23 Best Alternative Careers for Teachers in 2024

If you’re looking for alternative careers for teachers, then you’re in the right place.

Some teachers make the mistake of thinking that the only skill they have is teaching, but in reality, being a teacher requires a variety of transferable skills and talents that you can apply to several other careers that involve:

• management
• problem-solving
• conflict resolution
• client relations, + more.

I worked as an elementary school teacher for 10 years, but within 2-3 years I realized that it wasn’t the right career for me. I spent years looking for an alternative career, and dabbled in several different career options before I finally found what felt like my true calling.

I’m going to go through the best alternative careers for teachers, and what you can expect to earn. Not all of these careers will necessarily be right for you, but they all use skills that you likely already have as a teacher.

To be clear, we’re not talking about side hustles for teachers in this article. This article is for teachers who are considering leaving the profession and replacing their full-time income with something that has real potential to pay similarly to what you earn as a teacher.

In reading this list of alternative careers for teachers, I hope that something will spark your interest and give you hope that you can make good money doing something other than teaching.

So, let’s jump in – best alternative careers for teachers in 2024.

Alternative Careers For Teachers (That Don’t Require a Degree)

While many of these jobs won’t necessarily require another college or university degree, often a certification or a course is seen as an asset. These are some jobs that you could probably get started tomorrow because you already have the necessary degrees and qualifications

1. Account manager

Account managers work for corporate businesses and are sometimes also called sales consultants, or account representatives. They can work in-office, or remotely.

Account managers find the clients for the company they work for, and they maintain the client and business relationship through customer service.

While you likely never had to ‘find’ your own students as a teacher (unless you did tutoring), the ongoing relationship with the student and their families is always an integral part of your job as a teacher.

In fact, there are a few ex-teachers working as account managers at my husband’s company. A bachelor’s degree is often required to be an account manager, but you likely have this already as a certified teacher.

Earning Potential for an Account Manager:
Account managers typically earn a base salary for maintaining client relationships, plus a commission for finding clients. The resulting take-home can vary depending on region and company budget, but you can generally expect to start somewhere around $60-$70k per year and move up from there.

2. Training and development manager

A training and development manager is also sometimes also called a learning and development manager. The job is very similar to your tasks as a teacher, except you’re training adults (employees of a company) rather than kids.

Training and development managers are in charge of overseeing the ongoing training and development of employees. They are needed in pretty much every industry.

As a training and development manager, you would:

• identify what the learning gaps are among employees
• create training programs and opportunities

A Bachelor’s Degree is usually required for this role, but you already have a related one as a teacher. A degree in education is a bonus. Sometimes having an MBA is also an asset, but it’s not usually required.

Earning potential for Training and Development Managers
Pay is usually determined by your experience and location, but you can expect to earn something between $70 to over $100k. Read more about becoming a training and development manager here.

3. Instructional Designer

If you enjoy the ‘behind the scenes’ parts of teaching – creating learning materials, and planning lessons, then you might be interested in a career in instructional design.

Instructional design can be done freelance, or you can be hired in-house by a company, in a variety of industries – educational institutions (often colleges or universities), healthcare, government, military and more.

Instructional designers design courses, learning materials, training manuals and student guides. It’s a great way to work in education without being a teacher.

There are degrees in instructional design, but you can be an instructional designer without having a degree in it. (An education background may be an asset.)

Read more about becoming an instructional designer here.

Earning Potential for Instructional Designers
In the US, instructional designers earn somewhere around $80 to 100,000. See salaries in different cities here.

4. Manager of a Childcare Centre

You already know something about children’s education, and have good leadership and communication skills – not to mention, experience dealing with parents.

This fits the role of a child care centre supervisor (or daycare manager) to a tea. Childcare centres are private businesses, some of which have some government funding.

Managing a childcare centre will put you in charge of adults rather than children, but you’re using a lot of the teacher skills you already have to lead them, and benefit the childcare centre as a whole.

Job prospects for childcare centres are good, and will remain that way, as childcare will always be a needed service for years to come.

Earning Potential for a Childcare Centre Manager
Daycare directors earn a decent income; sometimes paid hourly and other times salary. You could expect to earn around $30 per hour, depending on region, or somewhere in the $60,000 range.

5. Government employee

I’ve heard many teachers say that they would love to just have a cushy office job. The key to that is to work for the government (municipal, provincial or state.)

There are many different governmental sectors, such as:

• Parks and Recreation
• Immigration and citizenship
• Defence and Security
• Education or healthcare
• Labour and Employment + more

Within these government sectors, there are a range of jobs – some of them are administrative and support roles which may not require any extra qualifications, and other roles may be more specialized.

It can be challenging to get a government job, as they are very sought after. They tend to pay well, and are generally ‘secure’ positions with good benefits and pensions.

If you teach for publicly funded school boards, then you are already a trusted government employee and may have an edge in the application process.

Earning Potential for a Government Worker
The salary of a government worker really varies depending on where you live, and what position you hold. Generally though, the pay can range from a starting salary of at least $60,000 and only upwards from there as you build seniority in your position

6. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants (VAs) are usually self-employed and work remotely.

The tasks of a VA are relatively easy, and speaking from experience, most business owners are looking for someone competent, reliable and decent with technology to carry out the tasks that are needed.

Some of the tasks of a VA include:

• Help with a business’s social media accounts
• Proof-reading and editing
• Using Canva to create graphics
• Responding to emails, and a variety of other tasks

As a blogger, I’ve hired VAs. Most of them have an hourly fee, which can vary depending on the person’s location, experience and expertise.

To launch a VA career, you would need to market yourself to potential clients. This can be done on social media, LinkedIn, Upwork and other platforms. Read more about how to become a Virtual Assistant here.

Earning potential for a Virtual Assistant
You decide on your own rates (as well as working hours) as a virtual assistant. I have some charge $20 per hour, and others $65 per hour.

7. Social Media Manager

Similar to a virtual assistant, social media management is often a remote job that can done through self-employment. However, it can also be a salaried employed position at a company.

As the name suggests, social media management involves managing social media accounts for businesses of any size. While managing a social media account seems like it would be really easy, it is a lot of extra work for a business that already has a lot on their plate.

I took a few online courses to become a social media manager, hoping to turn it into a new career for teaching. While it is not my full-time job, it involves a lot of transferable skills which I now use for my business social media channels.

A college degree in digital marketing is seen as an asset when it comes to social media management (especially if you’re looking to get hired by a larger company) but it’s not a requirement -especially if you plan to be self-employed.

Most social media managers I know of are self-employed, and work remotely. They can take on anywhere from 1-6 clients per month, with each client paying anywhere from $500 to $1,500 (or more) per month depending on the package they’ve bought from them.

Earning Potential for a Social Media Manager
Social Media Managers can earn around $60,000 per year.

8. Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR)

If you’ve ever envied the people who get to work in an office setting in human resources, well – here’s a chance to be one of them.

CPHRs are responsible for many things within a company. They manage tasks related to:

• Recruiting and staffing; interviewing and onboarding new employees
• Performance management and appraisals
• Employee relations, health and safety, payroll management and much more

CPHR is a varied and interesting careerf, where your exact duties may depend on where you work. Human Resource positions exist in a variety of industries – education, healthcare, banking, government and more.

There are generally two ways to pursue a career as a CPHR. It can be through a degree program, or it could be through a diploma which involves on-the-job training.

A degree is seen as an asset, but not always required. I have heard of people getting hired to Human Resources without the CPHR degree.

Earning Potential for CPHRs
Human Resource professionals earn a decent salary that usually falls somewhere in the $80-$100k per year range. Read more about a career in CPHR here.

9. Event planner

An event planner is also called a special events coordinator.

Like other jobs that don’t require a degree, an event planner can be self-employed or hired with a salary.

Event planners tend to work at wineries, wedding venues, hotels and conference centres.

As a teacher, you already planned and managed lessons, and several ‘events’ in the school paying attention to small details, containing chaos and ensuring that things run smoothly.

If you want to apply for an event planner position, then you will need:

• a university or college degree in business, tourism or hospitality (usually required)
• great organizational skills, and the ability to work well under pressure

Many event planners launch their own businesses and are usually hired to plan weddings and other personal elaborate events for their clients. This would probably be more of a part-time job than full-time, at least in the beginning before you build a solid client base.

If you’re serious about event planning, then read more about how to become an event planner here. (The site is Canadian but should be applicable to event planners everywhere.)

Earning Potential for Event Planners
Event planners generally earn or charge something between $25-$50 per hour, depending on their skills and expertise and experience.

10. Flight attendant

A flight attendant is a fun alternate career to teaching, because you can use your people (and possibly language) skills to be able to travel worldwide.

Being a flight attendant can be a challenge if you have dependents, particularly if you’re a single parent. It’s not for everyone – but if a complete change is appealing to you, then this might be an exciting option that provides a good change of gears from being a teacher.

No degree is needed to be a flight attendant; in fact, a teacher would likely be seen as overqualified in the application process.

However, you could highlight your customer service and people skills as to why you’d make a great flight attendant.

Earning Potential for Flight Attendants
Flight attendant pay is dependent on many things and usually falls somewhere around the $30 per hour range, or around $60,000 per year. Read more about flight attendant pay and how to pursue this career here.

10. Writer

The nice thing about writing is that it’s often done remotely. There are many different kinds of writing, so you can pursue the one that suits your talents and skills best.

There are different types of writing, including:

• Content writing
• Copywriting
• Tech writing

All of these types of writing can be done as a hired in-house employee, or on a freelance basis.

There are still many writing jobs, even with the development of AI. That’s because we as publishers know that the only way to make our work stand out is if its truly original, thoughtful and helpful content.

In addition, ‘the final product’ (whether AI was used in the process or not) will always require human input to ensure that it meets the goals of the content.

I have been writing for fun my whole life and always felt drawn to it. I now work as a travel blogger. Over the years, I’ve been hired to write for others, although I sustain myself through my blog alone.

A career in writing will be challenging to establish, but if it’s your passion then it may be right up your alley. To learn more about writing as a career, read my post on how to become a freelance writer.

Earning Potential for Writers
The earning potential is hard to determine, as it depends on the type of writing, your position (self-employed or employed) and many other things. Freelance writers generally charge by the word, starting as little as 0.6 cents per word up to 0.25 cents per word.

11. Life coach

Becoming a life coach would be going down the self-employment route; but if you dream of being an entrepreneur, and don’t mind it taking a little bit longer to replace your teaching income, then becoming a life coach might be for you.

As a teacher, you likely already have an innate desire to see your students succeed, and help achieve their goals and better themselves.

Being a life coach uses a lot of this innateness that you likely already have as a teacher. As a life coach, you can:

• see potential in people
• help them to set realistic goals
• push them to achieve them
• hold them accountable for sticking to their goals

Think of a life coach as being a personal trainer – except, for life. Rather than pushing people to new physical limits, you’re going to help them break down barriers to make improvement in their relationships, careers and more.

Since there is no formal accreditation for being a life coach, technically anyone can do it. But of course, it takes real skill- you need to be passionate about self-development. In the beginning, you will need to market yourself to find clients.

Although there’s no formal accreditation for life coaches, there are still certification courses that can teach you how to start a full-time business as a life coach. See Forbe’s list of life coach certification courses here.

Earning Potential for Life Coaches
Like with other self-employed positions, you can carry a few clients at a time as a life coach, all of which could be paying you upwards of $1,000 per month – if not, more. Once you ‘make it’ in life coaching, you could easily earn thousands of dollars per month. You could also create and sell online development courses and worksheets, which could generate an additional passive income

12. Photographer

If you’ve ever looked at what a premium photographer charges for one wedding, then you know that even just doing 2-3 weddings a month would almost equate to what you make as a teacher.

I think sometimes people underestimate how much people skills help in being a good photographer (if you’re photographing people) – you need to be able to put them at ease, and make them feel comfortable.

It is as much a ‘people’ job as it is the skill of photography, especially if you plan to photograph weddings, events and family portraits.

Photographers need to have a good eye for detail, decent people skills, and some artistic ability. Capturing and editing photos is not something you need a degree for, but some training is an asset to hone your skill.

To become a photographer, you will need:

• High-quality photography equipment
• A photo-editing tool (there are free and paid ones)
• Some training (formal or informal) on how to take good-quality photos that people will pay good money for

Earning Potential for Photographers
Established photographers with full-time positions, or with a solid client base can pull in anywhere from $30,000 to $90,000 per year. Your earnings will depend on the quality of your work and how many clients you attract, as well as the type of photography you do (weddings, family portraits, real estate, etc.)

13. Police Officer

Law enforcement might be an exciting career, using skills that you already used in the classroom – people skills, problem-solving and conflict resolution.

As a teacher, you already serve your community – and being a cop allows you to do the same, in a different captivity.

You might be surprised to hear that the police forces where I live are often looking to hire qualified teachers. Police forces are often looking for responsible, law-abiding people to join their team.

A college course to become a police officer is an asset but is not required. There are no degrees needed to become a police officer in the United States, or in Canada.

Earning Potential for Police Officers
A police officer is a government-funded job that pays a comfortable salary for the region in which you serve. Police officers generally make somewhere between $80,000-$90,000 per year.

10 Alternative Careers That Require Extra Training

While not all of these jobs require you to go back to school for another degree, they all require additional training and for you to be able to enter the field

If you don’t mind going back to school for a short while to qualify for a new career, then here are some alternative careers to teaching you might be interested in.

Luckily, most of the jobs below won’t require more than another year or two before you’re fully qualified.

1. Real estate agent

Real estate agent, or realtor, is an exciting career that allows you to be apart of an exciting time in people’s lives – the purchase of a home.

The hours are very different from what you’re be used to as a teacher, and you need to put in a lot of ‘unpaid’ hours initially – but once those pay outs come, they can be pretty lucrative.

Being a real estate agent involves attention to detail, good people skills, and being able to sell and market yourself to clients, among many other talents.

Becoming a real estate agent or realtor generally requires:

• a licencing course, and being licenced
• on-job training

Overall, it can take a couple of years to become a fully licenced realtor/real estate agent. It’s very competitive, and there is a high burnout rate among newbies in the field. Read more about a career in real estate here.

Once you ‘make it’ in real estate though, it can be quite rewarding and lucrative. You only have to sell 2-3 houses a year to make almost as much as you did teaching.

Earning Potential for Realtors/Real Estate Agents
The salary varies wildly, as it depends on how many clients you have and how many of the deals go through. The salary generally falls somewhere between $40,000 and $120,000 per year, although lower or higher are both possible.

2. Project manager

A project manager is essentially what it sounds like – project managers are hired by companies to plan, organize and effectively execute initiatives.

As a teacher, you already have leadership skills, organization and communication skills that are an asset in being a project manager.

There a few different ways to get into it project management as a career:

• Get a degree- usually called a Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Some people fall into a project management role without a degree, and you could try that – but your chances are probably higher by getting the PCP
• Get a Master’s degree in project management (not required, but becoming more common.) From what I saw, a PCP is not usually a prerequisite, but they do look for a higher GPA

The skills you learn in Project Manager training are very transferable and can be channelled into other careers too, such as managers and business analysts.

Earning Potential for Project Managers
The average earnings in the US fall around $100,000 per year, and the job has great prospects.

3. Birth or postpartum doula

Being a birth doula is a rewarding job that allows you to be a part of some of the most special moments in people’s lives.

Most doulas provide some emotional support to expectant mothers prior to the birth, are present for the labour and birth, and include a visit or two after the birth.

There’s also such a thing as a postpartum doula who supports new parents after the arrival of a baby.

I know of someone who left their job in the school system to become a doula, and is much happier now being able to support families in a more intimate setting.

As a doula, you can have as many clients as you want, and your earnings will depend on how many clients you have. Being a doula can be done as a side hustle, but can certainly be made into a full-time income if you market yourself to have as many clients as possible.

Being a doula is quick and easy compared to other careers. You generally only need:

• a workshop that certifies you as a doula
• some experience (which is often a part of the certification program)

Earning Potential for Doulas
Doulas earnings depend on how many clients they have, which makes the earnings a bit unpredictable. In Canada, the average salary for a doula is said to be around $50,000. The better you are at being a doula, the more clients you will get, and the more you’ll earn. I’ve heard of Doulas with extra skills, such as photography or massage, that they can add to their package to charge a little more.

4. Librarian

As a teacher, you are an educated professional who is already familiar with libraries and likely, literacy. You have a good solid foundation when it comes to reading material.

A school librarian usually just needs to have a teaching degree, which you already have. However, working at a public or university library requires a Master’s in library science.

Click here to read about becoming a librarian in the US (which is likely similar across the board in other countries too.)

Earning Potential for Librarians
Throughout the English-speaking world (US, UK, Canada and Australia) librarians generally start around the equivalent of around $60,000 USD.

5. Counsellor or therapist

If you always preferred working one-on-one with students, or in small groups as opposed to managing the whole class – then you might be happier as a counsellor or therapist.

If you enjoy working with people and helping them with self-improvement and development, then you might find a career as a counsellor or therapist very rewarding.

I considered going back to school to qualify to become a psychotherapist, and know a teacher friend who decided to take this route. She now has her own practice where she welcomes clients.

The downside is to qualifying for a counsellor or therapist, is that it likely requires an extra degree depending on what you already specialized in. You will likely need to go back to school to qualify as a social worker, or take a fast-track course to qualify as a counsellor.

Earning Potential for a Counsellor or Therapist

6. Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)

Speech and Language Pathologists generally work with children, but also sometimes adults too. If you enjoy working one-on-one or in small groups with children (as opposed to managing a whole class) then an SLP may be a rewarding career.

As an SLP, you would be helping people with challenges such as:

• articulation (pronunciation errors) or fluency (stuttering)
• problems with swallowing, or aphasia which is a language impairment
• accent reduction

It’s a very specialized career that requires good people (especially children) skills, and a master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology.

As a teacher, you likely already have the prerequisite for the SLP Master’s program – a Bachelor’s degree, with a decent transcript. You may need to take additional prerequisite courses depending on what you majored in.

A Master’s in SLP generally takes 2 years, and after that you would apply to be fully licenced before you can practice as an SLP.

Earning Potential for SLPs
SLPs generally earn somewhere between $80 to over $100k. They can be employed or self-employed by opening their own practice. Read more about becoming an SLP here. (Ontarian site but likely similar globally.)

7. Licenced Practical Nurse (LPN)

Nursing is a front-lining role that involves a more hands-on approach to caring for people. As such, you need good people skills.

There are different levels of nursing, but LPN is one of the best for someone changing careers because it only requires about 2 years of training before you qualify.

LPNs typically work under a doctor or registered nurse (RN) in hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare settings, and do basic things such as take temperature, administer medication, check vitals, etc.

Earning Potential for Licenced Practical Nurses
LPNs earn around the $60k range, depending on location. A Registered Nurse (RN) will pay quite a bit more but usually requires more time in school too.

8. Esthetician

A spa is a huge change from the classroom, but if you crave working in a quiet and relaxing environment with relaxing music, then this might be a nice change for you.

Estheticians provide advanced skincare treatment such as facials, body treatments, hair removal and nail care.

Estheticians can either be hired at a spa as a salaried or hourly position, or you could self-employ yourself and open up a home spa or do mobile treatments in client’s houses.

In addition to providing good skincare treatments, estheticians need to be good with people as they work closely with their clients.

I thought of becoming an esthetician myself, as I am very interested in skincare and I enjoy quiet work environments. If skincare is something of interest to you, then this is a viable career you could consider as an alternative to teaching.

To become an esthetician, you will need:

• to complete a recognized medical esthetics course (which is a 2-year diploma where I live but might vary by region.)

Earning Potential for an Esthetician
Depending on where you live, you may be taking a bit of a pay cut to be an esthetician. Their average salary in Canada is only around $40,000k.

9. Dental Hygienist

Dental hygienists work with people, many of whom are children. For this reason, being good with kids is a must ( which you likely are, as a teacher.)

While most people think of dental hygienists working in a dentist office, there are actually a lot of varied opportunities. Dental hygienists can also work in hospitals, educational institutions, and for dental product companies.

You can make decent money as a dental hygienist, and pay generally increases with experience.

A degree for becoming a dental hygienist is a must, but you can do it in under 2 years -where I live, it only takes 18 months to become a dental hygienist. This might vary by region, so you should check your local colleges to see what the admission requirements for their dental hygiene program are.

Earning Potential for a Dental Hygenist
Dental Hygienists tend to earn as little as $30 but up to $60 per hour. Annually, they tend to bring in somewhere in the $80k range. (It could be slightly less, or more depending on region.)

10. Paralegal

Being a paralegal can mean working closely with lawyers as well as clients. They do research, client communication, managing cases, preparing for witnesses and various other tasks.

Becoming a paralegal can take a couple of years. You generally need to:

• get a degree or certificate which can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years
• apply to be licenced, for which there are several requirements
• write an exam

If you’re looking for something to get started in fairly quickly, then paralegal may not be the best option. But, if you’re very interested in law, and don’t mind putting the time in, then a paralegal might be an exciting career change for a teacher.

However, it is a rewarding career with growth opportunities. The job prospects look fairly decent. There may also fast-track programs in the paralegal field to upgrade to become a lawyer.

Earning Potential for a Paralegal
Paralegals usually earn $60-$80k per year.

My Alternative Career to Teaching

Whenever I mention that I quit teaching, I’m almost always asked what I’m doing now. People are generally curious, but many teachers also want to know what’s possible for them beyond the classroom.

Rather than applying for other jobs, or beginning a full-time new career, I decided to start a few different side hustles from home. I did tutoring and freelance writing, while building up a travel blog on the side.

It took just over a year for my travel blog to replace my teaching salary. I have since started the The Misfit Teacher and another blog on top of that.

I am now a full-time, self-employed writer, working from home. Being self-employed comes with pros and cons, but overall, it suits my personality and what I want out of life more.

Things to Consider for Alternative Careers to Teaching

Still undecided on which of the career paths above might be best for you? Here are few things to consider in order to narrow down your options

1. Employment vs Self-Employment

When looking for alternative careers for teachers, one thing you’ll need to consider is if you see yourself:

• being employed by another company or organization (having the job security, benefits and also requirements that being an employee comes with)
• be your own boss and work for yourself (often much more unstable and requires an upfront investment of time and/or money before you begin to see the payoff.)

Maybe you see yourself in a fancy office in a high rise apartment, or perhaps you would rather work from home. (Of course, many salaried employed positions are now remote as well.)

In my years, working as a teacher, my dream was to be self-employed, with a passive income. I wanted to be able to:

• take a day off without having to get it approved
• be able to travel during the year whenever I wanted.
• work from home, on my own, and only answer to myself.

The bottom line: In order to decide between employement vs. self-employement, I recommend getting a notebook or journal.

Here are some journal prompts to guide you:

• On your ideal work day, what does your workplace setting look like? Are you at your home office, or
• Do you work with people, or do you mainly work on a solitary basis?

2. How long you’re willing to spend

Think about how long you could afford to devote to studying or putting effort into a new career.

Everyone’s family and financial obligations. Finances are a big reason why many teachers feel ‘stuck,’ unsure of how to move forward.

Generally, an alternate career to teaching can take anywhere from a few months up to 2 years to build, whether it’s qualifying for something new or establishing yourself in a new setting.

Pro Tip: As a qualififed teacher, you could provide tutoring services on the side while you’re studying, training or entering a new career

Tips for Changing Careers as a Teacher

Depending on how long you’ve been teaching, changing careers

• Read books about career change. I found the insight I gained from these books to be invaluable in my career-change journey
• If you feel emotions such as guilt, or confusion in the journey, then I would recommend talking to someone, such as a therapist or coach. Changing careers is a major life event, where some support or guidance can help. I consulted therapists as well as coaches with my thoughts about career change.
• Do journaling and meditation. This will give you a chance to process your thoughts, and what you really want out of life.
  

Final Thoughts on Alternative Careers for Teachers

If you’re wondering whether continuing to be a teacher is worth it, then I hope you know now that you have many other options besides teaching.

You might be in a position to go back to school for a few more years, or you might not. Regardless, there are many opportunities, both which require extra training and those that don’t.

I hope that you saw some ideas on this list that sparked interest, and will lead you down a rabbit hole to looking into the possibility more. You’ve taken the first step in the journey to changing careers as a teacher. There will be many more, but it will be worth it in the end.