5 Alternative Jobs For Teachers
Choosing to leave the classroom and embark on a new career path can be daunting, but there are plenty of employment opportunities for teachers to consider. Teaching will have given you a wide range of skills that you can apply to many other jobs, including roles within the education system and roles outside of it.
So, if you’re looking for a new career after teaching and need some inspiration, here are 5 jobs where you could make a long-lasting positive impact.
Five potential jobs after a teaching career
As amazing as being a teacher is, there are probably times you felt overworked, underpaid and unmotivated. Or maybe you just feel you’ve reached a ceiling and simply want a new challenge. Whatever the reason is for stepping away from the classroom, it’s important your next role gives you that spark and allows you to continue making a difference to people’s lives.
Private tutor
Many children need additional help to achieve their desired grades. This is where private tuition comes in. As a private tutor, you’re still able to impart your knowledge and help young people in their academic studies, but on your own terms. You can work from your home office, and choose your own hours and rate of pay. It gives you a freedom not found in the classroom and allows you to focus all your energy on just one child.
Private tutor jobs after teaching are the natural next step if you’re still keen to help kids with their education and also stay abreast with current teaching methods and trends.
Foster carer
You may not even have considered fostering as a viable career change after teaching, but it’s a role that needs all the skills and experience you gained as a teacher, and more! Having a passion to improve the lives of children is at the core of both teaching and fostering, but being a foster parent is more than just a ‘job’. It’s a lifestyle that is incredibly rich and rewarding.
If you’re retiring from teaching, or don’t know what to do after teaching, foster care could be the best decision you make.
Coach
Another alternative career to teaching is to become a coach – and this doesn’t just have to be a sporting coach or business coach! Many adults often feel stuck during certain times in their life and don’t know how to move forward, or they’re missing key pieces of knowledge that could help them thrive. You could be a life coach, a parenting coach or even a relationship coach. It’s a good way to use your teaching experience to create bespoke plans that will help people get to where they want to be.
Youth worker
Just because you’re considering a new career after teaching, that doesn’t mean you have to stray from helping young people succeed. Youth workers are pillars of their communities, helping local pre-teens and teenagers improve their social, emotional and intellectual skills.
From children’s homes to community centres, you get to work with children from diverse backgrounds in your local area and ensure that their voices are heard.
Sometimes, the clubs and activities organised by youth workers provide a safe space for young people having trouble at home, such as children in care. This makes for a great career change after teaching if you’re interested in the emotional and social aspect of children’s lives.
School counsellor
There are alternative jobs to teaching that allow you to remain in the school environment, such as becoming a School counsellor. The role is essentially helping secondary school teenagers prepare for life beyond school, so it’s an important role.
A lot of teens need steering in the right direction, so a school counsellor helps to explore suitable career options, checks in on their mental health and ensures they have the right life skills to cope after year 11.
The teenage years are full of change and emotions, which can be hard to navigate, so if you think you can give guidance, support and counselling, this could be a job for you.
Transferrable teaching skills for
foster care
- Communication – you can engage with children of different ages and know how to talk to them on their level.
- Empathy – you're able to put yourself in a child’s shoes and empathise with the reasons why they’re acting a certain way.
- Patience – you have the patience to spend time talking to a child to help them understand something.
- Caring – you genuinely care about the lives of children and their outcomes, and want to be a force for positive change.
- Thick-skinned – you don’t take it personally when a child lashes out, calls you names or tries to hurt your feelings.
- Control over your emotions – you’re able to stay calm and measured even when a child is exhibiting challenging behaviour.
Is fostering a child a well-paid alternative job for UK teachers?
It’s no secret that teachers don’t get the financial recognition they deserve. This could be one of the reasons you’re searching for new jobs after teaching primary or secondary school. When it comes to supporting our foster parents financially, we provide a generous fostering allowance to help cover the costs of caring for a child and to also reward all the hard work.
The amount you receive depends on the age of the child, how many children you foster at once, the nature of the placement and your location, but you can expect to receive between £17,555 and £28,078 per child, per year.
Alongside your allowance, you’ll receive additional ad-hoc payments, rewards and benefits, and exceptional support in all areas of the child’s care. This includes having a dedicated social worker, a 24/7 helpline, a meticulous matching process to ensure the success of a placement, excellent training opportunities and regular support groups, events and activities to stay connected to other foster families.
Could I have a fostering career after teaching?
It's a highly rewarding role, and you’ve already gained all the interpersonal skills from being a teacher, so you’re halfway there! As long as you’re dedicated to the lives of children, are aged 21 or over, have a spare bedroom a child can call their own and have the right to live and work in the UK, you could make a fantastic foster parent.
Get in touch with us today to see if fostering is right for you. There are thousands of children waiting for you to make that first step so they can find a safe and loving home.
Reasons to join Fosterplus...
Why choose us?
Everything we do is geared towards this idea of continuity, and it’s something that our foster parents experience too – with stable teams and consistent support and training.
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Support for the family
With Fosterplus, you'll be connected to the support you need 24/7/365. This ranges from a dedicated social worker, regular support groups, direct access to Fosterplus management and an out of hours service.
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Generous allowances
You’ll benefit from an attractive fostering payment for when a child is in your care, together with other benefits and rewards. Find out how much you could receive using our allowance calculator.
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