Ready to learn more about careers in Ed Tech? We created this guide to help.
If you are just getting started learning about this exciting industry, start here to learn six reasons why professionals from a broad variety of backgrounds should consider a career in Ed Tech.
Keep reading below to learn more about the fundamentals of the Ed Tech industry, how to find your niche in this dynamic space, and some practical tips for taking the next steps in your Ed Tech career.
Ed Tech stands for “education technology,” and it describes an industry that includes any technology company focused on products and services to advance education (at any age, in and out of school, anywhere on earth). Including everything from small startups to billion-dollar global enterprises, the Ed Tech industry offers flexible options for your career.
The universe of Ed Tech solutions is incredibly diverse, and even with decades of experience in the industry, our team at HighFive is learning about creative new solutions all the time. Recently, we have seen AI explode onto the scene, dramatically opening up a whole new realm of potential applications.
The Ed Tech industry is focused on solving all sorts of problems related to education at all ages—a popular saying in the industry is from “cradle to gray.” Ed Tech products include everything from early childhood learning apps, to smart infrastructure for school facilities, to AI-assisted learning programs for seniors.
This incredible diversity of solutions is a big reason why the Ed Tech industry is so exciting, and it’s important to take stock of how these focus areas relate to your career. Some professionals may have highly specific focus areas, missions, and skill sets they would like to develop. For example, they might want to harness their specific background in primary education to work on K12-related solutions. Other professionals are more interested in the broader mission of Ed Tech, and may be happy leveraging their skills in finance, programming, sales, or many other areas across any and all of the categories outlined below.
Use the links in each list item to see sample job opportunities in this category on the HighFive jobs platform.
PreK-12: early and primary education can make a lifelong impact, and companies in this space are working to develop solutions that further schools' and parents' ability to deliver high-quality, equitable, and inclusive education.
Browse PreK-12 Jobs in Education Technology
Higher Education: including resources for both 4-year universities and technical/vocational training, higher education solutions face the dual challenge of furthering students' development while beginning to build tangible job skills and career interests.
Explore Higher Education Jobs in Education Technology
Workforce Education: while Ed Tech often conjures images of schools, lifelong professional learning is a major focus of the Ed Tech industry. Workforce education companies provide services and tools that help professionals keep their skills fresh, build new competencies, and even transition into new careers. For businesses, workforce education solutions can offer high ROI investments in in-house talent development.
Learn More About Workforce Jobs in Education Technology
Multiple Learning Stages: some Ed Tech companies are not necessarily focused on a specific age or education level. For example, language learning apps can be equally valid for young students, college students, or later-life learners.
Learn More About Multi-Stage Learning Jobs in Education Technology
The Ed Tech industry has professionals from many different professional backgrounds, companies focused on many different target markets, and job functions ranging from coding to in-classroom consulting.
In this context, finding your niche in this industry can be challenging, but also incredibly rewarding. Taking the time to understand the broader Ed Tech industry is an important foundation for finding the optimal niche for your own skills, mission, and long-term career interests.
Our article here takes a deeper look at how to identify your niche and build relevant skills for your Ed Tech career.
Just about every professional recognizes the importance of networking, and our team believes this is particularly true in the Ed Tech industry. The industry is incredibly interdisciplinary, and as a relatively young industry, it lacks the talent pipelines and professional networking opportunities that are well-established in older industries.
A savvy approach to networking is instrumental for creating your own networking luck, building connections inside and outside of your own company, and learning from colleagues (both knowledge relevant to your current role, and valuable intel on how your skills are valued in the industry).
We provide tips for both established industry professionals and those seeking to transition into the industry in our guide to Networking for Careers in Ed Tech.
If you are ready to apply for a role in the Ed Tech industry, the right application materials can be crucial to help you stand out from the field. But it can be all too easy to ignore important best practices for resumes and other materials today. We recommend that you:
You can find a deeper explanation of all five of these recommendations in our article on Crafting Your Application for Roles in Ed Tech.
When preparing for a job interview, it can be easy to fall into the trap of preparing dozens of memorized answers to a laundry list of common questions in your field. But we recommend thinking a bit differently about how to become an effective interviewer.
In our guide to Building Your Interview “Muscle” for Roles in Ed Tech, we take a deeper look at why:
As we discussed above, keeping up with the Ed Tech industry’s latest trends, challenges, opportunities, and developments is a great ongoing practice for growing in your current role while keeping your ear to the ground for future career opportunities.
But how can busy professionals keep up with the newest developments in this dynamic industry?
In our guide to Continuous Learning and Professional Development for Careers in Ed Tech, we provide a list of recommended Ed Tech-related publications, newsletters, and thought leaders to follow—in addition to four tips for keeping up with the industry’s latest.
The Ed Tech industry lacks the established career pathways and recruiting mechanisms of longer-standing industries, and our experience suggested that many professionals who were otherwise passionate about furthering their Ed Tech careers didn’t know where to start.
We created the Ed Tech industry’s most comprehensive jobs platform to help.
Currently featuring over 15,000 jobs from 950+ different companies, our platform is a great place to not just find your next position, but also keep your finger on the pulse of the industry, learn who is hiring, and get a feel for how your skills are valued.
Fully sortable by industry specialty, company size, and location (including remote), the HighFive Partners Ed Tech Jobs platform makes it easy to find opportunities that are relevant to your interests.