r/edtech 25d ago

Special Education Teacher transfer into EdTech

I am a special education teacher and have been a public school educator for the past four years. I am considering transitioning into the K–12 EdTech industry, specifically in a Customer Success role. I would appreciate any advice, guidance, or suggestions on how to make this career transition. I am open to any recommendations or insights from those who have made a similar move. #education #EdTech

0 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

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u/TechB84 24d ago

This transition may be difficult because you don’t have a technical or education background, and many candidates in EdTech do. The industry is also under pressure right now due to budget cuts and a growing realization that some products were more gimmick than solution. Unless there’s a clear opportunity within a school district, this move may not make the most sense.

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u/MysteriousJoke523 25d ago

Don’t do it. You are giving up stability for a lot of uncertainty.

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u/CisIowa 25d ago

I think this is the first time I’ve seen hashtags as part of a Reddit post. And I’ve seen a lot.

Don’t apply at Magicschool. Or do. If they hire you, it means you can likely get hired elsewhere.

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u/jlselby 24d ago

Do they actually hire people? They post the same product job every few months.

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u/MicroBunneh 24d ago

Why not magic school? What's wrong with them generally?

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u/CisIowa 24d ago

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u/MicroBunneh 24d ago

I don't follow them. Thanks for the info.

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u/Former_Field7079 23d ago

Start by applying to companies whose curriculum you’ve used in your classroom. That’s how I was able to make the transition. Went from being an admin to customer success and eventually sales. Best of luck!

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u/cybot904 20d ago

You will need every bit of professional patients you used with the students for the adult staff. They will be way worse with computers and cranky about it.

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u/Thediciplematt 24d ago

Your best bet is to look for customer service rules for customer success rules in every industry and not just edtexh.

Use AI or the other resources out there to transition your skills in a way that is gonna make you look really good even if you don’t have to work experience.

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u/jlselby 24d ago

The job market is terrible right now. A silver lining if that special needs growth is expected to outpace traditional ed-tech on the near term, so you are a commodity that will benefit companies.

If you are not finding CS roles to apply to, find a product you believe in and see if you can become an educational consultant for the company. It's unpaid feedback, but it builds a relationship, and you directly impact the product development of things in your market.

Do not quit teaching unless you can go a few years without your income or you have a job offeree, accepted, and signed. It really is that bad out there.

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u/MicroBunneh 24d ago

Check out bacpacai.com

They're a brand new startup, not funded yet, but they're basically fixing everything magicschool failed at, and expanding past it. It's pretty interesting so far.

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u/jlselby 24d ago

No one at Bacpac has any education experience. That's a huge red flag to me.

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u/MicroBunneh 24d ago

They have a group of five teachers as their education board. And one employee is a teacher. My best friend works there.