Transition From Elementary Teacher to Trainer: Liz

Liz

From Elementary Teacher to Trainer

Liz was an elementary teacher for three years. She gave it her all, but quickly realized teaching was not for her. Liz left the classroom and found a job as a trainer that allows her to travel around the country and deliver trainings to employees in the banking industry.

Liz’s Experience as a Classroom Teacher

Liz got into teaching in order to help society and out of her love for children. When she was a student in school, she loved learning, school, and her teachers. Liz explained how she had an idealistic point of view about what teaching would be like based on her experiences when she was a child.

Realizing Teaching Was Not For Her

Liz quickly realized that teaching was different than what she expected. She explained, “I was too optimistic in what and where to teach.” Liz was teaching at what most would consider or label a low performing school. She was working with a lack of resources, had students with emotional disabilities and behavioral problems.

She wanted to enjoy teaching and really tried, but the stress, focus on testing, and not seeing an increase in scores after so much hard work, she started to feel helpless. Like so many teachers I have heard from, she realized that she no longer had the emotional capacity to hold down the classroom anymore. Similar to others, she mentioned concerns about retirement and not being able to raise a family due to financial constraints.

Liz’s Transition Out of the Classroom

It was hard for her to leave, but she knew it was best for her well-being as well as for the kids. Liz recalls that she knew within her first three months of teaching that teaching was not for her, but she stayed and stuck it out. She tried. She gave it her all. Luckily she had the support of an administrator that helped her make it the three years that she was able. “If it wasn’t for that support, I would not have lasted as long as I did.”

The Four Month Job Search

Liz’s transition plan included saving enough money to live on for awhile in case she could not find work right away. Her dad recommended that she look into training as a possible career choice, because skills learned through teaching could also be applied to training. Liz also attended a community college and took two classes in hopes of expanding her skills past the classroom. She applied to about ten training jobs within a four month time period, but only heard back from two of them. Luckily one of the two she heard back from, ended up hiring her as a Trainer.

Liz’s Role as Trainer

Liz is now a trainer for a consulting firm who offers training for the banking industry. She develops curriculum, presentations, eLearning courses, videos, and other training resources. Liz also manages the social media for the organization.The training she conducts is related to compliance and overdraft protection services. In addition, she delivers training for sales, management, and soft skills.

Liz realized that her classroom teaching skills have been well received in her training classes. Her manager has expressed the satisfaction of the improvements that she has been able to bring into their training programs. She has taken activities that she was able to use in her classroom and adapted them into her adult learning trainings.

Liz’s Advice for Teachers

Don’t be discouraged. When interviewing for a job, you will get lots of “no’s.” Just keep trying. It takes a lot of time and effort, but it is totally worth it.

Liz was selected for her current role by her manager who received about 200 resumes. She was selected because he was looking for a good facilitator and he knew from his experience as a former teacher that her teaching skills would transfer well into the role he was looking to fill.

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