If you’re an educator looking to move out of the classroom, there are plenty of other alternative careers for teachers in the education world. You may not know which roles you’re qualified for or what you would enjoy doing. Way too many people leave the education sector when they’re done teaching because they don’t know what they can do within it. We don’t want you to be part of the flight! There’s a significant talent shortage in the education sector, so your skills do matter and can be utilized in a variety of roles out there.
Many minds go straight to roles working directly with teachers, like instructional coaching, but there are many other ways to impact students, both within and outside of schools. The education industry is evolving to include much more than the schools themselves. As a result, there’s a ton of alternative jobs for teachers you may have never heard of or thought about!
Those of us at WorkMonger wanted to create a quick guide to some of the areas in the education sector with which we work, including the basics on what these roles might do, as well as the skills needed for them. If one of these areas sounds enticing to you, make sure you check out what skills you can work on developing now in order to secure one of these roles in the future.
We also wanted to provide additional guidance for those who are having trouble identifying how to communicate your transferable skills on paper and in interviews. We scoured the O*Net database to find, define and align classroom skills that can be easily transferred into other roles. For comprehensive descriptions of the transferable skills listed, as well as additional knowledge and abilities required for these positions, click Transferable Classroom Skills under each section. It will redirect to the applicable O*NET page for a more detailed breakdown of each role.
Development and Grant-Making
- What it is: bringing in the money to keep our organizations running and to provide resources for our mission
- What you’re good at: writing; collecting and communicating ideas; relationship-building
- What you can do now to hone your skills: reach out to your current development team to shadow; apply for grants (including federal grants) for your classroom to gain experience; raise money on Donors Choose; host a fundraiser for your school that includes bringing people in to tour your classroom; attend events where you can represent your school externally or with new audiences
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Judgment & Decision Making, Management & Personnel Resources, Monitoring, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Time Management, Writing
Operations
- What it is: helping our organizations run efficiently and effectively, supporting people in doing their jobs
- What you’re good at: general management; organizing and keeping track of things; strong follow-up skills; executing a plan
- What you can do now to hone your skills: reach out to your current operations team; volunteer to take on a project that impacts your whole school or grade level; plan a grade level field trip from start to finish including coordinating logistics and budgeting
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Judgment & Decision Making, Learning Strategies, Management & Personnel Resources, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Systems Analysis, Systems Evaluation, Time Management, Writing
Finance and Accounting
- What it is: keeping our organizations in the black
- What you’re good at: Excel skills and budgeting, numerical analysis
- What you can do now to hone your skills: take online Excel courses; practice using pivot tables, graphs, and calculations; manage your own budget as a teacher
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Judgment & Decision Making, Learning Strategies, Management & Personnel Resources, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Systems Analysis, Systems Evaluation, Time Management, Writing
Data Analysis and Research
- What it is: ensuring we’re doing things efficiently and effectively by distilling data down to its key points and determining how best to simply communicate the takeaways from that data in order to drive action
- What you’re good at: Excel, Tableau, PowerSchool reports; research; numerical analysis
- What you can do now to hone your skills: use PowerSchool and Excel; practice posing questions and gathering data; take online classes with Tableau
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Judgement & Decision Making, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Systems Analysis, Systems Evaluation, Writing
Recruitment
- What it is: getting the best staff on board
- What you’re good at: understanding what people want and communicating possible solutions; an eye for fit; strong follow-up skills; good at probing questions; relationship building
- What you can do now to hone your skills: work to recruit students and families; participate in the hiring committee at your school
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Judgement & Decision Making, Management & Personnel Resources, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Time Management, Writing
Marketing and Communication
- What it is: making sure that your organization is known by building your brand and presence with community stakeholders
- What you’re good at: social media, writing, content creation
- What you can do now to hone your skills: start your own blog; utilize your social media accounts to start building your brand; use WordPress to build a website for your class; help revise your school’s website; develop materials to recruit students and families for your school
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Active Listening, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Judgment & Decision Making, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Systems Analysis, Systems Evaluation, Time Management, Writing
Policy and Advocacy
- What it is: ensuring that people know and understand your issue and translating it into action
- What you’re good at: community organizing; building relationships and bringing people together; presentations; persuasion
- What you can do now to hone your skills: start advocating or attending rallies; get involved with various advocacy groups in your area; spend the summer interning for a local government representative; contact your central office administration and offer to support with any advocacy efforts; chat with your school board members or with your state representatives
Transferable Classroom Skills:
- Active Learning, Complex Problem Solving, Coordination, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Judgment & Decision Making, Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, Speaking, Systems Analysis, Time Management, Writing
Now it’s time to get to work developing these skills! If one or more of these areas sounds intriguing, implement a plan to start developing these skills now, over the summer, or during the next school year if you’re looking to make the jump out of the classroom after that. These are perfect things to then highlight on your resume when you tailor it to a specific job or function.
WorkMonger exists to help people just like you stay in the education world even if it means leaving the classroom, so if you haven’t created your JobSeeker profile yet, now’s the time to do so!
