The field of education offers a wide range of career opportunities for liberal arts graduates both within, and outside, the classroom.
Getting Started: Three Visions
The job search process in the field of Education does not have to be a daunting task. Follow these steps below to get started:
Create three visions for yourself: when you think about the year(s) following your time studying at the university, what are three versions of yourself that you can imagine:
Ideal: where do you see yourself located? Which populations are you serving? What type of people are you surrounded by? Which types of tasks/projects/activities are you engaged with? What might you be exploring (inside and outside of the workplace)?
Best Alternative: if the Ideal Vision is not available to you at this time, what other version of you comes to mind? (This is not the ‘safety plan’ or the ‘back burner’ idea – this is something you are equally excited about, but it is different from your Ideal Vision). Use the same questions listed above in the ‘Ideal’ vision to flesh out your ideas.
Wild: what if you could explore something that feels and seems really out there? What does that look like for you? Use the same questions listed above in the ‘Ideal’ vision to flesh out your ideas.
Target Employer Lists & Networking
After you’ve completed the vision exercise, develop your target employer list. Look for 5-7 organizations/employers that align for each of your visions (i.e. 5-7 for Ideal, 5-7 for Best Alternative, and 5-7 for Wild). Once you’ve identified names of the organizations/employers that initially seem of interest to you, find the following information for each:
Contact: use peer networking lists, LinkedIn, Yale Cross Campus, and CareerShift (located in your Yale Career Link account) to identify a specific person to reach out to at the organization/employer. This can be a Yale alum, a recruiter, or someone else entirely.
Recruiting timeline: does the organization hire on an as-needed basis, or is there a specific time of the year?
Facts: identify key information about the organizations – what are their goals? missions? needs? Which trends are they following?
Make time to host informational interviews with contacts at the organizations that are of interest to you.
Yale’s Office of Career Strategy offers clear guidance on informational interviewing. Spending 30-minutes on a call with a contact can give you essential information you need to perform well in the job application process. Nuanced information that is shared can often inform your cover letters, resumes, and other application materials (including essay responses and writing samples). Take extensive notes while speaking with contacts, including current and former employees.
Different Roles in Education
Within education, teaching is the area most often thought; however, there are opportunities in education administration, curriculum development, governance and leadership, and educational research and policy. An individual can choose to work within a public or private education setting, and it is not uncommon for young professionals to start their career in the classroom as a teacher, then use the knowledge gained from their teaching experience to expand into other professional roles in education.
Read the articles posted below on different job functional roles and environments to learn which skills are needed and which areas might be best suited for you. Or, access the articles here:
The Yale Education Studies Program (EDST) provides robust guidance and resources on obtaining Teaching Practice, including volunteering through clubs and local organizations, obtaining a formal teaching internship or part-time job in New Haven, engaging in international summer teaching, and post-graduate pathways into the teaching.
Join an EDST mailing list to receive news about informational gatherings and education-related opportunities:
Education Alumni Community: Are you a Yale student or alum who is interested in connecting with fellow Yale students or alums who have worked in, or currently work in, Education? Be sure to visit the Peer Networking Lists in your Yale Career Link account and join the LinkedIn ‘Yale Careers in Education’ group.
Teaching in the U.S. & Abroad
There are several pathways to become a teacher in the United States:
Teacher certification through undergraduate degree programs – this path typically includes 1-1.5 years of coursework and practicum training at a higher education institution
Master’s Teacher Preparatory – students enroll fulltime in Education-related Master’s programs that are specifically for the teaching profession and typically take 1-2 years to complete
Alternative Certification Programs – each state in the U.S. is different; however, similar components include: coursework and training with fulltime teaching commitments, on-site/on-the-job mentorship, and tuition coverage for a Master’s degree or teacher certification upon completion of a 2-5 year commitment
Private School Teaching – typically, certification is not required, and some schools may have on-site housing/boarding availability for teachers
What to consider when determining which teaching certification path is right for you:
Location – certification to teach is granted on a state-by-state basis with little reciprocity. Be sure to consider the location (city vs. rural, state, geographic proximity to future opportunities or needs, etc.)
Cost of alternative certification – some states offer state-run alternative certification courses and practicum training, but it might come at a financial cost
Training – consider the length of time programs offer training (depth vs. breadth), and learn which programs emphasize subject-matter training verses behavioral or discipline-based training
For those interested in public service work, whether that be through structured internship programs, post-graduate employment, community service, or volunteer work, it’s important to think about what responsible engagement looks like.
Review this page on Planning Public Service Projects to learn more about what responsible engagement looks like and how you can develop a plan that aligns well for you and the community you are hoping to serve.
Examples of Pre-Teaching Internships and Opportunities
UpperCampus is a career exploration tool that connects students directly with career information based on their likes & interests. Explore over 15,000 videos and posts about unique jobs and prospective employers.
Throughout the semester, CampusCT will highlight specific industry sectors, companies that operate …
Our February event will spotlight career paths in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies through a managerial lens. Our panel discussion with Yale Alums will take place on Tuesday, Feb 7th, 6:00-7:30 PM ET via Zoom (click here to register). You will …
Boston Teacher Residency, an AmeriCorps program, is a nationally recognized clinical teacher preparation program whose graduates support student achievement from day one.
More on the finances: Residents earn a low-cost M.Ed. (<$8,000) and MA …
By Kelly McSergi
Kelly McSergiAssistant Director of Employer Relations
New Government Job Board Available to Yale Students!
Traverse Jobs – Connecting you to jobs that make a differenceÂ
Yale’s Common …
Explore Job Market InsightsIn partnership with
Search continually updated U.S. market trends to learn about job types (job functions), growth trends, and desired skills. The results will include general information about each job (functional area), employment trends from the past two years and projections for the next 10 years, employers that have that role, desired education level, skills for the position, and more!
TWO WAYS TO SEARCH:
Find Career Data by Selecting Keywords: Enter keywords of various job titles and choose a state or search nationwide to learn more about that job.
Filter by Industry and Occupation: Search by industry and choose among popular occupations/job titles within that industry.
First, choose an industry of interest, then filter for occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)
Type in a keyword to select a relevant occupation. (If you'd like to see data for a specific location only, filter by state.)
Occupation Description
Employment Trends
Top Employers
Education Levels
Annual Earnings
Technical Skills
Core Competencies
Job Titles
Occupation Description
Employment Trends
The number of jobs in the career for the past two years, the current year, and projections for the next 10 years. Job counts include both employed and self-employed persons, and do not distinguish between full- and part-time jobs. Sources include Emsi industry data, staffing patterns, and OES data.
Top Employers
These companies are currently hiring for .
Education Levels
The educational attainment percentage breakdown for a career (e.g. the percentage of people in the career who hold Bachelor’s Degrees vs. Associate Degrees). Educational attainment levels are provided by O*NET.
Annual Earnings
Earnings figures are based on OES data from the BLS and include base rate, cost of living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, incentive pay (including commissions and bonuses), on-call pay, and tips.
Technical Skills
A list of hard skills associated with a given career ordered by the number of unique job postings which ask for those skills.
Core Competencies
The skills for the career. The "importance" is how relevant the ability is to the occupation: scale of 1-5. The "level" is the proficiency required by the occupation: scale of 0-100. Results are sorted by importance first, then level.
Job Titles
A list of job titles for all unique postings in a given career, sorted by frequency.
The Office of Career Strategy collects information about Yale College graduates. This tool allows users to search outcomes by year and major. Please visit Statistics & Reports for detailed reports.
Helpful Tips on using the Interactive Tool:
There is no Enter or Submit Button – Results will appear automatically with your selections
Choose ‘All Years’ or ‘All Majors’-Â For results across years and majors or check one for more granular results.
Default results will show the most recent Class Year.
Uncheck the selected major(s) to reset your search.
To ensure student confidentiality, results are only reported in the aggregate and more granular data is not available through this public tool.
The tool will return results with at least five responses. If you require additional information contact the Office of Career Strategy
First Destination Summaries are based on the knowledge rate of graduate outcomes six months after graduation under the guidelines set by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Most Recent Class Overview
Knowledge Rate
Success Rate
Mean Starting Salary
Top Five Industries
86.8% of those graduating between July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021
96.9% employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation
$76,359 among graduates employed in the United States.
Financial Services, Education, Technology, Consulting, and Healthcare
First Destination
Top Employers
Employment Industry and Function
Size of the Organization
Starting Salary
Time of Year Offer Received
Co-Curricular, Research, and Study Abroad Experiences
First Destination Locations
Top Universities
Advanced Degrees Pursued
First Destination
First Destination refers to the postgraduate plans of Yale College graduates six months after graduation. The pursuits of Yale graduates include employment, graduate school, independent research, military service, and more.
Top Employers
The list of employers below indicates organizations that hired the most graduates in the selected year. This list changes every year, and the Office of Career Strategy works closely with employers across industries and functional areas.
Employment Industry and Function
It is notable that no single industry or functional area attracts Yale graduates as a critical mass, which is consistent with Yale’s liberal arts education through which graduates gain valuable skills desirable to many roles. Use the tabs below to view both function and industry choices.
Yale graduates choose employers of all sizes and typically only about half of the graduates in each class choose the largest size employers (501+ employees).
Starting Salary
The salary information below is self-reported by graduates employed full-time in the U.S. and does not include bonuses or other forms of compensation.
Time of Year Offer Received
Although graduates report accepting their post-graduate positions throughout their senior year, typically 50% of graduates secure their full-time position in the spring of senior year or later.
Co-Curricular, Research, and Study Abroad Experiences
Yale students pursue an array of activities, including study abroad, research, and internships, and many receive funding from Yale for these endeavors. The following charts show the percentage of Yale students who undertook (1) credit-bearing study abroad experiences, (2) summer research opportunities, (3) summer internships, and (4) received summer funding.
When considering an entire Class, the majority remain in the U.S., while on average more than 10% reside outside of the country.
NOTE: Hover over each state to see the percentage of graduates in that state. Grey indicates no graduates from this class year.
United States
World
Top Universities
The list below shows Universities most often attended by graduates in the selected year, however, Yale alums enroll in programs around the world. In the case where there are a significant number of graduates enrolled in a Professional School at a University, that School may be listed separately (for example Yale School of Public Health and Yale University).
Advanced Degrees Pursued
The chart below shows the graduate degrees being pursued immediately after graduation. Each year, more than 70% of Yale College graduates employed immediately after graduation indicate they intend to pursue a graduate degree in the next five years.
We don’t have enough student data to show you these results.
Pharmacy Internship in AfricaArt in Tanzania
Customer Success ManagerIPVM
23-24 CT STEM Assistant TeacherAchievement First
