How to Impact Kids Outside of the Classroom

If you’re a teacher looking to move out of the classroom, you know there are plenty of other roles in the education world out there but you may not know which roles you’re qualified for or what you would enjoy doing. Way too many people leave the education sector when they’re done teaching because they don’t know what they can do within it, and we don’t want you to be part of the flight! There’s a significant talent shortage in the education sector, so your skills do matter and can be utilized in the variety of roles out there.

Many minds go straight to roles working directly with teachers, like instructional coaching, but there are many other ways to impact students, both within and outside of schools. The industry is evolving to include much more than the schools themselves, so there’s a ton out there you may have never heard of!

Those of us at WorkMonger wanted to create a quick guide to some of the areas in the education sector with which we work, including the basics on what these roles might do, as well as the skills needed for them. If one of these areas sounds enticing to you, make sure you check out what skills you can work on developing now in order to secure one of these roles in the future.

Development and Grant-Making

• What it is: bringing in the money to keep our organizations running and to provide resources for our mission
• What you’re good at: writing; collecting and communicating ideas
• What you can do now: reach out to your current development team to shadow; apply for grants (include federal grants) for your classroom to gain experience; raise money on Donors Choose; host a fundraiser for your school that includes bringing people in to tour your classroom

Operations

• What it is: helping our organizations run efficiently and effectively, supporting people in doing their jobs
• What you’re good at: general management; organization and keeping track of things; strong follow-up skills; executing a plan
• What you can do now: reach out to your current operations team; volunteer to take on a project that impacts your whole school or grade level; plan a grade level field trip from start to finish including coordinating logistics and budgeting

Finance and Accounting

• What it is: keeping our organizations in the black
• What you’re good at: Excel skills and budgeting
• What you can do now: take online Excel courses; practice using pivot tables, graphs, and calculations; manage your own budget as a teacher

Data Analysis and Research

• What it is: ensuring we’re doing things efficiently and effectively by distilling data down to its key points and determining how best to simply communicate the takeaways from that data in order to drive action
• What you’re good at: Excel, Tableau, PowerSchool reports; research
• What you can do now: play around with PowerSchool and Excel; practice posing questions and gathering data; take online classes with Tableau

Recruitment

• What it is: getting the best staff on board
• What you’re good at: understanding what people want and communicating possible solutions; eye for fit; strong follow-up skills; good at probing questions; relationship building
• What you can do now: work to recruit students or participate in the hiring committee at your school

Marketing and Communication

• What it is: making sure that your organization is known by building your brand and presence with community stakeholders
• What you’re good at: social media, writing, content creation
• What you can do now: start your own blog; utilize your social media accounts to start building your brand; play around with Wordpress

Policy and Advocacy

• What it is: ensuring that people know and understand your issue and translating it into action
• What you’re good at: community organizing; building relationships and bringing people together; presentations; persuasion
• What you can do now: start advocating or attending rallies; get involved with various advocacy groups in your area; spend the summer interning for a local government representative

Now it’s time to get to work developing these skills! If one or more of these areas sounds intriguing, implement a plan to start developing these skills now, over the summer, or during the next school year if you’re looking to make the jump out of the classroom after that. These are perfect things to then highlight on your resume when you tailor it to a specific job or function.

WorkMonger exists to help people just like you stay in the education world even if it means leaving the classroom, so if you haven’t created your JobSeeker profile yet, now’s the time to do so!

Want to learn more about WorkMonger?

• WorkMonger is a unique online job matching service for non-teaching roles in the US education sector.
• Follow WorkMonger on LinkedIn, and create your free JobSeeker profile today in just 20 minutes.