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Many teachers who explore careers outside education quickly realise that writing a CV for a corporate role is very different from applying for a teaching job.
In schools, applications often focus on qualifications, teaching philosophy and classroom experience. In the corporate world, employers expect something different. They want to quickly see whether your skills match the role they are hiring for.
This difference becomes even more important in today’s job market.
Right now the market is candidate heavy, which means there are often many applicants for each role. Recruiters and hiring managers usually spend only a short amount of time scanning each CV. If your experience does not immediately appear relevant, your application is unlikely to progress further.
For teachers transitioning into other sectors, this makes clarity and relevance essential.
A common mistake people make when changing careers is applying to many roles without thinking carefully about whether those roles are actually a good fit.
This often leads to frustration.
You might spend hours submitting applications and hear very little back. In many cases, the issue is not your skills. It is simply that your CV does not clearly show how your experience relates to the role.
Instead of focusing on quantity, it is far more effective to focus on quality and relevance.
That means:
Understanding the role you are applying for
Adapting your CV to match the job description
Highlighting the skills that are most relevant to that position
Many people assume they can create one CV and send it to every employer.
Unfortunately, this approach rarely works today.
Different companies use different job titles, structures and responsibilities. Even roles with the same title can vary significantly depending on the organisation.
For example, a Customer Success Manager in one company might focus heavily on onboarding and training, while another might emphasise relationship management and product adoption.
Because of this, it is important to adapt your CV to each role you apply for.
This does not mean starting from scratch every time. Instead, it means adjusting how your experience is presented so it clearly aligns with what the company is looking for.
Before rewriting your CV, it is important to take a step back.
Ask yourself:
What type of role do I actually want next?
What skills do I want to bring into that role?
Teachers develop a wide range of transferable skills, but not all of them will be relevant to every career path.
Some teachers move into roles such as:
Curriculum design
Customer success
Account management
Learning and development
Project management
Education consulting
Once you have identified the types of roles that interest you, it becomes much easier to shape your CV accordingly.
The job description is one of the most important tools when updating your CV.
It tells you exactly what the company values and what they expect from candidates.
Before adapting your CV, look carefully at the job description and identify:
Key responsibilities
Core skills
Tools or experience mentioned
Desired outcomes
Then ask yourself:
Which parts of my experience demonstrate these skills?
Once you understand this, you can translate your teaching experience into language that aligns with what the employer is looking for.
Another common mistake teachers make when writing CVs is focusing only on responsibilities.
For example:
Planned lessons
Delivered curriculum
Assessed student work
These tasks are important, but employers often want to see impact and results.
Instead of simply describing what you did, try to show what happened because of your work.
Before
Planned and delivered lessons aligned with the national curriculum.
After
Designed and delivered curriculum aligned with national standards for multiple year groups, creating structured learning programmes and assessment frameworks that supported improved student engagement and attainment.
Teachers are often well suited to customer success roles because they regularly support, guide and communicate with different stakeholders.
Before
Supported students with their learning and monitored progress.
After
Guided and supported groups of learners to achieve learning objectives, analysing performance data and adapting delivery methods to improve engagement and outcomes.
Teachers frequently build strong relationships with students, parents and colleagues. These skills translate well into account management roles.
Before
Communicated with parents regarding student progress.
After
Built and maintained relationships with key stakeholders, providing regular updates on performance and working collaboratively to support positive outcomes.
Once you understand the roles you want to pursue and the language employers use, you can create a CV structure that works as a foundation.
From there, you can adapt your experience slightly depending on the job description.
This approach is far more effective than sending the same CV to every company.
At RecruitHer, we work with both sides of the education ecosystem. We support teachers who are exploring careers beyond the classroom, and we also work closely with hiring managers across a range of edtech organisations.
Because of this, we see first hand what employers are looking for and what strong applications actually look like.
For many teachers, the biggest challenge is not the lack of transferable skills. It is understanding how to position those skills clearly when applying for roles outside education.
If you are thinking about leaving teaching and are unsure how to translate your experience, update your CV or navigate the transition process, you are very welcome to get in touch.
We offer coaching specifically designed to support teachers who are exploring opportunities beyond the classroom and want to move into roles across the wider education and edtech ecosystem.
