5 High Paying Jobs for Teachers Who Want a Career Change

Transcription

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Dan @ Time We Discuss: So you went to school, you got your degree in education, maybe you got a master's degree as well, and now you decided you are done with teaching. What do you do now? Well, we're in luck, because today on Time We Discuss we're doing part two in our series on I Quit Teaching, Now What Do I Do? Today I'm going to give you five lucrative jobs that any teacher can easily transition into.

First up, project managers. Project managers oversee a project from conception to completion, ensuring it stays on time within budget and meets its goals. If you worked in any larger organization, you've probably already interacted with a project manager. Now teachers are a great fit for this because lesson planning is fundamentally project management. Teachers are experts at managing tight timelines, resource allocation, risk management, for instance anticipating a room full of unpredictable variables like unruly students, and teachers are already keeping cross-functional groups focused on a single objective. When it comes to the salary range, a project manager is kind of in line with what teachers could be making. So average salary ranges between 85 and $120,000 a year, and it's often higher if you have a PMP certification. And one of the awesome things about being a project manager is that you also have key transferable skills from being a teacher. You're already organized, scope management, you already have stakeholder communication and agility. So if you're a teacher and you're done with teaching, switching over to being a project manager could be a viable career option for you.

Next on our list is a change management consultant. Now I actually already spoke with the change manager back in episode 105 in March of 2025. I'll put the link in the description and a card at the top if you're on YouTube so you can easily get to that person. Now when companies undergo massive shifts like restructuring, adopting new software or merging, change management professionals help guide the employees through the transition, minimizing friction and resistance. Now teachers are a great fit for this because teachers are master facilitators of behavioral change. You know how to guide a skeptical audience through a new process, assess their readiness, create buy in and support them when they struggle. Similar to project managers, change management consultants have a very similar average salary range from $90,000 a year to over $130,000 a year. And with being a teacher, you also have key transferable skills, including behavioral psychology, strategic communication, patience and audience assessment. So this could be another option if you're looking to exit teaching and to get into something a little different.

Number three on the list, we have corporate recruiter and talent acquisition specialist. Now I spoke with Laura from Integrate Up back in episode 99. I'll put a link in the description as well as a card on top if you're on YouTube so you can easily access that recording. Recruiters find, screen, and interview candidates to fill open positions within a company. For teachers, it's a low barrier because recruiting is primarily about reading people, building rapport and assessing skills, things teachers do daily. Companies rarely require specific degrees for recruiting. They look for high emotional intelligence, excellent communication and organizational skills, all things that teachers already possess. Now when it comes to the learning curve, it's pretty minimal. You just need to learn the company's applicant tracking system, which is standard software you can learn on the job in just a few days. Now unlike the other two jobs already covered, the average salary range is actually a little bit lower, more like $65,000 to $90,000 a year, but you often have the opportunity to get a commission or bonuses for hiring targets. So again, if you're looking to exit teaching and get into something a little more corporate, this could be a great opportunity for you.

Number four on the list, we have proposal writers and grant writers. Now I spoke to Jayme Gittings, who is a grant writer, earlier in the year. Jayme was featured in episode 163. She has her own grant writing business and she talks about how great the flexibility is in working for herself and helping local organizations get the money they need to help their organizations thrive. Now proposal writers, sometimes called RFP writers, draft the formal documents and bids that companies submit to win corporate or government contracts. It's a low barrier if your a teacher because you already have strong writing skills. You're already qualified. Teachers excel here because they're used to adhering strict rubrics, meeting hard deadlines, and translating complex internal information into clear persuasive written text. When it comes to the learning curve, this is also very minimal. You don't need a special license. You just need to follow the template and the guidelines provided by the company's legal or sales operations team. So again, this is a win for a teacher. Similar to being a corporate recruiter, the average salary range is about the same, about $65,000 to over $85,000 a year. So if you're looking to get out of teaching, this could be another opportunity where you can leverage your teaching skills and go into a different field.

Next on our list, we have implementation specialists. Earlier in the year I spoke with Jeff in episode 160 about being a visionary entrepreneur. Now in that episode, he talks about finding problems and then exiting while someone else implements it. And this is where the implementation specialist will come in. When a company buys a new software package or service, the implementation specialist guides them through the set up process, configures their account and ensures their team knows how to use it. This is another job that has a really low barrier to entry. Don't confuse this with a heavy engineering role. This is a client facing position that relies on your ability to handhold a client through a step by step checklist. It requires patience, clear formatting and structured guidance, the exact definition of teaching. When it comes to the learning curve, the company will thoroughly train you on their specific software when you are hired. As long as you're comfortable learning standard tech platforms, no formal tech background is required. And similar to the other two jobs I just mentioned, the average salary is about the same, about 70,000 to over $90,000 a year.

As an added bonus, there is a quick win strategy if you want to quickly jump from teacher to one of these other positions. If you want to boost your resume for any of these roles over a single weekend, take a free or cheap course on a widely used corporate tool. These are available widely online. You can get a quick certification in HubSpot, Asana, Trello, or Salesforce. And this will immediately show corporate recruiters you speak their language.

So there you have it. There are five more jobs that you can easily transition to if you are done with teaching.

Like I said, this episode is part two. So if you missed part one, I'll make sure I put a link in the description for you so you can easily get to part one. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'll also include a link to the top up there so that you can easily get to it as well.

So like I said previously, I did already speak with some people that do these jobs already. But if you'd like me to talk to people that have jobs, which I didn't already cover that are in this video, let me know in the comments and I'll track that person down for you. All right, that'll do it for today. See you next time on Time We Discuss.