If you have worked in teaching for several years but have recently decided that it is no longer for you, or if you simply want to broaden your horizons and try out a different career path for yourself, then you must not think that you are stuck in teaching just because you have worked in the sector for several years. In fact, it is important only to work in teaching if you are passionate about it and want to inspire others. Then, here are some of the ideas that you can choose from if you want to put teaching behind you.
- Look at Supply Teaching
Although you might be fed up with the stress and constantly imminent burnout of teaching full-time, you might still be excited by the prospect of teaching and helping your students to learn. Then, if this is the case, you might swap the routine of full-time teaching at a school or college with supply teaching part-time. Not only will this give you more flexibility, but you may also find that you enjoy the new experiences that you will get each day, as you will be teaching in a new school every day. However, supply teaching has its drawbacks, such as the distance that you might have to travel between schools, the fact that you may be working irregularly and unexpectedly, and you may have to be on call all the time. However, this is a way to try something new without having to drop teaching completely. Then, you should look into the best ways that you can become a supply teacher if you believe that this type of job might be for you.
- Try a Job in Healthcare
Although you might believe that teaching and healthcare have nothing in common, this is not the case. The education and medical professions have a lot of similarities, especially because you will be helping others, working with people who are in need and with those who have disabilities and require extra help and improving the quality of life and futures of the people in your care. Each job also requires similar skills, such as great interpersonal and communication skills, leadership skills, patience, compassion and listening skills. Then, many of the soft skills that you learned as a teacher can then be applied to your new job in medical practice, and you will soon be able to thrive in this job. However, starting work in the healthcare profession is not something that you can just do overnight. Instead, you will have to take additional qualifications to ensure that you have the right knowledge and expertise. Once you have taken a basic qualification, you might then consider the online ABSN benefits to see whether you should continue your education and take a post-Masters degree that can help you to go even further in your new field and take the final step that you need to in terms of your career change.
- Become a Tutor
If you are fed up with the school environment that you are currently working in, you should consider leaving your current job and becoming a tutor instead. Becoming a tutor can be an excellent option for people who want to continue to teach and who feel passionate about education, but do not love the place that they work or are unhappy with the salary that they currently own. Then, if this is the case, you should consider becoming a tutor. Becoming a tutor can be a great way to continue teaching as you will be able to take on only as much work as you can cope with, and this will allow you to teach students who appreciate your efforts and will pay you what you want to earn. However, becoming a tutor from scratch and getting your name known can be more difficult than you expect as you will have to find students who are interested in your services and the subjects that you are willing to teach. Then, you might consider putting a flyer up on your local noticeboard, networking with local parents at community events, and even creating a website on which you will be able to advertise the knowledge that you can impart, the exams that you can help students work toward, and the experience that you have as a teacher.
- Create Online Courses
You should also consider whether it might be a great option to create an online course. Online courses can be an excellent way to share your knowledge with others without the hassle of having to teach people directly. This can also be a great way to make money from your skills if you are struggling to stabilize your finances after quitting your teaching job. However, you need to have an understanding of technology to some extent to create these online courses, especially when it comes to filming and uploading videos. These skills are mostly easy to learn through digital guides and tutorials, though, and the only aspect that you will need to worry about is the knowledge that you have and the most exciting way that you can impart this to students. The course that you run should be about a subject that you know extremely well and that you believe that you can teach students something about that they would not be able to learn elsewhere. You should be aware, though, that the market is quickly becoming saturated with online courses, and so you need to make sure that yours stands out, either through your name and expertise, or the niche that it is in.
- Academia
Whether you want to become a lecturer or simply publish your own research and journals, many teachers have a natural inclination to go into academia because of their passion for knowledge and learning and their extensive experience in certain subjects. Then, if you can stand the isolation and independent work of academia, you should consider whether this is right for you. Your experience as a teacher will help you to get these roles, which are sometimes only temporary, and it can be helpful to showcase any work that you have published at your interview. This will assure the university or college in question that you know what you are talking about and that you have years of experience in the subject. You might have to start as a research assistant, though, and then slowly work your way up to the top roles in this sector.
- Business Owner
Sometimes, after years or even decades of teaching, you might decide that you want to avoid employment at all. However, instead of retiring completely, you should consider whether becoming a business owner might be the best option for you. Becoming a business owner can be a great option for those who were once teachers as you will usually have all the organization and time management skills that you need, as well as the leadership and discipline capabilities that you will need if you decide to employ a team of people to help you. You will also usually have excellent verbal and written communication skills. Then, the next step that you need to take is finding a business idea that speaks to you. There are many great business options for teachers, and these include starting a blog and monetizing it, selling educational equipment, such as learning tools and even stationary, or even helping with translation, essay writing, and assignments. As a teacher who has worked within the industry, you will know where the gaps in the market are and what you need to do to sell the products in question. However, you also need to ensure that you know how to market your business or else you may not get very far, and this may involve learning how to use great SEO and making a social media account and website for your company.
- Personal Trainer
However, if you want a job that is a bit different while still enabling you to teach others and help them to achieve their goals, you should consider becoming a personal trainer. Becoming a personal trainer is a great job for those who are passionate about exercise and who want to spend all their time outside in the great outdoors with clients who are just as interested as you in the benefits of exercise. Anyone can become a personal trainer if they are fit, healthy, and have a basic knowledge of health and fitness, although you may need to take a qualification in personal training to ensure that your clients can trust that you are teaching them the right skills and so that they know that you are reliable. However, once you have completed this course, you can easily enable your new career to be successful by building up good relationships with your clients and by ensuring that you keep learning the latest training techniques and new exercises which could help your clients to reach the personal goals that they have set for themselves. Then, this is a great option if you are tired of the sedentary lifestyle that some teaching jobs promote.
- Yoga Instructor
If you want to use your teaching skills in a completely different way, you should consider becoming a yoga instructor. A yoga instructor can be a great job for those who are interested in mindfulness and mental health after years of grappling with the prospect of teacher burnout. Becoming a yoga instructor will help you to monetize your hobby and help you to bring the calm of yoga to new generations who might be wary about yoga and dubious of its benefits. You can teach yoga in many different environments, from town halls and community centers to schools, and even online, where multiple lockdowns have made digital yoga classes popular. Then, if you are interested in the benefits of yoga, such as the ability to release endorphins around your body and the possibility of muscle relaxation, you should consider becoming a yoga instructor, which is usually a part-time role and not anywhere near as stressful as teaching a classroom full of kids, as most people will attend your yoga classes voluntarily.
- Consultant
Are you fed up with teaching but are still interested in education? Then, becoming an education consultant might be for you. Becoming a consultant can be a great idea for those who have almost endless knowledge of education and the way that educational institutions work, and for those who want to help other teachers and institutions be the best that they can be, without working for them directly. You can either join a consulting agency or become a self-employed consultant, and this will involve going to different schools and organizations and highlighting what they could do differently, as well as the tactics that they could follow to achieve greater success and create the best outcomes for their students. However, you will have a lot of responsibility as a consultant as organizations will be relying on you and your advice, so you need to know what you are doing. This is a great option for those that are close to retirement, though, as it can allow you to lead a more sedentary and slower-paced working life and rely on the years of experience that you have in the field to help others and continue to improve it from a distance. Then, you should consider finding out how you can become an education consultant today.
Planning what to do after teaching can seem impossible, especially if teaching has previously been your life and you have been unable to see outside of this career path before now. However, there are many options out there for people who want to have a new career after teaching or even for those who want to utilize the skills that they have learned as teachers outside of a classroom environment. Then, by following some of the career choices in this guide, you will be ensuring that you are soon able to find success in your career outside of being a traditional, full-time teacher yourself.
