Many of our teachers are considering a career change and looking for jobs for ex teachers.  Large numbers are stressed and disillusioned with the world of education, with 40% of teachers in Scotland considering leaving the profession in the next 18 months.

We need good, motivated teachers, but unless there are some serious changes, there will be more and more people searching for jobs for ex teachers.  

The question on many of their lips though, is what to do after teaching? 

Some teachers feel “stuck” in teaching, and think that other options are limited for life after teaching.  However, teachers have a huge repertoire of skills and have a lot to offer in all sorts of areas. For me some of the top careers for ex teachers and jobs for teachers leaving teaching are:

Firstly, the obvious jobs for ex teachers - an alternative teaching career!

A change is as good as a rest, and many teachers actually still love teaching.  In many cases, it’s the workload and bureaucracy causing stress, rather than teaching!

Perhaps experiencing teaching in a different country would allow you to explore the world.  You could see a different side of teaching, and perhaps even get your enthusiasm for the profession back again.

How about a teacher exchange programme or simply giving up your post and heading abroad to teach?  Read how Sorcha, Empowering Ex Pat Teachers, has created a better lifestyle for herself, through working abroad.

Become a private tutor.

Lucy Alexandra of Education Boutique realised that teaching in a school was not for her, so set up her own private tutoring business. Lucy now travels the world, providing one-to-one tutoring for children and families, and absolutely loves this role.

She is always looking for people to join her team of professionals.  If you are looking for careers after teaching, this might be an option for you.

Set up your own tutoring business

If you are inspired by Lucy's story, then setting up your own business might be an option for you.

There are various franchises such as Kip McGrath, First Class Learning or My Own Tutor. Here you will be given a business structure, marketing assistance, and course materials, which will help you to set up quickly and easily.

Alternatively, you could consider starting from scratch and opening your own tutoring business. There are various agencies who offer free help to people starting their own business. In Scotland, Business Gateway do amazing work, and are a great starting point if you are considering this option. If you are in the rest of the UK, you may find these contact details useful.

lthough the option of starting on your own is a much more daunting prospect, you can easily combine it with part-time teaching.  This can give you a steady income, as you build your business.  That's what I am doing, and although it is hard work, it is very rewarding and I love it.  The best bit for me is that I genuinely love my teaching again! 

What is your specialism?

Although teachers have many generic skills, useful to all sorts of professions, many of us also have specific skills that we could use in a different way to create alternative education jobs. 

Be inspired by Rob Smith of The Literacy Shed and the Numeracy Shed.  After a successful career as a primary teacher, Rob has built his own business around improving literacy and numeracy in schools.  He offers CPD courses, and develops educational materials for use in schools, many of which are completely free of charge.

Leigh Brothwell moved on from teaching, into running interactive historical workshops for schools, allowing him to inspire children through his passion for history.  As well as creating a full-time income, he feels valued and enjoys escaping the pressures of teaching in a normal classroom setting.

Have you got a specialism that you could develop, and create a business that will help other teachers, as well as help you to get a route out of teaching?

Blogging

Many teachers are amazing at telling stories, educating others, and sharing their wisdom. Getting your work published on the www is wonderful way of doing this.

Good bloggers can now command huge sums of money.  A good blogger will make way more money, and have more flexibility, than any teacher, so don't rule it out when thinking about alternative jobs for teachers.

One of my favourite bloggers is Emma Drew, because she is simply so lovely and so helpful to other bloggers. Emma now has a 6 figure income from her blog, and I have learned a huge amount about blogging from Emma and from her courses.  The first blogging course I took was Turn Your Dreams into Money which was just brilliant. My only problem was that I took it about a year after I had started blogging! If I had taken it before I started blogging, I would have saved myself hours of research and expensive mistakes.

Emma gets right to the heart of the important points in a well laid out and comprehensive course. Once I had the basics right, I then took her affiliate marketing course which showed me the potential of making money from my blog. I am now just beginning to implement these strategies, and can see the huge potential to make a living, simply from my blog.

Again, I wished that I had taken this course very early in my blogging career, because I would have approached so many things differently. 

If you are already blogging, or are thinking about starting, then click this link to see how you could make serious money from blogging! 

Another great blogger is Jenna over at the Bloglancer, who has a wealth of knowledge about blogging, and shares a ton of useful information in her blog. Read about how she turned her blog into a full-time job, and pick up loads of tips about how you could too. 

Find out how I can help you to reduce stress and live a happier, healthier and wealthier life

Become a coach

When I first heard about life coaching, I thought that it was airy fairy nonsense! I assumed that for me, a straight-talking, practical Scottish lass, it was not something that would interest me at all.

How wrong was I?

As part of my training to become a financial coach, I did a life coaching course. Through this, I discovered that life coaching is a wonderful way to help people to improve their lives.  It focuses on encouraging THEM to help themselves, by helping them to find their own answers. It has a lot of similarities to teaching, without the fire-fighting element that can come from dealing with a class of 30!

Many of us went into teaching because we wanted to make a difference, and by becoming a coach you will gain a huge amount of satisfaction from doing just that. Coaching is becoming more popular, both within schools and in the wider community. There are many specialisms within life coaching, such as career coaching, business coaching, relationship coaching, behavioural coaching, as well as financial coaching. I think that coaching would work well in schools, especially with our teenagers, so that may be a gap in the market, as you consider jobs after teaching.

Udemy is packed with life coaching courses, helping you to learn your trade, without leaving the house.  These courses all get top ratings from previous students.  Click the picture below to see what is available.

Become a franchisee

If you are considering an alternative career, then a good place to start might be by looking at available franchises. There are so many that would suit teachers and ex-teachers! You could even combine some of them with a part-time teaching career.  This would give you the chance to develop your business, while having the security of a teaching income. With franchises based around Health & Fitness, Maths, Science, English, Modern Languages, Theatre and Music, amongst others, there is sure to be something to suit most teachers. 

Become an author

Share your knowledge with the world by getting your thoughts down on paper. From writing children’s’ books, to creating fantastic resources for learning or sharing your expertise out with teaching, this is something that is a possibility for many teachers.  Be inspired by Lindsay Littleson who writes children's books, and offers free workshops in schools in her local area.  

Find something you love

I knew that I needed to get out of full-time teaching, before it killed me, but I didn’t really know what I wanted to do! I found this book called Screw Work, Let's Play, by John Williams, which enthused me about the possibilities of a life alongside teaching. At that point John also offered a 30-day challenge, which I completed and built my first website, because of it. Believing that I didn't need to be "stuck"in a job that I was unhappy in, became a reality when I read this book.

If you are thinking about a career change from teaching, then I hope that this post has inspired you. From research that I have done, I know that many teachers feel stuck in teaching, because their financial situation is holding them back.

If this is you, then why not join my Your Money Sorted group, where I share tips to help you get your life and money under control so that you can live the life you want.  

Eileen x

Hi, I’m Eileen Adamson, Your Money Sorted coach, empowering professional women to become happier, healthier and wealthier. By showing you how to make small, sustainable changes, I can help you create the financial security and freedom you deserve.

For more information on how I can help you, please see my coaching courses, my Etsy shop or my Amazon shop.