Five Surprisingly Transferable Teacher Skills

If you know you've got some mad skills but are unsure of how these translate to other sectors, check out these five teacher skills which are demand.

Teachers are multi-talented, highly organised individuals.

During your time as a teacher, you gain a wide range of skills that open up whole new worlds of employment opportunities. You might have already considered the obvious ones; great communication skills, time management and ability to work under pressure for example; but have you ever considered your skills in sales and marketing? Or the fact that you’re a whizz with data analytics?

Below are just five of the key skills that you will have developed during your teaching career that are highly valued by many employers.

1. Customer service

Customer service is essentially the ability to remain polite in the face of rudeness and to communicate effectively to reach a mutually-agreeable solution. Consider the fact that schools are now businesses. Think of the parents as customers. How many times have you had to deal with a difficult parent on the phone? How many times have you had challenging conversations during parent evenings? Using examples of how you managed these conversations to reach a solution show that you have strong communication skills and are able to communicate under pressure. Consider your students as if they were your customers; you give them advice on careers and subject options; direct them to the appropriate “service” to deal with their “query” and often have to deal with “difficult customers”! All of these skills are invaluable to any public-facing role and are innate to any teacher.

2. Sales and marketing

Marketing is simply about promoting a product or service. Publicised Ofsted gradings, league tables and parent choice mean that schools are now in as competitive an environment as any business. Like all businesses, they compete for customers by marketing the school as a service. How many times have you worked an open day where you have “sold” the school to prospective parents and students? Those of you in secondary schools may be familiar with “selling” your course to prospective students, often by creating marketing resources such as leaflets to persuade them to sign up for your course. This is all marketing experience and again supports your ability to work in a public-facing role.

3. Data analysis

A successful data analyst interprets data to find useful information, draw conclusions and inform decision-making. An essential part of teaching is the ability to look at data to identify trends, predict student outcomes and then adapt your teaching to meet the needs of your students. Although we rarely get any formal training on this, we are exceptionally skilled at using data from different databases (attendance, behaviour, test results, predicted grades etc) to identify trends, create and adapt strategies and write progress reports. These skills are often required by a variety of employers who want people who can use data to support decision-making. You will also have knowledge and experience of data protection laws (GDPR), which all organisations are required to adhere to. Having experience of working with confidential data makes you an attractive prospect to many employers.

4. Building relationships with stakeholders

“Stakeholders” are defined as “persons or groups with an interest or concern in something”. As teachers, our primary focus is usually the relationships that we build with our students. But what about the other people we connect with as part of our role? As a teacher, you deal with many different “stakeholders” on a daily basis. For example, parents, SENCO, school counsellors, school governors, the local community – perhaps local religious groups, charities or businesses, or an organisation who regularly deliver teaching sessions or out of school visits. You may also have had to deal with social workers, the police, Educational Psychologists, attendance officers etc. All of these people are classed as “external stakeholders” and, in your teaching career, you will have had to deal with many of them. This shows prospective employers that you can communicate to a range of people and adapt your communication style to suit that particular need. There are not many people who are as adept at this as teachers are and this will appeal to many employers.

5. Working within a legislative framework

Virtually all organisations are governed by legislation which sets a structure for their processes, decisions and actions. As a teacher, your decisions and actions must all work within your school policies and also adhere to national child protection laws. As a teacher, you understand the importance of the KCSIE legislation, you follow GDPR when using data and you often have to adapt when policies or legislation changes. There are few other industries that change as often as education, so you can show potential employers that you are adaptable and unfazed by change.

Often, the belief that we can’t do anything but teach is one of the biggest barriers to leaving. However, when you consider the wide range of skills that we develop whilst carrying out our teaching duties, we start to realise that we would be a powerful asset to any company looking to hire an intelligent, hard-working individual.

By focusing on your skills, you can easily sell yourself to any company or organisation through a skills-based CV, which is one of the amazing things you can learn to do inside the Academy!

If you’re ready to start exploring your transferable skills in more depth and the many career paths they can take you on, check out the wealth of support waiting for you inside the Adventures After Teaching Academy.