Changing Careers and Interim Employment for K-12 Employees

After you're laid off, you might seek interim employment, find a new career, or work in a new industry. How do you make these moves?

People in the midst of job transition often use the time and motivation to step back and think about their career path.

Here are some resources to help you if you're thinking of changing careers:

• Review a career planning guide (69KB, .pdf) to evaluate where you are in this decision and what your next steps might be.
• Assess yourself — your skills, interests, and your experience to know what you bring to a new career or job.
• Get an overview on changing careers after a job loss.
• Use a job skills transfer assessment tool to find occupations that are a good match for you based on your work experience.

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1. Related K-12 Occupations

   Below are related occupations similar to the occupational groups employed by K-12 school districts. Learn about wages, employment growth, skills needed, education requirements, and other related occupations by clicking on these career cluster titles.

   • Education and training careers
   • Health science careers
   • Human services careers
   • Careers in other clusters



2. Related K-12 Industries

   Below are industries related to K-12. Find information on working in these industries including occupations, associations, resources, and employment by clicking on an industry title.

   • Careers in health care services industry
   • Careers in hospital industry
   • Careers in member organizations industry
   • Careers in social assistance industry
   • Careers in all other industries



3. Specialty Occupations

   Educators tend to be versatile, with a wide range of occupations to consider. Explore some of these specialty occupations based on your unique skills and expertise.

   Helping occupations

   • Children, family, youth assistant
   • Customer service representative
   • Event coordinator
   • Human resources assistant or manager
   • Librarian or library assistant
   • Manager
   • Pet groomer or veterinarian assistant
   • Sales representative or account executive (e.g., books, children's products, etc.)

   Teaching or training

   • Adult educator (e.g., literacy, remedial education, GED, ESL)
   • Corporate trainer (management training, technical training, e-learning, etc).
   • Instructional coordinator/distance learning instructor (e.g., educational assessments)
   • Tutor (e.g., independent contractor)
   • Workshop Presenter (e.g., local community college or community education)

   Technical/analytical occupations

   • Computer programmer
   • Computer security specialist
   • Management analyst
   • Online marketing (e.g., search engine optimization, web trends analysis)
   • Research analyst (e.g., economist)
   • Science, technology, engineering, and math careers
   • Software developer / hardware engineer
   • Systems analyst
   • Technical support

   Writing/creative occupations

   • Editor (e.g., children's publications)
   • Freelance writer (e.g., blogger)
   • Graphic designer
   • Photographer
   • Political correspondent
   • Technical writer
   • Videographer