If you have a background in education, and if you are a professional educator and want to explore another line of work, there is a wide range of careers that you could choose from. Many of them are actually quite unusual. There are many opportunities in publishing, higher education, journalism, childcare administration, sales and marketing, human resources, among others. In this article we shall talk about some alternative career paths for professional educators.

Journalism is one such option. If you were an English teacher, if your hold over the language is strong, then why not go into journalism? Today this is a highly paying profession, and if you have a flair for writing, you would definitely do well in it! You can write on a variety of topics like Healthcare, Politics, Sports, etc – whatever you are comfortable with.

Another alternative career path is higher education. If you were a teacher of junior school, then it might be easy for you to make the transition to high school or even university teaching. You could even branch out and become a student counselor, or go into curriculum development, managing alumni relations, or perhaps human resources. Having a background in professional education opens up a lot of doors for you, and if you have a master’s degree in education, then you could try other lines of work. The possibilities are truly endless. You might even consider going into Financial Aid disbursement, or becoming a Dean, etc. Talk to someone who can tell you about the ins and outs of the academia business.

Becoming an education counselor is a good idea. Since you worked as a professional educator, you would know how stressed students can get with their curriculum and school activities. Therefore you would be in a good position to counsel them. You can set up your own business of education counseling – children with studying problems, concentration issues, etc. can come to you for help.

Instructional coordination or even curriculum specialist are other jobs that are open to you. These jobs would be ideal if you were intimately involved in the planning and preparing of coursework, if you were familiar with chalking out syllabi for the class. Such a job allows you to shape the student learning process out on a grander scale – you would be not only training teachers and choosing textbooks, you would also be coordinating the implementation of technology, and evaluating existing programs for suitability and success. This is a highly creative field that you are bound to enjoy, and it’s as rewarding as teaching.

Human resources are an alternative career path that you can explore. If you enjoy forging professional relations, and if you like team building, then this is the job for you. You would be combining elements of psychology, financial planning, management, economy as well as development to steer the company towards its guided goals. You would be a bridge between the workforce and the management. This is a broad career that is fast coming into the limelight.