Updated March 28, 2024
Teachers looking to change careers can check out several websites:
50 Best Jobs For Former Teachers…https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/best-job-former-teachers
40+ Companies That Hire Former Teachers…https://www.weareteachers.com/companies-that-hire-teachers/
Google will show many more such sites.
Not all roads lead to Rome. Some lead to a career in project management. In actuality, there are hundreds of roads that lead to a successful career in project management. After all, it is a diverse and popular sector of activity. However, not everyone has the profile of a project manager. Whether you’re looking to move away from teaching, to go in another direction in your career path, project management offers an ideal career for former teachers.
Teachers have all the requisite skills of a successful project managerÂ
Thanks to the skills they’ve acquired through their experience teaching, teachers are:
- Excellent communicators
- Very well organized
- Skilled at creating and implementing timetables
- Knowledgable when it comes to motivating and incentivizing others
- Good at working within set parameters
- Good at working with small groups or on their own
The personality profiles match up
Personality-wise, project managers are, among other things, people people. This is also the case for teachers. It would be difficult for a teacher to be good at their job if they didn’t like and get along well with others. This is also true for project managers.
Furthermore, an excellent way to enter the field of project management is to train and pass a certification exam. To succeed at this, it helps to be a good learner and a good test taker. Teachers are, in large part, also good learners and test-takers.
As a former teacher, you most likely possess the personality traits and the skill set employers look for in a project manager. With proper training and certification, you would be an ideal candidate for any firm.
On the other hand, if you want to forego training and certification and try to enter into the sector through an entry-level project management experience, you should be able to effectively sell your experience as a teacher to a recruiter.Â
Teachers already possess many of the transferable skills recruiters are looking for
A good project manager needs to be a problem solver
As a teacher, you most certainly encountered your fair share of problems. When interviewing for a position as a project manager, explain what those problems were and explain what steps you took to resolve the problem.
A good project manager needs to be flexible
As a teacher, you were most certainly faced with situations in which you needed to bend and adapt to changing circumstances. You had to be flexible, otherwise, you wouldn’t have survived. Describing those situations and explaining how you were able to be flexible and adapt will go a long way toward convincing a recruiter you are project manager material.
A good project manager needs to be a team leader
As a teacher, you were at the head of a team of learners. You were their leader. You designed and implemented a program to help the team achieve its goals. You motivated the team member s along the way, communicated information they needed in order to complete the tasks, and, all the while, you were held accountable by administrators, parents, and the community.
If you are interested in entering the challenging and rewarding field of project management, consider completing a training session and passing an exam. Or, if you are simply too eager to wait, respond to job offers today. You have already proven that you have what it takes. Congratulations, you’re more than halfway there.
