods: A UK Teacher’s Guide.’ for all the details.

Next, take care to use the time you have wisely to prepare your teaching exit plan. In the Adventures After Teaching Academy, we walk through the steps to career change in three phases:

Audit & Explore - Get clear on your financials and must-haves, explore your career values, audit your transferable skills and start to consider some aligned career pathways.
Search & Rebrand - Begin your job search efficiently, network and utilise the power of LinkedIn, write a show-stopping CV (and tailor for the roles you want) and prepare persuasive cover letters.
Shine & Secure - Build confidence for interviews, learn how to create engaging presentations, prepare for different interview questions and salary negotiations.

When you’ve got an exit plan in place, you can start applying for new roles. It’s worth noting that the wait times (e.g. between applications closing, to hear back from interviews) can be longer than those in the world of teaching so it’s a good idea to factor this into your own timescales.

Scenario 4: Taking a Year to Explore (When You Think You Want to Leave But Aren’t in a Hurry)

In this scenario, you might not be fully confident in your decision to leave teaching yet and want to give yourself a little time to explore what else is out there. Or, perhaps you are firm in your decision but want to carefully prepare for a long-term, gradual transition out of teaching. In both cases, whilst the steps to crafting your exit plan are likely to be the same as in scenario 3, time is on your side and you have the luxury of taking things slow.

You might want to use the extra time available to you to:

Explore each stage of the career change journey at a slower pace, fitting this in around your current job as it suits you.
Go a little deeper into self-reflection, alongside working on boundary setting and well-being practices to ensure you don’t fall into unhealthy habits once you’re in a new role.
Carefully consider all the possible career options that are available to you across multiple industries.
Gain new qualifications, complete online training and courses or read books around your new areas of interest. This will help you to know if it’s really something you want to spend more time on, and to boost your CV with examples of your interest and suitability for new roles.
Network and build connections in fields outside of teaching.
Explore business ideas and opportunities - tutoring, virtual assistance and coaching are all popular choices for ex-teachers.

Deciding Which Scenario is Right for You

If you’re looking at scenario 1 or 2, it’s likely that you don’t have a choice over your timescale to leave teaching. That’s okay - do not panic. Plenty of teachers have left under these circumstances before (in fact, that’s why we have a monthly ‘Off-Sick Cuppa Call’ for Academy members who are all in the same boat) and whilst it’s likely not what you wanted, prioritising yourself and creating space to heal whilst finding work to tide you over in the interim is the most important thing for you right now.

If you’ve still got the option to decide between scenarios, consider:

When do you want to leave? If you want to leave at the end of a school year or have already handed your notice in, then this might dictate the time you have available to plan your exit.
What’s your current situation? If stress and burnout is becoming a challenge, then you might want to aim for an earlier exit. Your personal financial situation might also determine whether or not you can afford to risk leaving without something new lined up, or if you have a financial buffer that keeps your options open.
What are your personal goals and aspirations? If you haven’t done much exploring so far, and you have no clue what you might want to do after teaching, it might help to have a full year to really delve into that. If you already have a good idea of what you might want to do next, you may just need a shorter period of time to craft your exit plan and work through it step-by-step.
How much time do you have around your current job? If you know that you’re only going to be able to commit an hour or so a week to career change, it’s a good idea to aim to make the move over a longer time period. If you’re keen to throw everything you’ve got at it, and want to get out asap, you may not need (or want!) a full year to work on your exit.

No matter what your timeline is, taking control of your own career path is a brave decision and not one that you have to navigate alone. If you’d like some support to craft your exit plan (whether you’re leaving tomorrow or in a year!), you’ll find exactly what you need in the Adventures After Teaching Academy membership - join us to access value-packed teacher career change resources, workshops, templates, live coaching and an awesome community to cheer you on every step of the way! It’s time to move towards a future that better aligns with your well-being and passion… I’m so excited to help you get there! 💛✨

Categories: : Psychology of Career Change