35 Jobs for Former Teachers (With Salaries)

Making a career change can be a way to explore new fields, increase your earning potential or pursue a passion. If you're a former or current teacher interested in changing careers, there are jobs in all types of industries that benefit from the skills associated with teaching. Knowing the types of positions that benefit from education skills and teaching experience can help you find a rewarding new career path. 

In this article, we list teacher skills that are highly transferable to other professions and discuss 35 different jobs for former teachers, with salary insights and common job duties for each.

Transferable teaching skills

If you want to make a career change away from teaching, it's wise to consider paths that use transferable skills. Here are some teaching skills that can be applied in other industries:

Teaching, coaching and mentoring

If you want to pursue a career outside the classroom that still focuses on teaching others, consider a career that involves training and coaching. Teachers know how to develop lesson plans, utilize educational technology, supervise exercises and offer constructive feedback, which can help them be effective coaches and mentors in other work environments. For example, many corporate organizations hire learning and development specialists to build and lead effective training programs. These skills may also be beneficial in management roles across industries.

Related: Essential Coaching Skills for Strong Leadership

Interpersonal skills

Teachers often have strong people skills, as they're experienced in building effective relationships with students. Skills like motivating groups, active listening and resolving conflicts, which are all critical for teachers, can be beneficial in careers that involve a high level of interpersonal interaction, compassion and relationship-building, like sales, social work and health care.

Related: What Are Teacher Soft Skills? (And How To Improve Them)

Specialized skills

If you taught a specific discipline, such as math, science or music, you thoroughly understand that area. You could leverage your specialized skills to pursue a career in your area of expertise. For example, a math teacher might use their aptitude in algebra, statistics and calculus to pursue a job in data science or financial analysis. An English teacher could utilize their writing and editing capabilities to work in journalism or content marketing.

Related: How To Write a Resume When Changing Careers From Teaching

Jobs for former teachers in education and child care

If you want to get a job that still involves education and development, there are many options for teachers outside of the classroom. You could pursue a job working with kids, developing instructional content or holding a leadership position in a school. Consider that some educational leadership or school administrator roles may require a master's degree. Below are alternative jobs in the education and child-care fields that could benefit from a teaching degree and classroom experience:

For the most up-to-date salary information from Indeed, visit indeed.com/salaries.

1. Academic advisor

National average salary: $45,508 per year

Primary duties: Academic advisors help college students identify their strengths and interests to determine the type of educational courses they should take. These advisors also explain requirements for various majors and degrees, assist with schedule changes and help transfer students acclimate to their new school.

2. Nanny

National average salary: $48,082 per year

Primary duties: Nannies care for children while their parents or guardians are away. Private nannies may be responsible for caring for a child's personal needs, planning activities, providing transportation to and from school and activities and helping with homework. Some nannies help with light housework.

Related: How To Find Nanny Jobs Using Listings and Agencies

3. Tutor

National average salary: $51,771 per year

Primary duties: Tutors support students in a specific subject or various subjects by providing additional instruction outside the classroom. Their duties include helping students with homework assignments, creating student guides and explaining different approaches to topics they find challenging.

4. Guidance counselor

National average salary: $53,529 per year

Primary duties: Guidance counselors work in elementary, middle and high schools and provide emotional support and guidance to students. Guidance counselors may help students identify their strengths and interests, work on emotional skills, manage conflict and improve personal and social development. They may also help students create positive study habits, achieve academic success, prepare for college and make career choices.

5. Librarian

National average salary: $55,839 per year

Primary duties: A librarian manages a school or public library's materials. Their core responsibilities include selecting, acquiring, classifying, cataloging, circulating and maintaining the library's collection of books, newspapers, magazines, movies and computers. They may also answer guests' questions and help them locate resources.

6. Curator

National average salary: $57,731 per year

Primary duties: Curators manage collections of art, historical documents and historical artifacts in museums. The responsibilities of a curator vary based on the museum they work for but typically include acquiring items for a museum's collection, caring for museum displays and providing information about the displays to museum visitors.

7. Corporate trainer

National average salary: $59,865 per year

Primary duties: Corporate trainers work in corporate environments and provide new and existing employees with instruction on core job skills. Corporate trainers may be responsible for creating training plans, providing employee training, creating training material and assessing employee progress during training.

8. Educational consultant

National average salary: $61,432 per year

Primary duties: Educational consultants provide academic guidance to students, parents, school boards, teachers and academic organizations. Educational consultants may assess and make recommendations in areas such as academic curriculum, student activities, technology incorporation and classroom improvements.

9. Principal

National average salary: $105,298 per year

Primary duties: Principals are the top-ranking elementary, middle or high school leaders. Their responsibilities include planning the school's strategic direction, developing standardized curricula, encouraging parent involvement and monitoring student progress. They also assess teacher effectiveness, create and implement policies and procedures and supervise the actions of students, teachers and staff.

Related: How Long Does It Take To Become a Principal? (And Other FAQs)

Jobs for former teachers in health care

Some teachers switch to the health care industry, as it can offer lucrative salaries and job security while utilizing their interpersonal skills. Former teachers can be a good fit for careers in health care because of their ability to empathize with others, explain complex concepts and develop organized action plans to reach individualized goals. Be aware that many careers in health care require additional training and licensing, so research your state's requirements. Here are some careers to consider in health care:

10. Life skills trainer

National average salary: $40,596 per year

Primary duties: Life skills trainers teach clients recovering from illness, injury or disability the basic life skills necessary to accomplish and manage everyday tasks. They may help them with cooking, personal hygiene and personal finances.

Related: How To Become a Life Skills Trainer in 4 Steps

11. Personal trainer

National average salary: $40,688 per year

Primary duties: A personal trainer helps clients achieve their personal fitness goals. Personal trainers help clients identify their goals, create customized fitness plans for their needs, teach them proper exercise techniques and form and encourage them to stay on track with their fitness plan. They also track their progress and refer them to other specialists, such as dietitians.

Related: How Long Does It Take To Become a Personal Trainer? (With Personal Trainer FAQ)

12. Medical assistant

National average salary: $42,394 per year

Primary duties: A medical assistant supports physicians and performs basic administrative and patient care tasks. Their duties include greeting patients, escorting them to examination rooms, collecting medical histories and personal information and checking vital signs. They also handle insurance and patient billing, answer phone calls, educate patients about their diagnoses and treatment plans and schedule appointments.

Related: Registered Medical Assistant vs. Certified Medical Assistant

13. Child protection practitioner

National average salary: $47,304 per year

Primary duties: A child protection practitioner works for child protective services to ensure children's health, safety and well-being. They do this by investigating claims that a child may live in a home with abuse or neglect. These practitioners then work with families to identify risky behavior and parenting practices that can improve the safety and well-being of the children.

14. Activities director

National average salary: $51,847 per year

Primary duties: Activities directors plan and coordinate recreational and therapeutic activities for seniors in retirement communities, assisted living facilities and residential health care settings. They select stimulating and fun activities, supervise facilitators, book entertainment and create an activities calendar.

15. Substance abuse counselor

National average salary: $52,172 per year

Primary duties: A substance abuse counselor provides emotional and therapeutic support to individuals seeking recovery from addiction and substance abuse issues through one-on-one therapy. They identify and analyze the root cause of their addiction and make referrals to recovery programs.

Related: How To Earn a Substance Abuse Counselor Certification

16. Dental assistant

National average salary: $69,554 per year

Primary duties: Dental assistants help dentists by sterilizing and organizing tools and taking X-rays. They also perform administrative and office management tasks, such as managing records, answering phones and scheduling appointments.

17. Occupational therapist assistant

National average salary: $74,218 per year

Primary duties: An occupational therapy assistant supports occupational therapists in implementing treatment plans designed to help patients recover, improve and maintain mobility and strength after an injury or event. They help people of any age re-adjust to their workplace, school or home demands.

18. Board-certified behavior analyst

National average salary: $78,582 per year

Primary duties: A board-certified behavior analyst prepares and conducts behavioral assessments and evaluations of patients. They work with other mental health care professionals to create comprehensive therapy plans. Board-certified behavior analysts work in either research or applied behavior analysis, applying principles learned through research to behavioral therapy services.

Read more: Learn About Being a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)

19. Registered nurse

National average salary: $92,607 per year

Primary duties: Registered nurses (RNs) assist physicians in providing care and treatment to patients for a variety of health conditions. RNs are responsible for checking and monitoring patient vital signs, administering medication, monitoring a patient's progress in recovery and educating patients and their families about their diagnosis and treatment plan.

20. Psychologist

National average salary: $98,133 per year

Primary duties: Psychologists assist patients with their cognitive and emotional health. This may involve administering tests for mental health conditions and providing counseling services to improve emotional well-being. They also diagnose and treat mental, emotional and behavioral conditions with medication, exercises and therapy.

Jobs for former teachers in business and marketing

If you'd rather work in an office environment, sales, marketing and business management roles often suit teachers because they rely on interpersonal skills, writing skills and strategic objectives. Some employers may prefer or require additional qualifications, like an industry certification or a relevant degree, but many are open to candidates with transferable experiences, like teachers. Some careers also require specific credentials, so do some preliminary research to learn more. Here are some business jobs that may utilize a teacher's skills:

21. Event planner

National average salary: $49,188 per year

Primary duties: An event planner plans and coordinates all aspects of a client's event. They may plan birthday parties, weddings, anniversary parties, bridal showers and baby showers. Event planners work with their clients to understand their vision for an event, book vendors, plan decorations and manage an event's budget.

22. Freelance writer

National average salary: $49,265 per year

Primary duties: A freelance writer works as an independent contractor for a variety of clients who pay for written content. They may create blogs, website content, social media posts and print advertisements like brochures.

23. Insurance agent

National average salary: $55,583 per year

Primary duties: An insurance agent sells insurance policies to individuals and businesses. They assist clients with selecting insurance products to meet their needs and explain the features and benefits of insurance policies. They also screen clients for eligibility, close sales and complete insurance applications.

24. Paralegal

National average salary: $56,444 per year

Primary duties: A paralegal assists lawyers with administrative and communication tasks. Their responsibilities include organizing and maintaining files, drafting legal documents and conducting legal research. They also attend client meetings and depositions, handle client billing and perform other legal work as needed.

Read more: Learn About Being a Paralegal

25. Social media manager

National average salary: $56,701 per year

Primary duties: Social media managers maintain a company's social media profiles. They strategize to reach marketing and sales goals. Their key duties include creating engaging posts, managing social media marketing campaigns, building brand awareness and responding to comments.

26. Sales and marketing manager

National average salary: $57,293 per year

Primary duties: Sales and marketing managers promote a company's products and services and raise brand awareness. They may be responsible for preparing and analyzing budgets, creating and implementing new sales strategies and advertisements and ensuring the sales team meets their goals and quotas.

27. Editor

National average salary: $57,916 per year

Primary duties: An editor reviews and improves material written for magazines, books, newspapers, websites and print advertisements. They make revisions as necessary, select pitches for publication, explain their goals to writers and coordinate the publication of materials.

28. Human resources specialist

National average salary: $58,039 per year

Primary duties: A human resources specialist is responsible for recruiting, interviewing, screening and onboarding new employees for a company. Human resources specialists also maintain a positive work culture with employees, manage employee benefits and resolve employee conflicts.

29. Research analyst

National average salary: $61,044 per year

Primary duties: A research analyst is responsible for researching, analyzing, interpreting and presenting data about their company and industry. Research analysts study market trends and changes, input data into software programs, forecast potential changes and provide insights about business operations and customer satisfaction from quantitative and qualitative data.

30. Executive assistant

National average salary: $61,740 per year

Primary duties: Executive assistants provide administrative and clerical support to executive leaders. The responsibilities of an executive assistant vary but typically include tasks like answering and responding to phone calls, scheduling appointments and managing a calendar. Other duties include preparing meeting agendas, managing travel arrangements and sending memos.

31. Public relations manager

National average salary: $65,199 per year

Primary duties: A public relations manager is responsible for creating and maintaining a favorable public image for their company or client and raising brand awareness. Their duties include responding to reviews and media requests, organizing press conferences and creating communications for the brand's accomplishments.

32. Sales representative

National average salary: $68,157 per year

Primary duties: A sales representative sells a company's goods or services to consumers or other businesses and wholesalers. Sales representatives' duties include handling the entire sales cycle, including finding new customers, pitching the benefits and features of a product or service, closing the sale and maintaining a positive relationship between the company and the customer.

33. Sales manager

National average salary: $75,765 per year

Primary duties: A sales manager oversees a company's sales teams. They're responsible for leading and motivating a team of sales representatives to meet their goals and quotas. They might lead training, meet with clients and report sales data to upper management.

34. Realtor

National average salary: $93,403 per year

Primary duties: A realtor sells residential or commercial property. They support clients throughout the process by helping them find or list properties and taking them to showings. Realtors also prepare documentation and advocate for their clients' best interests.

Read more: Learn About Being a Realtor

35. Attorney

National average salary: $96,057 per year

Primary duties: An attorney is a licensed legal professional who provides clients with legal advice and represents their clients' legal rights in criminal and civil cases in court. Attorneys also prepare legal documents, conduct legal research and appear in court to advocate for their clients. They may work for individuals, families or companies.