Revise Your Resume For Non-Teaching Roles

If you’d rather spend a whole Saturday in professional development than write a new resume for non-teaching roles, I have good news and bad news:

• Bad: Yes, you do need a new resume.

• Good: There are tons of helpful resources out there.

If you’re like me, your aversion to this unpleasant task might be so strong that you just want to throw a wad of cash (that you don’t really have) at someone to make the problem go away.

And there are pleeeeeeeenty of people out there happy to take your money in exchange for a shiny new, ATS-optimized, keyword-riddled resume.

This route may be tempting. And many of the folks offering resume services will deliver a great product. Here’s why you should explore free resume resources anyway:

1. You shouldn’t pay for resume services until you’re sure of your new career path.

Even many career coaches will say this. Such as Erin Lewber: “A general purpose resume will be a lot of wasted energy.” I see plenty of folks on forums who are so desperate to get the hell out of the classroom that they throw a generic resume at any and every job posting. Which I get. But I’ve noticed that these tend to be the same folks who struggle the most with the transition—and in the worst cases, share about applying for hundreds of jobs and getting no responses.

“Too often teachers want out so badly, they just want someone to take a chance on them and so they try for everything: L & D, Project Management, Ed Tech, IX,” says Melissa Chapman, a former teacher who advocates loud and proud for teachers on LinkedIn. “It's very obvious they don't have clarity. So, the first step is clarity.”

A targeted resume is part of a targeted job search process. So if you’re in the please-God-give-me-anything-to-get-me-out-of-here space, it’ll be more effective to get familiar with these resources while you’re getting a sense of your new career direction than putting a ton of time and money into an untargeted resume. Most people I talk to recommend focusing on two new career paths.

2. You should have some idea of how to write an effective resume.

Even if you do plan on hiring a resume writer, it’s still good to have a general sense of the resume landscape. Otherwise, how will you know they’ve delivered anything quality? Poking around with keywords and translating your teaching skills into corporate speak is also great practice for the interview process.

You’re also likely to have to revamp your resume in the future. In the non-teaching world, people change jobs much more often—as often as every one to three years! You don’t want to be stuck paying for resume services every single time you change jobs.

3. As a general rule, it’s good to try free resources before you pay for something.

We’re teachers after all! How many times have we figured out some new platform or resource all on our own? You might surprise yourself with what you’re able to accomplish with the free resources that are out there.

With no further ado, here are the most helpful free resources for teacher transition resumes:

• Erin Lewber’s free resume template comes up often as a key resource for transitioning teachers. Many report that the resume they generated with this template helped them to land new jobs. You do have to enter your email to receive the template, but I’ve had good interactions with Erin, so I’m pretty sure she won’t spam you or get weird. Lots of former teachers have lauded her paid services as well.

• Melissa Chapman’s free resume template features notes on how to incorporate soft skills—which we know teachers have plenty of! A transitioned teacher herself, Melissa is beloved for all the support and resources she offers aspiring former teachers. She offers affordable coaching services as well.

• ChaptGPT! Because as one Reddit user commented, “Employers are using AI as a screening tool, so you may as well use AI to get it past screening and into human hands.” Touche.

  • Here’s how to do it: Paste your current resume along with the job description into ChatGPT. Ask it to create a quantitative resume that highlights transferable skills and uses keywords from the job description. Of course, as we know from student essays, you’ll need to finesse and revise what gets spit out.

  • Several people have recommended Paddy Jobsman’s YouTube video that walks you through how to use AI for resumes. Despite his charming pseudonym and accent, I have not in fact watched the full hour-long video. But over 200,000 people have, so maybe there’s something there? On the other end of the length spectrum, Jeff Su has a ten-minute video that gives you the gist of writing a resume with AI.

  • If you feel like you need a bit more handholding, EarnBetter offers totally free AI resume, cover letter and interview support.

  • You can also use AI for your cover letters too!

• Speaking of tech, Cedric Scott’s EduHustle chatbot can offer general tips and feedback, and point your resume in the right direction. (And if you do become interested in paying for resume services, Cedric offers affordable resume optimization!)

• In terms of translating your teacher experience and skills into corporate speak, career coach Julie Ode created this super handy infographic to get you started:

• Evan Pressman posts helpful content on LinkedIn, such as this post about resume keywords and this one about showcasing your skills from teaching. He’ll also give you a free resume review, but you’ll need to pay for customized resume services. I haven’t received any first-hand reviews of his services, so if you have one, send it my way.

• Timothy Lo’s free webinars are focused on many parts of the transition process, including resumes. I haven’t personally attended one but I’ve read positive reviews.

• Alumni organizations and community college career centers often offer resume services in addition to broader career guidance. They’re not as sexy as some of the other options, but lots of folks have had success with this route. And it’s free.

• You can get personalized feedback on your resume from the Life After Teaching Facebook group. Join the group, post your resume and ask for any specific feedback you’re looking for. In most posts I’ve seen, a chorus of transitioning and transitioned teachers chime in to offer helpful and generous feedback. As teachers do. For more generalized feedback, folks have also used the Resumes Subreddit.

Have experience with any of these resources that you want to share? Or is there another amazing resource that I missed? Let me know in the comments!