Many still associate the field of education with straightforward, perhaps even rigid, career paths. If someone says they’re interested in exploring their options in the field, most people assume that the jobseeker will become either a teacher, researcher, or administrator for a school, college, or university. But thanks to the evolution of modern education, as well as its increasing interdisciplinarity, there are a lot of career options available beyond the most conventional ones.
What interesting intersections are there between the field of education and other fields? Moreover, what career options would you be able to pursue if you browsed today’s job market? Below are six interesting examples that you should check out.
You Can Become a Private Tutor
First, if you’d like to start small and get the feel of working in education, you could try becoming a private tutor. If you think you have an affinity for tutoring school-aged children or young adults, advertise your tutoring services for either small groups or one-to-one set-ups.
The advantage of being a private tutor is that you usually don’t need to teach your tutees from scratch, which means that you can do it without necessarily having an education degree. All the same, your expertise on a particular subject—plus your approach to studying the subject matter in a way that’s a little different from how it’s done in the classroom—could make things worth the while for your tutees.
Though tutoring sessions traditionally take place in person, you may have the option of tutoring your clients or their children online. Try specialising in subjects that you’re good at, like maths, the sciences, or foreign languages.
You Can Host Your Own Specialised Webinars
Another way to share your expertise and to educate people from different walks of life is to host webinars. In the past few years, many people have taken to digital events to upskill themselves and to learn new things about their own industry or adjacent industries. As such, you may find it extremely rewarding to branch out and cater to a digital audience using this medium.
Before holding your first webinar, expand your professional network and share your credentials with people who might be interested in what you have to say. To make each event even more valuable to audiences, find speakers and moderators in your niche and invite them to present with you.
You Can Become a Curriculum Developer
There’s also the option to work as a curriculum developer for a particular education or training program. Schools, universities, corporate training institutions, and other organisations may be in need of professionals to help them develop modules and determine course delivery flows over a fixed period.
You may not need to be a full-time teacher to contribute to an organisation’s education or training curricula. For some industries, you can enter this line of work with business management or psychology credentials. Ultimately, it depends on the specific needs of the program.
You Can Work as an Instructional Designer
Closely related to the idea of curriculum development is instructional design. This is a practice in the education sector that has to do with designing effective learning materials and engineering unique learning experiences for students. The work can go beyond the academe, however, and be applied to professional training courses.
Instructional designers are very much in demand due to the rise of online and hybrid learning environments. If you’ve got a talent for discerning which physical or digital tools will enhance students’ learning experiences, try working as an instructional designer.
You Can Train as an Education Technologist
If your training is primarily in computer science, computer engineering, information technology, or a similar field, you may be able to contribute your technical expertise to the area of education technology. With your skills, you can work with an organisation to develop or implement new technologies for educational purposes and pursue a good cause like digital equity for all.
Now that technology is playing an even larger role in modern education delivery, you may find a lot of openings for education technologists. Consider working in either the hardware, software, learning management system, website, or app development side of things.
You Can Become a Career Counsellor
Lastly, you can develop your own practice as a career counsellor and educate either young people or up-and-coming professionals about the best career opportunities for them. Their career education can include assessments of their skills, personal strengths, and their aptitudes for particular lines of work. They can also be guided towards fruitful discussions about their life’s purpose and what kind of career would make them feel happy and fulfilled.
Have you got a knack for helping people figure out what they’re meant to do and where they can contribute the most good? If the answer is yes, this particular area of practice in education may be perfect for you.
Towards a Refreshing New Career in Education
As you can see from the choices listed above, your career options in the field of education may extend beyond the traditional jobs that you may already know about. Don’t limit your opportunities, and go for a career that mixes education-related skills with other fields or areas of expertise.
Author: Sim K
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