Lesson 3- Drawing Parallels Between Teaching and other careers

In this article (Drawing parallels between teaching and other careers), I’ll cover:

• How to use your experience as a teacher and brainstorm your skills before you jump into resume building

• List of alternative careers that teachers can excel in

• Additional examples of how what teachers do in the classroom relates to work outside in other fields such as training and development or onboarding.

Skills teachers have

First, we’re going to cover how to identify all the skills that you have as a teacher. 

Next, we’ll talk about how to choose the skills to market on your resume, cover letter, and social media profiles. This is important because you want to have a clear picture of what you want the employer to know about you and how well you can do the job.

Here is a list of skills teachers have that are transferable, in case you were struggling to write them out on paper. I’ve been there. As teachers, we do so much without even thinking. You’d be surprised to see how slow things move in some companies. 

• You are a good communicator. 

• You care and can empathize with learners 

• You can juggle multiple things at once

• You are an overachiever and always go above and beyond to do a great job

• You are definitely hard working and have put in long hours to create the perfect lesson

• You are extremely creative!

• You understand learning theories, styles of learning, and how it impacts each learner

• You know how to comply with the law

• You are good at following schedules

• You are great at relationship building with students and parents

• You know how to deliver topics and make PowerPoint presentations 

• You can use technology to submit grades, send emails, 

• You can manage budgets

• You have excellent written communication skills

• You can delegate tasks

• You are great at organizing and planning events, and activities 

• You can work independently 

• You pay attention to detail

• You know how to provide meaningful feedback for learner’s improvement and growth 

• You know how to problem solve students’ myriad of issues

• You can work independently, and are a self-starter but can also be a great team player since you attend all those grade-level meetings and host professional development sessions for other educators

• You are a natural leader who wants to see change in the lives of those who need it the most.

• You can always be commended for the level of patience you have for putting up with screaming toddlers or hormonal teenagers!

Takeaway: You know way more than you think you do. Don’t shortchange yourself. 

Now do I need to list all of this on my resume? NO. You want to think about which skills the employer is looking for. You can gather this by reading the job posting. You can also choose general skills to highlight as well that any employer would seek: team player, problem solver, communication etc. For example, if you are looking to become a “trainer” (we will talk about alternative careers in a second), you want to highlight your communication skills more than your ability to “delegate tasks”. You want to focus on delivering presentations and keeping the training session high energy and engagement.

This is where most educators are not able to market themselves properly. They fail to tie their skills to how it is RELEVANT to the employers. 

List of alternative careers that teachers can excel in

Next, we’ll talk about alternative jobs that educators can qualify for and excel in with examples of how you already have experience! This is important because you want to find a job that provides you with that work life balance, joy, appreciation and the pay you deserve.

Here’s a list of careers that teachers can excel in and why:

• Training Specialist Roles - You already know how to "train" and teach subjects to newbies. 

• Change Management - You have managed behavior of other teachers, parents, admins, supervisors, and students! You excel at relationship building and can understand how to influence human behavior and help people navigate change through several tactics such as training, communication, listening etc. 

• Project Management -You are a born leader, and you already juggle 200 tasks daily in the school, classroom, and in your personal life. You know how to delegate responsibilities to others and manage it to make sure it gets done.

• Onboarding - You don't get frustrated even when you have to repeat the same lesson again and again and you like welcoming new people into your class, your school, or even your friend circle. You are that welcoming face! You love showing other people the ropes when they are new in a place where you have been for some time.

• Social Media Marketing - If you love social media and see how powerful it can be to bring change and influence lives and want to use your creativity to help other businesses, then this might be the right fit for you. You have a knack for creativity and you like planning content.

• Sales - You are always selling "ideas" to children and others around you. You can be extremely confident and persuasive when conveying your opinions and want to help solve people's problems by providing them with the right solution.

• Instructional Design - You like lesson planning and creating courses and learning materials and you don't mind using technology to create e-learning activities for adults. 

Takeaway: You have OPTIONS. You do not need to stay in a career that makes you unhappy.

I hope you enjoyed this article. In the next article, I will share what to do if you are only seeing rejection letters and want to secure more interviews.