Six-Figure Hotline: Educators Make Great Employees

Posted By: Dave Opton
Filed Under: executive job search, dave opton, six-figure hotline, execunet membership, educators, industry transition

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As part of ExecuNet membership, I conduct a weekly teleconference called Six-Figure Hotline where members call in to ask the questions keeping them up at night, and to gain market and trend insight from the career experts who join me in talking about issues that are important to executives today.

In a recent teleconference a caller said: "I am in a job search now for a position as a principal in an elementary or middle school. There are so many budgetary cuts going on in education, locally and nationally, that I feel it makes sense to revamp my résumé and reflect on how my skills and experience could transfer to a well-paying job outside of K-12 schools. Any and all insights and suggestions are welcome."

I am probably biased on this topic because one of my children was a teacher but that notwithstanding, I have always believed that individuals who had been trained as teachers (or lawyers) are very fortunate in that the skill sets needed to succeed in that profession are very transferable to the business world.

What are some of the characteristics that make someone a really outstanding educator? I think of the traits: persuasive, analytical, good communicator, problem solver, influencer, motivator, cares about me, someone I can look up to, respect, etc.

Now if you take the same scenario and translated it into the business world I think many of the same attributes also easily apply. But in the business world they tend to get you the label of "leader" — whereas in the academic world you're known as a "terrific teacher" or in your case, a principal, which is an executive. Don't let anyone tell you a principal isn't an executive.

Running a school with several hundred children, their parents, teachers, aides and janitors requires an executive. You are in charge of a business unit in every sense of the word and faced with similar challenges: budget cuts, retention, strategic planning, logistics, etc., and trying to produce a product that is subject to second guessing from both inside and outside the organization.

Oversimplification? Probably, but not that far off the mark in terms of what it takes to succeed in any organization at the executive level, only in the public school world you get to try and do all of these things without the motivation of the "big bucks" of the business world.

Think about your approach in that fashion. Do your research so that you have a targeted list of companies that you are genuinely interested in, either because of the products they make or the services they deliver. You can then approach and/or network your way in so you can help them to understand how the skill sets that you have used to be successful in a teaching environment would translate into their environment.

How to do this? Tell them stories of how you dealt with specific problems, the actions you took to solve the problem and the results that followed. My guess is that whatever the issues were you had to gather the data, analyze it, work with your team to come up with the solution and then manage the team to a successful outcome (and probably catch a lot of foul balls along the way!) Sounds like a day at the office to me. After all, that's what good executives do — they teach their teams how to solve problems.

And just to prove that I follow my own beliefs, I have a former teacher currently working for me — and that's despite him being a Yankees fan!

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Dave Opton's avatar Dave Opton
Dave Opton founded ExecuNet in 1988 to provide a trusted environment where senior-level executives could build career opportunities by facilitating connections to other executives, experts and key market insights. Dave has drawn upon his 35 years of experience in human resources to develop and grow what has become the leading business and career membership network for executives and senior managers. A widely recognized executive career management expert, Dave is regularly quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week, Fortune, Fast Company, and other leading business publications. Mr. Opton received his BA from Indiana University. Dave blogs at Six Figure Learnings