How to Get a Summer Job for Teachers

Tutor with child
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If you are a teacher, the summer months are a great time to work a second job. You might do this for a variety of reasons: perhaps you want to supplement your income, build your resume, travel, or simply keep busy.

There are many great summer job options for teachers. Also consider side hustles that can boost your earnings during the summer, and possibly continue into the school year. Read below for information on kinds of jobs to explore, and how to find them.

Summer Jobs for Teachers

Tutor
One of the most popular summer jobs for teachers is tutoring. Educators on summer break are ideal candidates for this type of position. They can tutor students in their particular subject or age group. You can also expand your idea of what a tutor is, based on your subject – for example, music teachers might offer music lessons, and gym teachers might offer personal coaching.

A wide variety of employers post tutoring jobs. Large, nationwide companies like Kaplan and Sylvan Learning offer test prep and academic prep at their many locations around the country and are always looking for experienced staff. The best way to find a job with this type of tutoring company is to look for open positions listed on their websites.

To find a job with a smaller, local company, check out job search sites like Indeed.com or Monster.com. You can also look for a local family looking to hire a tutor. To do this, check out the classifieds on local newspaper sites. Also ask around at your own school to see if any parents are looking for tutors. You could also place an ad yourself in the local paper to offer your services as a tutor.

Summer School Teacher
Summer school jobs are mostly for secondary and high school teachers. It can be very rewarding to help those students who need a little extra help to make the grade.

Check with your district to see if they are looking for summer school teachers. If they are not, other districts in your area may post job openings on their websites, or on teaching job search sites like SchoolSpring.com.

Camp Counselor
As a camp counselor, you can continue to work with children but in a much different environment than the classroom. From basketball to horseback riding, camps focus on so many different activities. It can be a fun way to incorporate an activity you love to do with your love of teaching. Depending on your schedule, you can look for jobs at day camps or overnight camps.

Find job listings on national job search sites. Also check out the Job Center page on the American Camp Association website.

Work From Home 
There are a variety of jobs available for teachers who want to work from home. These telecommuting jobs give you the opportunity to earn supplemental income without leaving home during the summer. If you want, you might be able to continue some of these jobs part time during the school year.

There are a number of good work at home jobs for teachers, including an online instructor, a curriculum developer, a test scorer, and an educational consultant.

Test Scorer
While some test scoring jobs are online, others are on site. Advanced Placement tests, for example, are scored by graders in a particular location. This is a great way to make money during the summer or other vacations. Check out the Educational Testing Service (ETS) for job opportunities.

Step Outside of the Education Box

Maybe you are a little tired of teaching and can use a change of pace. Use the summer months to do something you have always wanted to do, but never found the time for. As a teacher, you have people skills, organization skills, a good work ethic, compassion for children or teens. You're also a creative thinker and a strong public speaker.

Even if you apply for something totally out of left field, because you bring all these skills with you, employers will look at you favorably. Maybe you can find a job that will enrich you. Websites like CoolWorks.com will help you find seasonal jobs, or you can perform keyword searches on job search engines to view the variety of summer jobs that are open locally.

What better than to do something different and perhaps learn something new at the same time? Read below for advice on other types of job opportunities that might make for a unique and valuable summer.

Consider your skills. Do you have a skill that you are not able to use as a teacher? Perhaps you teach English, but you are really good at pottery. Consider offering pottery classes over the summer.Or maybe you know how to code. Look online for temporary jobs or summer jobs that involve coding. Whatever your skill, consider applying it over the summer to make some money.

Think about jobs that involve travel. Why not use the summer to make money and travel at the same time? Some of the jobs listed above can be found abroad, such as a camp counselor. You might also look for au pair jobs abroad, if you want to continue to work with kids. You could consider finding a job at a resort or other tourist location, especially one that caters to English speaking tourists (or any other language that you speak). Read here for advice on how to find a summer job abroad.

Build your resume through volunteer work or an internship. Perhaps you are a new teacher, and want to continue to develop your teaching credentials. Look online (or visit a career services office) to find out what internships are available in your field. Also check out sites that list volunteer positions to see if there are any listings that could help you gain skills that will be useful in your teaching career (such as volunteer positions in summer schools, camps, tutoring gigs, etc.).

You might also take the summer to volunteer or intern in a different field to develop a particular skill. For example, perhaps you want to improve your Spanish. You might volunteer for an organization that requires you to speak Spanish with clients. Or maybe you want to learn grant writing skills. Consider an internship or volunteer job that involves working in a development or communications department.