Have you changed careers? How was the switch?

[hpfan100]

Fellow teacher here and hear you loud and clear. I'm planning on just 1-5 more years before I leave. I've been looking into different options and here are some things I've found.


The Apple store likes to hire former teachers to train customers on Apple products---they'll train you on the tech stuff.

Many companies like to hire former teachers to work in human resources or as a trainer.

Teaching product companies (textbooks etc.) look for former teachers

Daycare/ summer camps/ tutoring companies

With your language experience I would look into banking or the courts--- I had a friend that worked with early intervention parents as a translator--- she loved it


Good luck to you!!!!!!

 

[kkwis2]

Fellow teacher here and hear you loud and clear. I'm planning on just 1-5 more years before I leave. I've been looking into different options and here are some things I've found.


The Apple store likes to hire former teachers to train customers on Apple products---they'll train you on the tech stuff.

Many companies like to hire former teachers to work in human resources or as a trainer.

Teaching product companies (textbooks etc.) look for former teachers

Daycare/ summer camps/ tutoring companies

With your language experience I would look into banking or the courts--- I had a friend that worked with early intervention parents as a translator--- she loved it


Good luck to you!!!!!!

Thank you for the suggestions. I have definitely wondered if a company might hire me for my teaching skills even though I would have to learn about their product. No Apple store in my area, but I'm not very techie either. I think I just need to realize that my skills are transferrable to other areas. A classroom isn't the only place I can work.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

After being talked at for the past two days and basically being told that everything I do is wrong (though I am a very well respected and well liked in my profession), I am thinking about what else I can do. Of course, I will take time to cool down and consider this decision. I am very much a thinker ~ I don't tend to make knee-jerk decisions. So, I'm just considering.

I am a teacher. It's what I've done for 20 years. I don't know what else I would be qualified for.

I'm not looking to be flamed or to be told that I should be happy that I have a job. I'm just looking for input on what kind of career changes people have made and were you happy with the change.

Stick it out. Administrators don't stay in one spot too long.

 

[kkwis2]

Stick it out. Administrators don't stay in one spot too long.

Unfortunately, here they do!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I have. By degree I'm an engineer with a masters. I sell on Ebay and I'm home with the kids. This thread makes me so sad. I've always wanted to become a high school math teacher. I even went through the testing for "transition to teaching" before I had my kids. It is so sad that the teaching profession is so stressful and disrespected that so many teachers want to/have changed careers I look at all of the amazing teachers that my oldest has had so far and I can see the burnout on their faces. I hope that they will still be there to teach my youngest in a few years, but many of them seem to be counting down to retirement. When we lose these brilliant teachers and nobody else wants to stay in this profession anymore, what are we left with?

 

[NewRVLady]

I know a secretary who is bi-lingual and an upstart Jewelry company hired her because they were expanding into Spanish speaking markets
That was 25ears ado and is now an executive with the company-and they are our city's largest employer now! They are very well know for making settings that jeweler's add jewels to

 

[williamson_ja]

I came on here looking for good advise as we. I lost my teaching job due to a family emergency a few months ago. I'm now in a new area that's not hiring many teachers, so I am stuck trying to find a new job outside of the field. I've applied to several jobs as a corporate trainer. They are pretty hard to get. I've found that many companies like to promote someone from within for that kind of position. I've applied for pretty much everything I can think of and haven't found anything yet. I sure hope something comes up soon. Moral of the story, make sure you have something before you leave this job. I didn't have that option, but if you do...

 

[DawnM]

Would you consider more schooling to get into another field within the field of education?

Speech Therapy
Library Science
ESL (adult or K-12)
School Counseling
School Psychology

There are others, but if you do love working in the school and love the students, there may be some further training you can do to still work in the field of education.

 

[lucyem]

My mother was a teacher for many many years. Finally retired early to get away from the last administration. She was an art teacher and found a part time job working in the local senior center teaching art. She then moved on to become an activities director at a nursing home. She has never been happier. It was not something that was ever on her radar originally. Just one thing led to another situation. She followed what she enjoyed. I think with the language skills you have lots of options. Keep doing what you are doing - that is talk to people and start looking at job listings etc. Another thought is depending on where you live look into working with homeschoolers. I know my mom was considering that part time as well.

 

[kkwis2]

I came on here looking for good advise as we. I lost my teaching job due to a family emergency a few months ago. I'm now in a new area that's not hiring many teachers, so I am stuck trying to find a new job outside of the field. I've applied to several jobs as a corporate trainer. They are pretty hard to get. I've found that many companies like to promote someone from within for that kind of position. I've applied for pretty much everything I can think of and haven't found anything yet. I sure hope something comes up soon. Moral of the story, make sure you have something before you leave this job. I didn't have that option, but if you do...

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely put up with what I've got until I find something else. I am fearful as well, though, about what happens when (if) I find a new job and don't like it? Maybe the grass isn't greener on the other side.

 

[kkwis2]

Would you consider more schooling to get into another field within the field of education?

Speech Therapy
Library Science
ESL (adult or K-12)
School Counseling
School Psychology

There are others, but if you do love working in the school and love the students, there may be some further training you can do to still work in the field of education.

All good thoughts, but they each require a different license than what I have. Back when I was working on my masters I had considered school counseling, but it would have taken a couple more years plus taking time off from my job to complete the many hours of work in the field that are required. The whole push for literacy has been a big thing in my district for a couple of years. I considered earning my literacy license but, again, it would take several years and a lot of money. And it's a lateral move. I wouldn't make any more money than what I do now. Perhaps I would like it better than what I'm doing now, but that's not for certain. And I think it's kind of a fad (my district is definitely a bandwagon jumping district) that will eventually go away.

 

[kkwis2]

My mother was a teacher for many many years. Finally retired early to get away from the last administration. She was an art teacher and found a part time job working in the local senior center teaching art. She then moved on to become an activities director at a nursing home. She has never been happier. It was not something that was ever on her radar originally. Just one thing led to another situation. She followed what she enjoyed. I think with the language skills you have lots of options. Keep doing what you are doing - that is talk to people and start looking at job listings etc. Another thought is depending on where you live look into working with homeschoolers. I know my mom was considering that part time as well.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. It really is nice to know that there are others who were kind of forced to move into a different direction but eventually are happy about the switch.

 

[kbwright]

I worked in Technical Support for almost 12 years. The last 6 of which were as a Training Manager. For the most part I enjoyed the job, it was always changing and was fairly lucrative. Out of nowhere my dept was relocated to another part of the country with a move or take layoff option. I chose layoff since I just purchased a house and the idea of moving to landlocked area from coastal was NOT appealing.
2 months later I took a job as a Trainer for a grant being run by a local health center/substance abuse treatment facility - for half the pay ( but not the 2+hour r/t commute). I have now been here for 3.5 years I have my drug and alcohol counselor's license and have moved into Care Management for clients with severe mental illness and a history of substance use. While the pay is less, the job itself is rewarding and challenging at the same time. Not to mention I also met my future spouse because of it. So I guess you could say it was a worthwhile switch for me

 

[DawnM]

Yes, they will require additional schooling, as I mentioned in my post, but honestly, you may need additional schooling no matter what you decide to do.

I just kept going to school. I have two MAs and 4 credentials/licenses. I have even thought of getting another MA.

But if you aren't interested, you aren't interested.

Dawn

All good thoughts, but they each require a different license than what I have. Back when I was working on my masters I had considered school counseling, but it would have taken a couple more years plus taking time off from my job to complete the many hours of work in the field that are required. The whole push for literacy has been a big thing in my district for a couple of years. I considered earning my literacy license but, again, it would take several years and a lot of money. And it's a lateral move. I wouldn't make any more money than what I do now. Perhaps I would like it better than what I'm doing now, but that's not for certain. And I think it's kind of a fad (my district is definitely a bandwagon jumping district) that will eventually go away.

 

[ellochka]

I am fairly analytical and have a math minor (teaching math to be exact), so that's a possibility. I agree, especially in the area that I live, that using my language skills may not get me far. It seems translation is so easy to do through the internet now, who needs to pay people?

Yes, you can translate it into a career. If you try, here is what I would recommend - Excel can get you into many things, finance being the most common. I would not try accounting because it requires more training and generally less paid, but a finance analyst position is within reach.

Your second possibility is even more lucrative. If you learn SAS and SQL, you can get into general analytics (business intelligence, modeling, etc). If you have taken a Statistics class in school, I would recommend brushing up on that, but generally speaking, just knowing how to run a few things in SAS (there is SAS certification, too) and how to use SQL will open you into professions that start with $80K. Add R to it, and we are talking even more here.

As far as languages go, translation by itself is essentially dead. You can get some work if you can add other knowledge to it, like legal stuff, and it is mostly in Spanish and French (would have to know Canadian laws). Many companies need their legal disclosures or instructions written and edited in Spanish and French, so there is a little bit of a market. Also, if you work for a large company in marketing, as it was mentioned, you might have an edge, but marketing still will have to be your primary profession. You really need to be in a sweetspot to make the language work for you. For example, I worked with VP of Marketing who was hired in part because he technically was Hispanic - too bad he was functionally illiterate in Spanish and did not really understand the Hispanic market.