Jobs For Teachers Out of The Classroom

A friend from my grad program recently subscribed and messaged me (hello, friend!). A fellow mom, she shared that teaching has been taking a physical and emotional toll, and that she’s ready to move on, but doesn’t know where to even start looking for a job outside of education.

This is super common! Teaching isn’t just a bubble; it’s an archaic bubble. We search school districts’ job boards and send our 1990s resumes to principals—real humans who actually read them. We get called in for interviews, maybe do a demo lesson, then get an offer. It’s easy. There’s no networking, or recruiters, or ATS scanners, or LinkedIn profiles. It’s actually pretty great.

But stepping out of that bubble can be daunting, especially for those of us who haven’t worked in other industries. “What else can I even do?” is the most common question I see from aspiring former teachers, along with, “Where do I find all these non-teaching jobs people talk about?”

It’s a great question that I’m just beginning to learn the answer to. So in the spirit of freely sharing knowledge and resources to help other teachers, I’ve rounded up some popular *free* lists, boards, and social media accounts that feature jobs for teachers outside of education.

This is a work in progress! I’ll update this list as I come across new free resources—and if you find a great one, shoot it my way!

Without further ado, here are some helpful places to find jobs for teachers outside of education:

Static Job Lists

• Teacher Career Coach’s “Best Jobs For Former Teachers 2024”: Daphne Gomez is a heavy hitter in the world of transitioning teachers, perhaps the heaviest hitter. Her platform is massive and includes a career course, a podcast, a super active IG account, and of course, blog posts. This particular page lists her top 13 professions for teachers leaving the classroom, breaking them down by interest (ie, presenting, building relationships, designing lessons).

• Delvin Peck’s “50 Best Jobs for Former Teachers in 2024”: Another teacher career transition coach, Delvin Peck is kinda everywhere, thanks to a slew of YouTube videos and a regularly updated, SEO-optimized blog. While he specializes in helping teachers move specifically into instructional design, he also hosts a free online community; I’ve heard no first-hand reports, but it could be worth checking out. His extensive list of jobs for former teachers includes a brief description and average salary for each. Scrolling through can definitely get your juices flowing!

Regularly Updated Job Boards

• Skip’s Job Board: This is one of the most helpful job resources for ex- and wanna-be ex-teachers. With both a website and a weekly newsletter, Skip’s offers a curated list of jobs for educators, academics, and ed tech professionals at mission-driven organizations… that all pay over $60k! Plus, access to both the board and newsletter are totally freeeeee! (Side note: I need to find out how this former teacher has made her newsletter sustainable!)

• Hottest Jobs For Transitioning Teachers: Career coach Steph Yesil’s website has a really well-organized job board, divided into twelve career categories. For each, she gives a short description and pay scale of different roles within that category, and then hyperlinks to current LinkedIn job postings. Genius!

• Job Boards 2024: After publishing this post, Benjamin Erwin (listed below) shared some really helpful resources, including this AMAZING master list of job boards! While not exclusively focused on transitioning teachers, the job boards included here include ones focused on EdTech, learning and development, remote work, and more. Benjamin is an absolute saint for compiling all this. Thank you!

• HigherEdJobs: Many K-12 teachers are interested in moving into higher ed. You don’t just have to be a professor! Many former teachers have found roles in administration, communications or as coordinators. If you’re aiming for PSLF, most universities qualify, even private ones—as long as they are not-for-profit.

• Government jobs: There are a lot of benefits to moving into a government job: pensions, stability, the familiarity of the public sector and the possibility of still qualifying for PSLF, to name a few. USAJobs lists roles with the federal government. For help navigating the application process, be sure to check out this Subreddit. For state and county jobs (where your retirement years may even roll over!), check this site.

• Nonprofits: If you’re interested in moving into more purpose-driven nonprofit work, you’ll want to check Foundation List, Idealist, and Philanthropy News Digest. Be sure to do some location-specific Googling as well, as there are many excellent regional nonprofit jobs boards, such as LA2050.

Social Media Accounts That Frequently Post Job Openings

• Tyrina Lassiter’s IG: Tyrina Lassiter is a transitioning teacher career coach with a biiiig online presence. On her Instagram account, she frequently posts companies that are hiring. She doesn’t link out, but with a little digging, you can often find the job listings on the companies’ sites. I’ve heard nothing but good things about her coaching services, so she’s definitely on my hit list of folks to interview!

• Evan Pressman’s LinkedIn: Evan Pressman is a LinkedIn resume wizard (who I’m also angling to interview!). In addition to posting very useful resume tips, he does a weekly Friday post of remote job openings for former and aspiring former teachers.

• Stephanie Yesil’s LinkedIn: Remember her from three bullet points ago? In addition to the hyperlinked page on her website, she also posts a weekly roundup of companies hiring transitioning teachers on her LinkedIn, under the hashtag #SpotlightSaturday.

• Benjamin Erwin’s LinkedIn: Benjamin Erwin is an instructional designer who posts a ton of free resources for transitioning teachers, including a weekly roundup of EdTech and EdTech-adjacent job openings.

Know of other free resources listing jobs for former teachers? Send them my way so I can include them!