Career Options for Teachers
By Alice Rush, MA, MCDP
CareerU® FOR SUCCESS COLUMN, Feb 28, 2003
I'm dedicating this month's column to the Teachers who have been (or may be) affected by our state budget cuts. I have had several phone calls already from Teachers seeking direction in my Private Practice, and I think it's helpful to reiterate that all of us have transferable skills that relate to a variety of industries, markets and positions. When our positions are cut back, it's important to think about how our skills transfer into growing industries.
Teachers have many transferable skills- problem solving; presentation/public speaking; communication; conflict resolution; humanitarian-desire to help others; organization; time management; curriculum development; academic intelligence; ability to synthesize data; writing; research; management; counseling-advising; decision making; multi-tasking (it's said that a Teacher makes almost as many quick, and important decisions per minute as an Air Traffic Controller.) I should mention that the above skills noted represent only a "partial" list. Individual personality-related and specific subject disciplines add to this expansive list.
O.K., so how do these skills transfer into other possible career options? What fields do "teacher-skills" relate to? As a Career Counselor, I would advise Teachers in transition to think first about their personal values (why work satisfies them personally.) After assessing values, consider other fields that will satisfy these values- as opposed to simply applying for what's hot and growing now in the job market, for what's "fast growing" continues to change in the job market. Having stated this, here are several career fields which utilize teacher- related transferable skills:
Corporate Training and Development; Insurance; Journalism; Tech Writing; Counseling/Advising; Organizational Development; Human Resources; Coaching; Research and Development; Curriculum Development; Web Design; Private School Teaching; Contract Education; Marketing; Sales; Systems Analyst; Consulting; Sales Engineering; ...think about all the occupations that require "the ability to educate others" and you will come up with many, many occupations. Although the careers I listed may require additional training to enter the field, some may not- this depends a great deal on individual experience and academic subject specialization. I have met former teachers working in specific business specialization areas, without any special training. Example, former Math Teacher working as a Business Analyst in a Fortune 100 company. This person simply applied for the job, no additional training required.
I remember reading an article last month profiling a retired teacher whose "second" career was in the Insurance field. She stated in the article, "they love teachers! I was hired right away."
May all the teachers out there experiencing job transition feel the warm welcome from potential employers that they deserve.