Stop Waiting for That Goldilocks Job

When you’ve decided it’s time to leave teaching, your brain immediately starts looking for the perfect solution. You find yourself scrolling through job boards with a very specific checklist in mind:

The salary is "just right" - at least as high as your current one.
The job spec is a perfect match, a role you can just tick off every single point for.
The notice period aligns perfectly with your school's terms, allowing you to hand in your notice and finish at the end of a term.

This is what I like to call the "Goldilocks Job." The fantasy that a "just right" opportunity will come along at just the right time, and when it does, that's your cue to get into action. You tell yourself, "When that job comes along, then I'll update my CV. Then I'll work on my LinkedIn profile. Then I'll have that difficult conversation with my line manager."

But while these jobs do exist and they are wonderful, waiting for one is a trap.

The Trap of Inaction

The Goldilocks mindset is one of the biggest reasons teachers stay stuck in a job they're desperate to leave. It creates a cycle of inaction and disappointment. You scroll, you see nothing that fits your perfect criteria, and you tell yourself, "There's nothing out there for me," so you go back to waiting.

Or sometimes, a just-right job does come along. One that makes you pause and think, "I could actually do that." The problem is, you've been waiting for the job to appear before you got into action. Now you're scrambling to get your CV up to date, your LinkedIn profile is a mess, and you're racing against the clock. This often leads to one of two outcomes: either you miss the application deadline entirely, or you submit a rushed, generic application that gets rejected, confirming your belief that you aren't ready.

This is a subtle but powerful form of self-sabotage. You’re giving yourself an excuse to not do the hard, preparatory work that’s essential for a successful career change.

The Psychological Toll of Waiting

This cycle of waiting and disappointment takes a toll. Every day you spend scrolling and finding nothing that feels "just right" can feel like a personal rejection. Your confidence takes a hit, and your hope for a new career dwindles. You start to feel that sense of deep-seated fatigue and hopelessness that you probably wanted to escape in the first place.

You find yourself putting your life on hold, convinced you can't move forward until that perfect job appears. You are holding yourself back from doing the very things that would help you feel empowered and in control.

The Antidote: Regain Control of Your Career Change

The truth is, you can’t control when that perfect job will be posted. You can’t control the timing or the salary or the job spec. But you can control what you do right now, in this moment, to get ready.

The antidote to the Goldilocks trap is a two-part approach: focusing on what's within your power and changing your mindset about what your first job after teaching needs to be. Instead of waiting for the right job, you need to use this time to build a strong, ready-to-go foundation.

This is what that looks like:

Evaluate your values. What do you actually want in your next role? What are your non-negotiables? What are the things that are most important to you outside of a job title?
Identify your transferable skills. You have a wealth of valuable skills, but they don't speak for themselves. You need to re-evaluate your experiences and rebrand your skills to speak the language of new industries.
Explore new pathways. Instead of fixating on one perfect job, open your mind to career areas that might be a great fit for you. There are hundreds of roles and industries that will value your skills.
Prepare your tools. This is the most crucial step. You can have your skills-based CV and your LinkedIn profile ready and waiting. When a good job does come along, you won't be scrambling to prepare; you'll be ready to tweak and submit your application in a day, not a week.

A Strategic Solution: The Lifeboat Job

Part of your new mindset might also be in accepting that the first job after teaching doesn’t have to be your "forever" job. What if it just needs to be the job that gets you out?

This is the concept of a "lifeboat job" or a "job for now." It's a strategic move that provides a safe way out of teaching and a bridge to your next career. A lifeboat job might not be your dream role, but it will give you something invaluable: a new environment to breathe in, space to recover from burnout, and a new set of skills that will be far more relevant on your CV than your current ones.

A lifeboat job allows you to leave the teaching mindset behind and continue your search from a position of empowerment, not desperation. It’s about being pragmatic and giving yourself the freedom to plan your next move without the pressure of a job you're desperate to leave.

Stop Waiting and Start Acting

The Adventures After Teaching Academy is built as an antidote to the Goldilocks mindset. We help you re-evaluate what you can and can't control. You may not be able to know exactly where you’re going, but you can build a comprehensive plan to get there.

The first job you get after teaching might just be your Goldilocks job … but it also doesn’t have to be the perfect, forever job. It just has to be the job that gives you the space to breathe, a new environment to learn in, and a new skill set to build on.

Because the best time to do the foundational work isn't when a job pops up - it's a term or two ahead of time, while you still have the head space to be strategic.

Stop waiting for the "just right" job. Start getting ready for the next one.

Categories: : Psychology of Career Change