Navigating a career shift isn’t easy. I remember feeling lost after graduating with a psychology degree and unsure of my next step.
I’ve walked the path from psychology graduate to nursery teacher across countries, and moved to an engagement coordinator in a charity and striving in business development and partnership! My journey wasn’t linear, much like the career paths many teachers consider. If you’re considering a teacher career change, recognising the transferable skills from teaching you’ve is so crucial.
Here’s a 10 transferable skills list to guide you through this transition, highlighting how these skills can be your ace in any industry:
List of 10 transferable Skills
1. Communication
Teachers excel in both verbal and written communication, which is essential in nearly every job. Whether it’s presenting ideas, writing reports, or facilitating discussions, teachers have practiced these skills in the classroom (daily!). I still remember that when I was teaching in nursery, I had to use simple language to explain “life cycle” to a 4 years old! We also had quarterly parents’ meeting that we have to use our excellent communication skills. That’s a transferable skills example demonstrating how you can adapt your language and method to suit different audiences, a vital skill for any CV.
Tips for interview: Communication
- HR loves to ask “Can you give an example of when you had to communicate complex information to a diverse audience?” You can prepare for this question by recalling an incident where you had to explain a complex subject like algebra or literature to students with varying levels of understanding, making sure to adapt your language and methods to suit different learners.
2. Organisation
Another must have in your CV! Managing a classroom requires lots of organisation. From lesson planning to keeping track of student progress, teachers are good at organising tasks and time, a skill that translates well into project management and administrative roles.
Tips for interview: Organisation
- Common question HR will ask: “How do you organise your tasks when you have multiple projects with tight deadlines?” You can prepare this question by recalling an incident where you need to manage a school event or juggling multiple classes with different needs, ensuring all materials, lessons, and assessments were organised and executed on time.
3. Leadership
Leading a class required us to inspire, guide, and sometimes redirect energy. As a teacher, I am sure you have been leading school clubs or events. All you need to do is to translate it to managing teams, driving projects, and fostering a collaborative environment. This leadership experience is invaluable for any leadership role, making it a key transferable skill to highlight.
Tips for interview: Leadership
- “Tell us about a time when you had to lead a team through a challenging project.” , and this question always comes up. You can prepare for this by recounting a moment when you led a classroom project or an extracurricular activity, demonstrating how you motivated, guided, and managed diverse student groups to meet educational goals.
4. Patience
Working with students at various learning levels teaches us (teachers) to be patient.
While direct statistics on patience are less common, research on emotional intelligence, which includes patience, shows that 90% of high performers at work have high emotional intelligence! This skill is essential for roles in customer service or where long-term relationship building is key.
Tips for interview: Patience
- When you are asked about: “How do you handle working with someone who is not as quick to understand concepts or tasks?” You can prepare this question by sharing an experience where you patiently helped a student struggling with a particular subject, providing one-on-one support until they showed progress, showcasing your ability to remain patient and supportive.
5. Adaptability
Maybe you won’t believe it, but 81% of global recruiters believe that cross-cultural competence, which includes adaptability, is the most important communication skill job candidates should have! I still remember when the world went digital during the COVID-19 crisis, I had to adapt my teaching methods overnight. This experience showed me how to be flexible with new technologies and changing environments, a crucial asset in today’s dynamic business world.
Tips for interview: Adaptability
- You may face this question: “Describe a situation where you had to quickly adapt to a new way of doing things.” You can prepare by discussing how you adapted to sudden changes in teaching practices or technology, like the shift to remote learning during the pandemic, illustrating your flexibility and quick learning curve.
6. Creativity
Turning a lesson into an interactive game or project sparked creativity not just in students but in myself. With the advance technology, creativity is a transferable skill for roles in many corporates situations (e.g., marketing or product development), where innovation drives success. Learning to use WordPress, Canva, LMS (Learning Management System) can increase your odds for a career transition.
Tips for interview: Creativity
- If you are being asked: “Can you share an example where you used creativity to solve a problem?” You can prepare by describing how you devised an innovative lesson plan or activity that engaged students in learning, such as turning a lesson into a game or using art to teach science concepts, demonstrating your creative problem-solving skills.
7. Problem Solving
Classroom challenges are daily, teaching you to troubleshoot on the go. This problem-solving ability is critical in business, where unexpected issues arise regularly. This skill was critical when I moved into project management, where I have to work with local organisations and unexpected issues are common while organising and hosting events, and solutions need to be swift and effective.
Tips for interview: Problem Solving
- Another very common question: “Tell me about a time you faced a significant problem and how you resolved it.” You can prepare by recounting a classroom or school event where something didn’t go as planned, like a science experiment failing, and how you quickly adapted the lesson to still achieve educational objectives, showing your problem-solving skills. STAR approach are very useful in this case!
8. Time Management
Every job requires time management but teaching just takes this to another level. No only juggling teaching, grading, and extracurriculars, we also need to handle the daily unexpected routines. For example, teaching while an accident happens where your student is hurt and you need to call a parent. How are you going to manage both the teaching and informing the parents, as well as taking care of the child? Literally, it’s now a cornerstone of my work, ensuring projects are delivered on time and my work-life balance remains intact.
Tips for interview: Time Management
- HR loves to ask “How do you manage your time when you have multiple priorities?” You can prepare this question by recalling how you balanced lesson planning, grading, and extracurricular responsibilities, ensuring no aspect of your teaching duties was neglected, highlighting your ability to prioritise and manage time effectively.
9. Interpersonal Skills
The daily interaction with students, parents, and colleagues sharpened my interpersonal skills. Mediating a dispute between students or comforting a worried parent prepared me for the nuances of dealing with diverse personalities in a business context.
Tips for interview: Interpersonal Skills
- We work as a team in each of the working situation and “Can you provide an example of how you dealt with a conflict in your team?” is a No.1 question to ask if you are a team player. You can prepare by sharing how you mediated a dispute between students or collaborated with colleagues on a challenging project, showcasing your skills in conflict resolution and teamwork.
10. Assessment and Evaluation
This skill is not so much mentioned in other places but assessing student work taught me to give feedback that’s constructive and encouraging. This skill is directly applicable to performance reviews in my roles, where I assess progress and strategize improvements. Teachers are skilled at assessing student performance, providing feedback, and evaluating outcomes. These skills are directly transferable for roles in quality assurance, HR, or any position involving performance review (and helpful to become a senior roles where you have to evaluate your teammates)
Tips for interview: Assessment & Evaulation
- HR may ask “How do you ensure your assessments are fair and effective?” You can prepare this question by discussing how you developed diverse assessment methods to cater to different learning styles, like using project-based assessments or peer reviews, ensuring all students had an equitable chance to demonstrate their understanding, reflecting your capability in evaluation and feedback.
Conclusion
I hope this article helps you understand more about the amazing transferable skills teachers have! It may look exhaustive, but please don’t feel frustrated as you don’t have to mention all of them. Highlight the ones that are most relevant to the roles you want to apply!
To help you get your career transition started, I have made a career transition checklist (down below!) that guide your FIRST step!
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