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Over the past months I have spoken with dozens of teachers and school leaders. Many of those conversations have been emotional. Not dramatic. Just honest.
Teachers are exhausted.
I regularly hear about 60 or 70 hour working weeks becoming normal. Evenings spent planning. Weekends disappearing under marking. People who entered education because they care deeply about impact now finding themselves burned out, unsupported, and questioning how long they can realistically continue without sacrificing their health or personal life.
This is not a motivation problem. It is a system problem.
Many educators are quietly asking themselves the same question:
“What else could I even do?”
And that is where things become complicated.
Most teachers believe their experience only exists within the education system. They assume their skills do not translate elsewhere.
That could not be further from the truth.
The challenge is not lack of transferable skills. The challenge is visibility.
Teaching develops capabilities that many organisations actively look for:
• People leadership
• Communication and presentation skills
• Project and stakeholder management
• Training and facilitation
• Problem solving under pressure
• Organisation and operational planning
• Relationship building across complex environments
Teachers manage competing priorities daily, communicate with multiple stakeholders, and deliver measurable outcomes constantly. In corporate language, those are highly valued professional skills.
The issue is that teachers rarely see their work described this way.
I started as a teacher myself. Later I worked in higher education before moving into edtech and the wider corporate environment.
That transition changed everything.
I discovered roles that valued my background rather than limiting it. I moved into environments with clearer boundaries around working hours, more creative challenges, and significantly stronger career progression. My salary almost quadrupled over time.
None of that happened because I abandoned education. It happened because I moved into education adjacent roles where my experience suddenly made sense in a different context.
Many teachers simply do not realise these roles exist.
When teachers consider leaving, three fears appear almost every time:
The unknown creates paralysis.
Unless someone starts actively researching industries, roles, and companies, it is almost impossible to see what opportunities are realistically available.
This is exactly why external perspective matters.
I recently built a guided ChatGPT assessment specifically for educators considering a move outside teaching.
The goal is simple. Help teachers translate what they already do into potential career directions.
The assessment asks structured questions about strengths, preferences, working style, and motivations. Based on the answers, it helps educators understand which types of roles and organisational environments may suit them.
For many teachers, this is the first time they see their experience mapped into careers such as customer success, learning and development, instructional design, project management, partnerships, or edtech roles.
It creates a starting point. Not a final answer.
You can find the assessment here.
While tools like ChatGPT can create clarity, every transition is personal.
When teachers work with me, we begin with a 20 minute consultation to understand where they are now and what they are hoping to change. Often their goals feel scattered at first, which is completely normal.
Across a structured six session process, we:
• Identify what is working and what is no longer sustainable
• Translate teaching experience into transferable skills
• Narrow career directions into realistic departments and functions
• Define specific job titles aligned with strengths and goals
• Identify companies where those roles genuinely exist
• Prepare for interviews through practical mock sessions
Something important happens during this process.
As options become clearer, momentum builds.
Teachers who initially feel stuck begin to see direction. Confidence grows. Energy returns. The mindset shifts from feeling trapped in teaching to recognising the breadth of experience they already have.
Many realise for the first time that they are not starting over. They are repositioning.
One of the most common breakthroughs I see is this:
Teachers stop defining themselves by their job title and start recognising their professional skill set.
They have led people. Managed projects. Delivered training. Solved problems daily. Adapted constantly.
Those experiences are valuable far beyond the classroom.
The challenge is simply learning how to translate them and where to apply them.
If you are beginning to wonder what might exist beyond teaching, start by exploring. Ask questions. Research roles. Test assumptions.
Clarity rarely appears all at once. It builds through small steps and informed decisions.
If you want a structured place to start, you can try the Teacher Career Transition Assessment or book a consultation with me to explore your options together.
You might be closer to a new direction than you think.
