Are you a retired teacher?
A teacher is one of the most influential people in society. It is through them that education passes from one generation to the other. An educator plays a vital role in the life of children. They instill the power to learn and become successful in the future. Children today will be tomorrow’s leaders, but they have to go through the hands of trainers for that to achievable. It gets to a point where children will spend most of their time with their teachers, so they will always be referred to as second parents to their students. Credit goes to all the teachers globally, whether retired or still training; you mean a lot to the human race.
What Skills Do Teachers Gain From Teaching?
A schoolteacher’s work is not just to educate, but there is so much they do inside and outside classrooms. Sometimes you find that it is overwhelming for a parent to handle two kids at home. How about an educator who has to deal with the whole class? Tutors get to learn by the day, and in their teaching career, there are so many skills they get that they never had at the beginning of their profession. As the years go by, their curriculum vitae is no longer the same. Some of these skills include;
· Leadership
· Time management skills
· Teamwork
· Conflict management
· Critical and creative thinking
The above-listed skills are some of the attainment tutors get before they retire from their teaching occupation. They are skills applicable to diverse work opportunities. By the time a tutor gets to retirement, they have a lot of exposure and experience to use professional skills in other sectors apart from education. For more about transferable teaching skills, check out this great article.
How do Experience and Expertise Influence Your Resume?
Indeed, your resume will not be the same way as when you started your teaching career by the time you retire. You will have learned so much and increased your experience, not just as an educator. But how do you add this to your resume?
When you get to the experience part of your resume, include the relevant teaching experience and your accomplishments in different capacities. Showcase the skills you have acquired and how you have used them to achieve notable milestones in your career. Remember, it is not about the duties you handled but the accomplishments you made.
A good resume with all the experience and expertise captured gives you a chance to get a new job. Retiring as an educator is not the end of the road for your career. There is so much that you can do out there.
Where to Look for an Alternative Job
If you are still healthy and ready to continue working, your teachers’ pension should not deter you from going for employment. You are probably wondering where you will go looking for a job as a retiree. Just like any other person, young or old, looking for work, there are so many avenues where you can identify opportunities. Some of these avenues include;
· Networking
In the years you have worked as an educator, I am sure you have met other people in your career in different capacities and places. It is always advisable that you keep creating a network whenever you work and go. The same people might be your next job connector. Give them a call or notify them that you are looking for a job that will suit your qualification following your retirement. They might be having an idea or referrals to where you can get one.
· Career websites
There are so many career websites on the world wide web. Take a chance and sell yourself on the sites. Companies interested in what you have can give you a job offer. when you share your personal information on such sites, ensure that they are legit so that you do not fall into the hands of scammers.
· Company websites
If there is a company you have wanted to work for, this is the time to visit its website. If they have work opportunities, make an application on their site. If they do not have open positions at the moment, you can always drop your resume on their page. Should they require your services, they can give you a call.
· Job fairs
Although most job fairs will aim at specific industries, you will find a generalized job fair once in a while. All you need copies of your resume and business cards. Sell experience and skills to potential employers. You might be lucky when a firm that needs your services gives you a call.
· Cold calling
Cold calling is when you call a company that you have interests in without prior knowledge of whether there are open positions or not. When you place that call, it is already evident that you are willing to offer your services to the company. Even if there is no open position, you stand a chance for consideration when there is a vacancy. So why not take the risk?
Jobs for Retired Teachers
1. Corporate trainer
A corporate trainer is somebody who trains employees on the strategies and systems in the organization. When a company hires new staff, they have to understand its mission, vision, and operations. A retired teacher will comfortably do this work, basing their experience in teaching over a long period. A corporate trainer helps the company increase its productivity by ensuring that the employees have the proper training on knowledge and skills. Your experience as a curriculum developer and instructional designer creating lesson plans for your students in your old teaching job will carry over to this job, as you are still a classroom teacher, just in professional development instead of being a math teacher or science teacher.
Corporate training is one of the most lucrative work for retired educators, with an average annual salary of about $65,000.
2. Educational consultant
A retired educator has seen it all in the education field. If you are a former tutor, school administrator, substitute teacher, or retired science teacher, it is right to say that you have a lot of experience in matters concerning students and schools. Students may need help on what course to take after they have finished high school. School boards will be needing advice on the projects to undertake for the benefit of the students and the community.
If you have retired from a teaching career and have a master’s degree in education, you can quickly secure employment as an educational consultant. The good thing is that you can go to a graduate school as you work if you only have a bachelor’s degree. The average salary of an educational consultant adds up to $51,000 in a school year.
3. Private tutoring
A private tutor’s work is to check on the client’s assignments after completion and before submission to the school. Some students who feel that they did not get a specific topic correct may also need assistance. Tutoring is one of the best part time job retired trainers take. The good thing with tutoring is that you have more than one student benefiting from your teaching skills. All you have to do is allocate different hours to attend to each of the students. In a recent study, most people who work as tutors make an average salary of about $43,000 in a year. Now, there are even alternative job options as an online tutor or life coach, helping a high school or college student from the comfort of your home will still making a similar amount of money. you may even be able to make more money as an online tutor, since without travel time involved you will have time to take on additional students.
4. Writer
Whether it is journals or books, a retired science teacher, school administrator, substitute teacher, or tutor can make an excellent writer on topics under their field. For example, an English and literature teacher can make a perfect writer for linguistics. A biology teacher, on the other hand, can write great content in the biology field. Writing could also open up another platform where the tutor or classroom teacher can become a published author. A writer makes an average of $47,000 in a school year. Don’t let the writing skills stay idle; utilize them as you make an earning.
5. Editor
Editing is one of the most outstanding opportunities that you should consider as a retired English trainer. An editor’s work is to review the pieces sent in by a writer, highlight any mistakes, and recommend improvements. Once you have approved the written content, publishing it into a book, a journal, or the internet follows.
6. Career consultant
An occupation advisor helps people and especially learners, follow the right career direction. As a trainer, you have had so many experiences with different students. From the assessment, you can tell what occupation would best suit a person. For example, if a student did not do so well, but they are the best in sports, you can always advise them to take a sports-related course. There is a high probability that they will prosper because they have a love for sports.
7. Assistant professors
Sometimes there is too much work for university professors such that they need people who will assist them in their work. Online teaching also needs facilitators, and you could do that as a part time job. Substitute teaching in universities and colleges is considered an excellent job for retired educators. If you have been a science teacher, you can work as an assistant at the university to help the lecturers prepare students for practical lessons. Don’t let your passion for science die when you retire; find work as an adjunct professor. Incredibly, assistants earn up to $135,000 a year.
8. Public and motivational speakers
From many years in the teaching field, educators have handled so many people from different backgrounds. A trainer can motivate a low student to become an average student. Universities, colleges, high schools, and junior schools will need successful people to conduct motivational talks once in a while. As a retired educator, that is an excellent opportunity to impact a student’s life positively and, of course, earn some dollars. It can also be your part time job.
9. Educational material provider
Having been a trainer, you probably know all the material needed for a student to prosper in your teaching subject. You can opt to write such material and sell it to schools and private students. For example, if you are a chemistry teacher, you can develop a guide on studying chemistry effectively. Besides, you can compile test papers and revision books to help students review and revise the subject quickly.
10. Sales representative
The work of a sales representative is to ensure that they convince clients to buy a particular product. They will also double up as researchers to know what the company’s competitors are doing. When you retire in the teaching profession, you could take a job as a sales representative for an educational institution or a company that provides learning materials. That does not mean that you can only accept work in institutions dealing with education, but I bet that they will be more comfortable to work with.
A sales representative receives an annual payment of approximately $58,000 per year. Why rely on your pension when you can still make this much?
The Bottom Line
Educators can never be fully paid for their excellent work, but they are forever appreciated for society’s positive impact. Retirement does not mean that you cannot continue doing what you do for the community. Good tidings will follow you for the great work you have always done. Educators will still be held and spoken of in high regard.
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