What Else Can You Do? - Jobs Related to your Degree

Jobs related to your degree

You are not defined by the degree you have. However, a number of people in The Thinking of Leaving Teaching? Group have asked for job ideas, based on the subject taught.

English Teachers

English Teachers – here are some comments from The Thinking of Leaving Teaching? Group.

I went into marketing, specialising in Social Media.. and I work ‘on the side’ as a children’s storyteller.
I was a secondary school English teacher for 18 years and thought that was all I could be. However, a local exam board saw my CV on CV Library and approached me about a role in the production of exam papers. 2 years later, and I still love my job! I’m basically a project manager of exam papers. I don’t write them myself, I manage the process of production for them, doing some proofreading and formatting as well. I was on UPS3 in the North East and took a £500 per month pay cut from teaching, but it’s worth it to have my evenings and weekends back.

Geography Teachers

Geography Teachers – here are some comments from The Thinking of Leaving Teaching? Group.

Friend of mine studied Geography and he works for Town Planning
Lots of universities are looking for people to fill sustainability roles 😊
I left to join the Environment Agency and can’t ever imagine leaving. It’s a fabulous place to work. There are lots of geographers. 😊
I’m a geographer, currently doing a masters in environmental management to update my knowledge and skills but there are loads of jobs in sustainability, renewable energy, water management. Might be worth finding some environmental/conservation volunteering work to give you recent work experience (even a little bit alongside teaching to go at the top of your CV). Look at the transferable skills you have that could easily go into an environmental project management role. Good luck!
I was a ranger, then a geography teacher, now work in an outdoor education centre.
I’m a former secondary geography teacher and I’m now a training officer. I work from home. I got my job through googling training or assessor jobs. There are loads of freelance assessing roles. Just be prepared for a pay drop. I had to take £1000 pcm less for it. But…personally its been worth it as I do pick ups/drop offs and can go to any child related event such as open days etc. I can also do all my washing etc during the day so more time with kids at night. Some assessing jobs will require a qualification but the first company I worked for out me through it. Was easy.

History Teachers

History Teachers – here are some comments from The Thinking of Leaving Teaching? Group.

History teacher and now training to be a social worker.
I was a History teacher and am now an Environment Officer with the EA. I can’t recommend the EA enough. They are a fantastic employer (well-being is important to the organization) and the work is really interesting. I left when my youngest was 1 and the flexitime/wfh culture made it so much easier.

Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Teachers

MFL Teachers – here are some comments from The Thinking of Leaving Teaching? Group.

As ex MFL I was always recommended interpreter or translator, which are both good options if you are willing/able to do a masters. I was not. If you’re hoping to continue using your languages, you could work in an international company, but you’ve really to big up your admin skills as many people don’t realise how much admin is in teaching. I went into training, realised it was the delivery of lessons I didn’t like after working for a charity delivering training. I now work as a community resource worker (social work assistant) where my non-verbal communication skills come into their own. Do a swot analysis and look at what you like/dislike in your work and go from there.
A friend of mine is a translator. She does bank hours from home. They call her and she does an hours translation for them. Maybe a change from teaching?
I was a French and Spanish teacher and now work in the civil service for the Department for Education. In honesty, I don’t use my languages anymore at all and they’re not relevant to the job. But I was head of French so in application and interview I focused mainly on the transferable skills that role and teaching in general gave me – managing others, data analysis (of results etc), being able to work with a range of ‘stakeholders’ (other staff, leadership, parents, travel companies if you ever planned trips abroad etc etc.) I wouldn’t worry about languages being in ‘lower demand’ compared to STEM subjects – ultimately the subject knowledge is only one small part of the huge skill set teaching in general gives us. I think MFL is actually a uniquely difficult subject to teach in today’s climate and is increasingly undervalued – that definitely gives us lots of resilience which is a key attribute for any job.
If you do want to use your languages you can work in sales or order management for various industries helping customers get updates on their order. Also for insurance side of things I worked for a well known car breakdown company who needed advisers to be fluent in any European languages to help customers get towed to garages and flights/accommodation sorted. This is a call centre role so the downside was working late and not always getting 2 days off together.
I’m a former languages teacher. I do miss not using my languages but am trying to watch as many French and German programmes and films as possible to try to keep it up a bit! I’m a trainer in the civil service now. Skills that got me the job: ability to create/adapt resources for different audiences, engage people, presentation skills, manage a busy workload, be organised, work autonomously. I’ve been doing it for 6 months and love it.
I’ve gone into L&D now and still use my languages in my current role. I’m an L&D business partner for an international charity. I didn’t do any specific qualifications for the role, but I feel my masters helped me quite a lot (Transnational Organised Crime) and by sheer chance, my dissertation closely aligned with the mission and values of the organisation. That was probably the swaying factor.
Two of my colleagues are former MFL teachers. Try looking at jobs in higher education if you haven’t already. There is hope.
Moved from MFL teaching to Learning & Development. I’m a Programmes Lead for an iNGO so I still use my langauges, and the skill set is very transferable. My day to day work involves designing training materials such as e-learning modules on Anti Money Laundering or Gender Awareness to creating face to face programmes for courses such as Leadership Development. I also get to travel and deliver training abroad
I’m retraining in programming and artificial intelligence.

Science Teachers

Science Teachers wanting to leave teaching: Download this ASE Science Teacher SOS resource from the Association for Science Education.