The obvious career path for those who earn and bachelor’s degree in education is that of a teacher. Teaching is one of the greatest careers for a person to be in, because they’re building students up that will become the future. While it is an amazing career path, it isn’t for everyone, even if you’ve already received your education degree. What many students aren’t aware of is that there is a variety of careers that they could pursue with their degree if they should change their mind, or even if they are laid off as a teacher for some reason in the future.
Most people think that getting this degree only leads to a career teaching in a primary or secondary school, but there is so much more that you can do with it. A bachelor’s degree in education is a great foundation for a number of careers. One fairly obvious but easily overlooked possibility is pursuing a career as an Adult Educator or a GED Instructor. If you would still like to work in the school setting but holding daily classes is not really for you, you could work as a guidance counselor at a school. You would be responsible for helping students with any school-related issues they may be having including selecting classes, dealing with academic difficulties and social problems, and even applying to college. There are even options for those of you who are more technologically inclined. Online courses, just like the ones you took to obtain your degree in the first place, are designed by people who have a teaching background. The position is called an Instructional Designer. This may require some additional schooling, though, depending on your state’s requirements. However, it may be worth it as the average salary for this type of position is around $60,000; in this job, you would be responsible for helping create instructional content for online courses. You could also be part of the development of textbooks, especially if you have a particular concentration, say in Health or Mathematics. If working in a student-focused setting doesn’t turn out to be as fulfilling as you thought it would be, or perhaps there is just limited opportunity in your area, you can also take a different route with your bachelor’s in education. You could opt to work in training and development at a company. Because you have the skill set to be an instructor already, this will come fairly natural to you. You would be in charge of putting together training materials, like manuals or online portals, or directly instructing employees that needed additional on-the-job training. You could use your educational background to help you excel in certain management positions because you would have to delegate tasks and guide your subordinates to keep them efficient. Writing and editing job would also be good for you if you have a bachelor’s in education. This is because you have the knowledge on how to explain complex concepts to students, which would naturally inform your writing to be concise and accurate. Teaching also requires a good bit of creativity, which you are sure to have. Lastly, editing isn’t much different than grading a paper at the end of the day. Your bachelor’s degree in education is extremely versatile, and there is no limit to your potential except for the ones you set yourself.
