Teachers in Transition: Career Change and Real Talk for Burned-Out Teachers
Burned out in the classroom? You’re not alone—and you’re not stuck.
Teachers in Transition: Career Change and Real Talk for Burned-Out Teachers is the podcast for educators who’ve given everything to their students—and now need to give something back to themselves.
Hosted by Vanessa Jackson, a former teacher who transitioned into the staffing and hiring industry, this show blends honest conversations, practical strategy, and deep emotional support. Vanessa knows exactly how burned-out educators can reposition themselves and stand out to recruiters because she’s been on both sides of the hiring table.
Each episode offers real talk and real tools to help you explore what’s next—whether that’s a new job, a new identity, or a new sense of peace.
💼 Career advice for teachers leaving education 💡 Practical job search tips, resume help, and mindset shifts 🧠 Real talk about burnout, grief, and rebuilding
You’ve given enough. It’s time to build a life that gives back.
I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say, "I am going to knock off the job search over the holidays and start fresh after the New Year," They mistakenly think that everyone else is taking a break for the holidays. I say "mistakenly" because they are wrong! Many companies only take the actual holidays off...and they still have openings to fill...sometimes openings that must be filled before the end of the calendar year.
You've heard the saying, "You snooze, you lose." And that is possible when you are job hunting and decide to slack off over the holidays.
Use this time to check back with HR directors to see about that job you interviewed for a few weeks ago. If you learned that they filled it already, at least you now know. But if they are still searching for someone, your showing extra initiative and interest might spark their interest in YOU!
Listen to why I believe that you should NOT slack off your job search during the holidays.
Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is Kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for "Teachers in Transition." In some episodes I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track? These are questions that you need answers to and I can help you find those answers. My name is Kitty Boitnott. Welcome to "Teachers in Transition." Welcome back for episode 39 of "Teachers in Transition." My name is Kitty Boitnott, the owner and founder of "Teachers in Transition," the podcast, the YouTube channel, and the website. Today I want to talk about a job search strategy that has to do with whether or not you should take a break during the holiday period. I mean, we're , here we are. It's the 17th of December. We're just about a week out from Christmas and then there's that lull of a week between Christmas and New Year's and I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "Yeah, I think I'll take a break over the holidays instead of job searching." And I understand that if you've been job hunting for a little while without a whole lot of success, you may feel like you owe it to yourself to take a break. But I want to suggest to you that you shouldn't take a break. In fact, you should double down during the holiday period. Now, obviously you shouldn't be emailing hiring managers or HR directors on Christmas Eve or Christmas day or even New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Those days are likely the days that those folks are going to take off or work half a day and they won't be as inclined to respond to an email from a job seeker. But then there are all those other days in between. I mean today's the 17th of December. There are a lot of days that don't include Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New Year's Eve and New Year's Day that you could be reaching out to someone and here are some reasons why you should. For one thing, a lot of other people are going to take a break too and if you aren't taking a break that sets you apart, that shows that you are truly eager to set yourself up for this new position that you're interested in, that you're not slacking off over the holiday, but that you are staying active and interested and engaged in your job search. This is particularly helpful if you have already sort of initiated a conversation with someone and it feels like it might be time to circle back around and follow up to see what the status of that job might be. Have they filled it that way if you at least if you know whether they filled it or not, you know not to hang your hopes on getting the job. So there's nothing that says that after a few weeks, if you haven't heard from someone that you could drop them an email and say, "Hey, it's me. I'm just wondering what's the status of the job? Have you filled it yet?" And if they respond, "Yes we went with someone else," at least then you know, but what if they haven't filled it yet? What if they've let things pile up and all of a sudden here they are at the end of the year and they need to fill that position because some places have budgetary concerns. If they don't fill the position before the end of the year, they lose the funding for that position in some cases. So, you may be doing them a favor by keeping them on top of their game and reminding them that they need to be filling that position. Some other good reasons for not slacking off during the holidays if you are job hunting, is that other people will be taking time off. I mean, they won't hear this message. They won't have the benefit of this advice and they will take this time off. And so your reaching out sets you apart from the rest of them. The other cool thing about the holiday season is that you will have more natural opportunities to network with people that you know from your circle of friends and acquaintances through parties and get-togethers. So don't turn down an opportunity to go to a party that maybe your significant other's , uh , work is engaged in. You don't feel like going, you should go anyway. If you find out about a networking event that's taking place during the holiday season, sign up to go. It's a great time for you to be meeting new people, introducing yourself, offering your pitch or elevator pitch or your positioning statement about what it is that you're looking for and what it is that you offer a potential employer or you never know when you might meet someone you can offer an important recommendation or introduction. I heard a story a while back about someone who went to a neighborhood cookout over the summer and just mentioned nonchalantly that he was in between jobs, that his previous job had been phased out and he was looking for something new. That led to, "Oh, I know of an opening at such and such a place." And the next thing he knew he was being set up for the interview and he got the job. So be on the lookout for those unanticipated opportunities to share with people that you are meeting for the first time. I don't mean to be desperate about it, but casually if someone asks you, so what do you do? Let's say that you're a current teacher, but you're looking to reposition yourself in a new new job in 2020 so you could say, well, I'm currently an English teacher at such and such a school, but my goal is for 2020 to find a position as a fill in the blank because I have the abilities to and then offer what your specific skills and competencies are. Again, you never know where it might lead, if it might lead somewhere. Um, it's an opportunity to for, you know , it may be a little late now on the 17th of December to find a seasonal part-time job somewhere, but that is an opportunity that you may have missed out on if you didn't take advantage of seasonal work. Part time work that uh , stores and other businesses are looking to fill because this is a busy season. The reason to consider part time work and seasonal work is that if you are really good at it, if you become someone that , that the employer can see that they can depend on and that you've got some other skills and competencies that they can take advantage of. You never know if it might lead to a full time position. So don't turn down the opportunity to do something part time or seasonal if you don't have anything else to do anyway. Now that wouldn't be the case if you're currently working, but it's a good opportunity for you to get yourself out there to learn some new skills and to be able to add something additional to your resume. And finally, if you get another job, work something seasonal or part time during the holiday season, at the very least, you make a little extra money that you can spend on holiday gifts or to buy a new outfit for your next interview that you'll feel really confident in and , and be able to present yourself well during. So those are some of the basic reasons not to slack off during the holidays. If you are in job seeking mode. Keep the momentum up. It's harder to get the momentum up again after the first of the year if you've slacked off over the holidays. So keep up the momentum. If nothing else, use this time to work on your resume a little bit. We get some be looking at new job descriptions that may give you some ideas as to what to add to your resume and be working on your LinkedIn profile. Your LinkedIn profile is never done-done so you can work on it, tweak it, add to it, elaborate, elaborate on it, add some additional , uh , artifacts or articles that you've written or video clips of you , uh, performing in your preferred role, whatever it is that you can do to just keep up the momentum so that you don't feel like you've stopped and then have to start fresh after the first of the year. You'll, you'll be happy that you didn't slack off if you keep up the momentum during the holiday season. And that's my message for today. So, thank you for listening. Please send me emails. If you at kittyboitnott@gmail.com. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free and do subscribe to the podcast and or the YouTube channel. Leave a comment and a review if you could leave me and I've been getting some nice comments. So if you can leave a positive review that helps other people find this podcast so that they can get the same sort of encouragement that maybe you have been feeling you're getting , uh , with stress management strategies as well as a job search strategies. So, enjoy your holiday week but don't let up on the momentum. Keep working at it and I'll see you again next week. Have a wonderful week. So there you have it, an episode of "Teachers in Transition." I hope you enjoyed the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to "Teachers in Transition" so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode. I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at KittyBoitnott@BoitnottCoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. Hi, I'm Kitty Boitnott and this is "Teachers in Transition."
