Some of the best job leads are hiding here.

The Challenge We're Solving Today

Some of the best job leads I’m seeing right now are coming from companies teachers usually overlook.

I was going through fresh openings this week and found a Customer Service Instructional Designer at Chewy. Then a Learning & Development Specialist at Reddy Ice. Then a Learning & Development Manager at a grocery company.

And I thought... this is exactly where a lot of teachers are missing opportunities because most of us would never think to look for them there.

Why This Matters to You

When you're an educator, it's completely natural to search companies that feel familiar.

Education companies. Curriculum companies. Edtech companies.

But Chewy needs people who know how to teach people (and it really helps if you love animals). Healthcare companies do too. Real estate companies do. Law firms do. Automotive companies do.

I even found a Learning Experience Designer at RWJBarnabas Health and an Automotive Technical Training Curriculum Developer at MSX International.

That’s the part I want you to notice.

Your skills aren’t limited to education companies because learning isn’t limited to schools.

Common Solutions and Why They Don't Work

A lot of teachers start their search with, “What companies hire former teachers?” but through this weekly job search I do, I've come to realize that question can box you in.

A company may never advertise itself as “teacher friendly” and still have an entire team responsible for training employees, creating curriculum, onboarding customers, building learning experiences, or helping people understand complicated information.

So while you’re refreshing the same handful of familiar company pages, someone else is finding a Training Specialist role at a real estate company you’ve never heard of. That exact kind of role showed up in the openings I reviewed this week.

A Better Approach for You

Change the question.

Instead of asking, “Who hires teachers?”

Ask, “Where does teaching happen outside of schools?”

That question gives you a much bigger search.

Then search the language those companies use.

Maybe it’s learning and development. Maybe it’s training. Maybe it’s instructional design, curriculum, enablement, or customer education.

And here’s the little habit I’d add to your search this week: when you find one interesting job, don’t just save the job.

Save the company.

Click around its careers page. See what else sits under learning, training, people, customer success, operations, or education.

That’s how you build your list of employers that probably won’t show up on someone else’s “20 Best Companies for Former Teachers” post.

And those are exactly the companies I want you paying attention to.

Your Next Steps This Week

Sometime this week, pick one industry you’ve never searched before.

Healthcare. Retail. Real estate. Finance. Manufacturing. Whatever makes you curious. (Trust me- these are absolutely worthwhile industries. Before you even think it, you're not selling out.)

Then I need you to pair that industry with one of your target functions, like training, L&D, instructional design, or customer ed.

You don’t even have to apply to anything yet.

I just need you to see what’s there.

It'll be TOTALLY worth it to search somewhere new.

P.s.

If your bigger problem is, “Steph, I do not even know which job I should be looking at,” start there.

Take my FREE What’s Next? Career Quiz to narrow down the corporate career paths that may make sense for your experience.

Take the What’s Next? Career Quiz →

And if you are ready for a more structured path through your career change, you can learn more about the Elevated Careers Career Change Accelerator.

Learn more about the Career Change Accelerator

See you next Saturday,

Steph

Steph Yesil

Find me on LinkedIn, Get My Career Change Kit,
Book a 60-Min Strategy Call

When you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. The Elevated Career Change Accelerator™: Join countless educators in my core program. It’s built for folks who want a clear path out of the classroom and into corporate roles without guessing, over-applying, or wasting months trying to piece things together. Inside, you’ll work through six focused modules that cover role selection, positioning your experience, resumes, LinkedIn, interviews, negotiation, and what actually matters once you’re hired. This is the same framework I’ve refined over a decade of making this move myself and helping others do it faster and smarter.

2. 1:1 Action Planning Session: If you want direct guidance, this is a focused working session. We’ll map out exactly where you’re headed, what roles make sense for you, and the next concrete steps to take. You’ll leave with a clear plan you can execute immediately, based on your background and constraints, not generic advice.

Either option is a strong move.
Both put you on my radar and into my corporate-ready pipeline. That matters because recruiters and hiring managers regularly reach out to me when they’re trying to fill roles and want candidates who are already vetted, positioned well, and realistic about the work. As a customer, you’re invited into that pipeline by default.

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