We all know that among the company’s greatest assets are its employees. That’s why we put such a strong emphasis on maximizing the recruitment process.
But in today’s labor market, people are changing jobs and even career trajectories more and more frequently. The traditional paths toward upper management positions are becoming outdated.
The positions, themselves, are evolving at a fast rate. This is why recruiters and prospective employers often put flexibility and the ability to adapt to new processes and assimilate new information high on their list of top skills employers look for in employees.
In this short article, we will make the case for why former teachers, or any candidate with a background in teaching, are likely to make good employees. They possess and have demonstrated the transferable skills companies want.
Former Teachers Respect the Process And Apply Long-Term thinking
When it comes to subjects or skills that require a teacher, no one learns those overnight. Learning is the result of a process. It takes several years, and we’re never quite finished learning. Teachers have a great understanding of this as they see it evidenced on a daily basis. While some teachers can very much be result-driven, all teachers focus on the process. They respect it and are able to project results in the long term.
The type of mindset a former teacher brings to the table can often be a welcome distinction from those of us who have become accustomed to accessing content or social media and receiving instant gratification. Balancing a team with people who are result-driven and those who are process-focused is a good idea. As is balancing a team with both people who look for instant gratification and those with a more long-term perspective.
Former Teachers Have Experience Tracking Procedures Followed and Tracking Results
When we think of teachers, the image that often comes to mind is that of a man or a woman standing before a class and communicating. While this is a large part of the job, any former teacher will tell you that they spend a lot of their time on paperwork, keeping administrative records of all they have done and all they plan to do.
This part of a teacher’s job requires a high level of organization skills, a high attention to detail, and consistency in regard to their job and the process they must use. This is a skill set that generally requires years of practice to assimilate. And a former teacher has precisely that.
Former Teachers Are Comfortable Working in a Team
When it comes to subjects and skills that would require a teacher, no one learns alone. That’s obvious. But, the teacher cannot make the learner learn. They can only facilitate the learning, open the door, light the way. A teacher, thus, cannot achieve the results they’re working for by themselves. Never. They need the complicity, effort, and commitment of the learner.
Teamwork is an integral part of a teacher’s job. Not even mentioning the coordination with their colleagues and the interactions with administration, the teacher and the learner must work together.
Former Teachers Are Good Motivators
A teacher’s job, when you boil it down, consists of getting other people to work – after all, it is the learner who must do the learning. The teacher can only facilitate the process. Finding the right buttons to push and constantly seeking out new ways to motivate the learner, this is a daily requirement of teachers. Teachers, by definition, are good motivators.
Even if they are not filling a position in upper management or leadership, the ability to inspire extra effort in others, to get people to buy into the process and give it their all is a valuable attribute in any department or function.
Former Teachers Possess Valuable Soft Skills
Soft skills – or transferable skills – are those sets of attributes that express how someone works. They focus on the person’s ability to adapt to new contexts, work with others in a set structure, learn, and assimilate new information.
These sets of skills are especially valuable in fields or positions that are constantly evolving or that involve teamwork.
Teachers, invariably, have experience demonstrating:
- Strong communication skills
- A teacher is responsible for taking complex subject matter and communicating it in such a way as to make it accessible to learners of all levels and backgrounds.
- Strong organizational skills
- A teacher is responsible for keeping precise records of the progress of dozens of students. They must have their lessons and courses well planned out in advance in addition to maintaining accurate and up-to-date documents for the institution’s administration and regulatory agencies.
- Strong assessment skills and the ability to give constructive, actionable feedback
- A teacher is responsible for developing material and methods that are meant to assess the progress of their students. A teacher must then give feedback on their performance in a way that is encouraging and truthful while taking into consideration the possibility of some students being sensitive to feedback.
The Bottom Line
Former teachers not only possess valuable skills and attributes recruiters and employers look for in employees, but they have demonstrated these skills on a daily basis at their prior positions.
A former teacher works well with others. He or she has experience motivating and leading others to accomplish both short-term tasks and long-term goals. A former teacher is organized, has respect for the process, and can see results from both a short-term and a long-term perspective.
When recruiting candidates for any position – though especially those that involve interacting with people – being a former teacher should be a plus on any resume you come across.
