IBM's Transition to Teaching program helped Vickie Szarek become a a student teacher at Garner Magnet School in North Carolina.

At 55, Michael Casey decided to pursue the job he had always wanted — high school math teacher.

An engineer and small-business owner, Casey returned to school to get his teaching certificate. He took a 50% pay cut to teach algebra and calculus in inner-city Dallas for five years, before moving to a suburban school in Carrolton, Texas.

“Right after 9/11, I decided I wanted to do something that would give something back,” Casey told Emily Brandon of USNews and World Report.

Vickie Szarek, 50, a former project manager and software developer at IBM, recently began her second school year teaching high school biology. “Biology was my first love,” says Szarek.

Szarek was beginning to think about retiring when she saw an article on Transition to Teaching, IBM’s program that supports employees seeking second careers as teachers. She was accepted into the program and signed up for North Carolina State’s accelerated certification program. IBM offers employees with 10 years at the company up to $15,000 for tuition reimbursement. The money can also be used as a living stipend if the employee takes a leave of absence to study or student teach. So far, about 100 employees have enrolled in the program.

In The Ins and Outs of Becoming a Teacher in Retirement, Brandon offers three tips for would-be career switchers:

• Test it out. Before making the jump to teaching, check it out with some first-person investigation.
• Prepare for a pay cut. Low pay is the biggest concern voiced by potential teachers.
• Look for alternative routes Some programs are geared specifically for career changers who already have bachelor’s degrees in a different subject.