Ep 16. From Classroom to UX: Five Things I Wish I Knew Before My Career Transition

In today’s episode, I share the 5 things I wish I knew before transitioning out of the classroom.  Knowing these 5 things would’ve eased my anxiety and helped me mentally and logistically prepare for my corporate role in tech. If you're considering leaving the classroom, or in the middle of this life-changing leap, remember you've got an ally. I’m recounting my experience and giving you all the tips and advice I wish I had during my transition.

Check out Episode 2 on Transferrable Skills
Check out Episode 5 on Networking

Resources:

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• Grab your free UX transferable skills cheat sheet to get started on your transition journey to UX.
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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:23 My Transferrable Skills
• 4:47 My Network & Mentors
• 6:34 Continuous Learning
• 7:42 The Job Market & Interview Process
• 10:14 Negotiating My Salary
• 12:04 Closing Advice

Transcript

Zee: 0:00

Hello teacher friends, Coach Zee here. This is the UX Teacher Prep Podcast and I'm dedicated to helping burned out teachers and teachers who just need a fresh start to unleash their creativity break into UX. In today's episode, I'll share five things I wish I knew before leaving the classroom and starting my career in tech. Stay tuned.

Narrator: 0:21

Welcome to the UX Teacher Prep Podcast, the ultimate destination for educators who aspire to break into the field of user experience and product design. Your host, zee Arnold, a 15-year teacher, turned. Ux researcher is here to guide, coach and mentor you through every twist and turn as you make your career transition into tech. If you're ready for a more satisfying career and lifestyle and you want the balance to unleash your creativity, this podcast is for you. Now for the show.

Zee: 1:03

Now that I've transitioned out of the classroom and I've been in my role as a remote UX researcher for two years, I've been doing some reflection. I wanted to share with you some things I wish I knew before my transition, because I know a lot of you are out here searching for answers and trying to figure out your next steps, just like I was, and I wish I knew these things sooner so I could, one, ease some of the anxiety I was having and, two, so I could mentally and logistically prepare for my new role. I learned a lot during my transition and I hope something I share today can help you out. Something that I realized is that transitioning from teaching to a corporate career was a bit of a culture shock and it's something you need to be prepared for. Before I started teaching, I actually worked in corporate, but that was years before, so I kind of forgot about that experience.

Zee: 1:50

The tech industry can be very different from the education field. You have to be ready for changes in your work environment, company culture and work-life balance. It might be more flexible or, in some cases, more demanding. Personally, I work remotely, plus my company values work-life balance, so I have absolutely no complaints in that department. But if you were an ELA teacher like me, grading papers and lesson planning all the time while at home, you might get some relief in a different type of role where you won't have to take work home with you. So let's get into it. Let's start with the things I wish I knew to ease my anxiety, like they say, where you won't have to take work home with you. So let's get into it. Let's start with the things I wish I knew to ease my anxiety. Like they say, you don't know what you don't know. But that can actually be stressful at times. So the first thing I wish I knew is that my transferable skills were my secret weapon. What I mean by that is that, although I never hid the fact that I was a teacher, I was always trying to learn new skills and prove myself right for the new industry, and in the beginning I didn't think the skills I acquired as a teacher meant so much. I was sitting on so many transferable skills that were needed in a UX ed tech role and I didn't realize it at first.

Zee: 2:58

As a teacher, you have so many skills that are highly valuable in UX and in other fields as well. You have the unique ability to communicate complex ideas in simple ways. You can manage diverse groups of students and create engaging experiences for them, and you're used to working with different audiences and adjusting your presentation techniques to meet their needs. You even modify and adjust your lessons and your approach to meet different accommodations that students have. And I talked about transferable skills in episode two, so listen to that one if you want to get deeper into that. But your ability to empathize with students gives you an edge in UX. Your students are your users. They're the users of your product, which is your lesson plan. So understanding user needs and pain points is crucial in creating user-friendly designs, in UX and user-friendly experiences. So use your empathetic skills to your advantage and if you run teacher PDs, like I did, you have the ability to do the same thing for adult learners. All of these skills are directly transferable to UX roles and they're highly valued in the field.

Zee: 4:02

I feel like a lot of teachers don't realize how valuable their skills are to other industries. There's so much more to teaching than just delivering a lesson in front of a class, and that alone takes a tremendous amount of skill, awareness and talent to be done effectively. We, as teachers, just don't give ourselves enough credit. As a teacher. You have public speaking skills and you're not afraid to stand in front of 30 plus students to deliver a lesson, or stand in front of an auditorium filled with students to deliver a message. That comes natural to teachers, but it might not come natural to those who haven't worked in the profession. Also, planning, project management, classroom management those are all skills that transfer well into UX roles. Definitely check out episode two if you want to learn more about those transferable skills.

Zee: 4:47

The next thing I wish I knew was how crucial networking was, and not just connecting with people, but strategically networking. I talked more about this in episode five of the podcast, but when it comes to the tech industry, building a strong network is a must. In the beginning, I tried getting a UX role on my own and I failed. But once I started to build my network on LinkedIn and in meetups, I started to learn more about UX and I got new ideas for marketing myself. I joined online forums, slack channels, where I could learn from UX researchers, ux designers, ux writers about the craft, and that networking is what got me my first role in UX. Networking can open doors to job opportunities and mentorship that you might not find on your own. Your network will also come in handy in times of layoffs, or they might have insight into upcoming roles from their companies. Now, in teaching, job opportunities usually come through formal applications and interviews, but in other fields, what I learned is that networking can play a huge role in you landing your job.

Zee: 5:49

And that brings me to another point I want to make about mentorship. Having a mentor in the UX courses I took provided me with guidance, feedback and support as I was navigating my career transition. I had people I could ask quick questions, share my ideas and my portfolio with and learn from. While I was studying UX Back when I was teaching, I was a mentor to new teachers, and I'm still connected to so many of those teachers today. They reach out to me for advice, words of wisdom and just questions they have about teaching. So I actually knew that mentorship was important, but I wish I knew sooner that I needed to get a dedicated mentor right out of the gate when I started my transition.

Zee: 6:27

Now I want to talk about the things I wish I knew so I could mentally and logistically prepare myself for the transition. So the first thing is that I was going to have to keep learning and adapting quickly. Now, I love to learn and I consider myself a lifelong learner, so that really wasn't an issue for me in terms of learning. However, once I discovered UX, I realized that I had to stay updated with the industry trends and keep learning, so I immersed myself in UX books, podcasts, courses, articles, events and as much as I could to stay up to date. Tech is similar to education and that it's always changing. I remember I took a course on LinkedIn Learning and then a few weeks later, there was an updated version that I went back and took because I wanted to learn about what changed, especially now with AI. Things are constantly changing, so you have to stay on top of it all. As a newbie, I found myself not only trying to learn the basics, but also trying to keep up with the changes and the way things were evolving at the same time, so I felt like that process sucked up a lot of my time and I wasn't prepared to give all that time into learning UX. So, of course, I had to make adjustments, but I want you to know that you're going to have to stay on top of the trends, the new things that are happening, so that, even as you go into interviews, you can speak to those things when you're asked. Okay, so I have two more.

Zee: 7:43

I wish I understood more about the corporate job market and interview process before I started my transition. So when I first started my transition, there were so many different directions I could take and it was overwhelming. I started to dive into instructional design at first, because I heard that you know, teachers make great instructional designers, and then I started looking at customer success, but then I realized that those weren't for me. That wasn't something that was going to spark my interest and get me really interested in the day-to-day work. So I wanted to focus on tech, because I love technology. The tech industry has a wide range of roles like software engineer, coder, project management, data analysis, and it took a few months or so for me to discover UX and really research the job market to understand what roles were available and what companies were looking for. I actually wasted some money investing into training for other roles and then changed my mind. So I wish I did the research first and then paid for the courses.

Zee: 8:38

Ux design, ux research, product design each have different requirements and expectations. Also, the job search process can be overwhelming and it can get drawn out. Even though I was able to transition in five months, finding a job outside of teaching can take a long time for some people. The job search process for tech sometimes involves multiple rounds of interviews, portfolio presentations, sometimes you have a take-home task or a skill assessment, so I wish I knew it was going to take a lot of persistence and patience to go through that process. I was used to teaching interviews, where you go in for one interview with one or two school leaders and you get the job and that's it. I went through five rounds of interviews for the role I'm in right now. So in order to push myself through that process that I felt like was taking forever, I had to ask myself how much do you want to see? And I decided to stay positive and approach every interview like it was the first one and view it as a new opportunity to showcase my skills and to get to know the team I'd be working with better.

Zee: 9:37

One piece of advice I want to give you is, when you get to the interview stage of your process, make sure you ask questions about the process. Some companies will tell you on their website or in their email communication with you what the interview process is like, but you have the right to ask about that process. What does it entail? So you have an idea if you're in for one, two or even eight interviews and with whom. That way you know where you are in the process and it's less overwhelming for you and it'll also help you decide if you have the capacity to move forward with that application. So no one's time is wasted.

Zee: 10:12

Now the last thing I want to talk about is I wish I knew earlier that salary negotiation is a must. So when it comes to teaching, the salary is the salary. It's posted on the salary schedule for everyone to see and it's not negotiable. If you accept the salary schedule, you take the job. In New York City we had salary steps with longevity increases sprinkled in, and that was based on our years of experience. We also got pay increases, called salary differentials for credits. We earned beyond a bachelor's degree, but generally speaking the pay increases were about 3%. Now in the corporate world it's not like that at all.

Zee: 10:47

When I got my job offers in UX, I wasn't afraid to negotiate my salary, but I was never in a position to do that before, so it felt strange to me. I didn't know if I should ask for a range, go with the low or high end of what I had researched, not give a salary requirement at all. So I had to do lots of research and I also reached out to my mentor for support to understand it all. So don't be afraid to negotiate your salary. In fact, tech companies expect you to do that and that's why they usually post a range in the job description. Tech companies expect you to do that and that's why they usually post a range in the job description, and there's usually room for negotiation. But you have to do your research to know your worth and the industry's standards. Also, think about the entire package and what you're willing to compromise. For example, working from home means you won't need to spend money on gas to commute. So there's some give and take there, and what I've learned is that in the corporate world you can earn your salary plus annual bonuses and have a full compensation package that can include equity or stock in the company and other perks. So that's something that's very different from teaching. So I had to take a deep breath and wrap my head around the idea of negotiating my salary and knowing my worth and what I was bringing to the table as an experienced teacher and professional. So do your research and negotiate your salary and compensation package to get the best outcome.

Zee: 12:04

So I want to close by saying that leaving teaching can be very emotional, especially if you've built close bonds with your students and it's something you've been doing for years, even if you're burnt out and ready for a change. Teaching is familiar, it's your consistency and it's what you've known for a long time. A lot of former teachers miss the sense of fulfillment and the close relationships they have with their students. When I left teaching, I missed my students for a long time. So it's important to prepare for this emotional shift and find new sources of satisfaction in your new role or while you're transitioning out of that role.

Zee: 12:34

But the most important thing I want to tell you is to stay focused and don't give up on yourself. The transition can be challenging and sometimes slow, but stay resilient, be patient with yourself and celebrate all the small victories along the way, and I know you'll crush your goal to start a new career. As always, if you need support on your career transition, I'm here to help. You can connect with me on socials and the links are in the show notes below.

Narrator: 13:01

Thanks so much for tuning in. If you like this podcast, hit, follow and scroll down to leave a five-star rating. Then share it with a friend. If you're looking for resources to help you on your tech transition journey, head over to uxteacherprepcom. Follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram at uxteacherprep for daily tips and motivation. Have a topic you'd like to hear addressed on the show? Send us a DM on Instagram. If you're listening on YouTube, like, subscribe and share. Until next time, be well.