Thinking of leaving teaching this year?

There is a pattern every year around this time. Teachers start asking the same question quietly, then more loudly.

Do I hand in my notice now and move on by summer or September… or do I stay?

If that’s where your head is at, you’re not alone. And more importantly, you’re not too early.

This is actually the right time to start your transition.

Not to apply blindly. Not to panic scroll job boards.
But to build a plan that gives you a real shot at landing something by August or September.

Here is how to approach it properly.

1. Get clear on where you are going

“Out of teaching” is not a strategy.

You need to define what you are moving towards.

What role are you aiming for?
What job title makes sense for your skills and interests?
What kind of company or environment do you want?

Without this, everything else becomes guesswork.

Clarity here drives:

• what jobs you apply for
• how you position yourself
• what skills you focus on

If you skip this step, your applications will feel generic and unfocused. And employers can spot that instantly.

2. Learn the role before you try to land it

Once you know where you’re heading, the next step is simple but often ignored.

Learn the job.

Not vaguely. Properly.

Understand:

• what the role actually involves day to day
• what skills are expected
• what tools or knowledge are commonly required

Then close the gaps.

That might mean:

• short courses
• self study
• speaking to people already doing the job
• building small examples of your work

You don’t need to become perfect. But you do need to show you understand the role and can step into it with confidence.

3. Learn how to sell your transferable skills

This is where most teachers fall down.

You already have valuable skills. The problem is not a lack of experience. It is how that experience is translated.

Think about:

• communication
• stakeholder management
• presenting complex ideas simply
• organisation and prioritisation
• resilience and adaptability

Those are highly relevant in many roles, especially in edtech.

But listing “classroom experience” is not enough.

You need to:

• reframe your experience in a way employers understand
• connect your past work to the new role
• clearly show how you can do the job

Your CV and your interviews should make it easy for someone to say,
“Yes, this person can step into this role.”

The mistake to avoid

Most people skip all of this.

They go straight to applying.

They send out dozens of applications with no clear direction, no tailored messaging, and no real understanding of the role.

Then they hear nothing back and assume the move is not possible.

It is possible. The approach is just off.

If you are thinking about leaving

If you are aiming for a move by late summer or September, now is the time to start.

Not with applications. With clarity, learning, and positioning.

You can absolutely figure this out on your own.

But you can also speed things up by speaking to people who have made the move, or working with someone who understands both education and the hiring landscape in edtech.

Do not wait until your notice is in to start thinking about what comes next. Start now.

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