How To Become A Class Instructor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a class instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Although the job titles of a teacher and an instructor can be interchangeable, there are certain differences between the two. For instance, an instructor focuses more on teaching hands-on skills, while a teacher's job is to deliver theoretical knowledge to students.

Despite this difference, the tasks of an instructor and teacher are quite similar. In general, an instructor's workday revolves around delivering lectures or training to students, conducting assessments to test students' learning, creating effective teaching materials, and preparing lesson plans. Other duties often include updating student data, communicating with students' families, and coordinating with other members of the faculty.

A class instructor often has to have a degree in their particular field, as well as a license to teach. Moreover, they must display exemplary skills in classroom management and lesson delivery to qualify for most roles.

Class instructors can make as much as $65,000 or as little as $22,000 a year, but the average lies around $38,000 annually. However, the salary heavily depends on one's level of experience, education, and field of study.

ScoreClass InstructorUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,717

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 5.11%

Black or African American 7.05%

Hispanic or Latino 10.64%

Unknown 5.40%

White 71.31%

Gender

female 57.17%

male 42.83%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

4.4

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.5

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a class instructor

Explore class instructor education requirements

Most common class instructor degrees

Bachelor's

60.9 %

Master's

14.2 %

Associate

12.6 %

Start to develop specific class instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
CPR	29.34%
Customer Service	27.25%
Yoga	12.69%
Kids	10.79%
Course Curriculum	7.37%

Complete relevant class instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New class instructors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a class instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real class instructor resumes.

Research class instructor duties and responsibilities

Lead modified yoga and meditation sessions to enhance balance and flexibility ;
Develop fitness and wellness classes such as step aerobics, pilates and other routines ensuring a diversity of class offerings.
Teach aerobics, step, kickboxing and Zumba classes.
Create syllabus, reading and writing assignments, develop and grade tests.

Prepare your class instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your class instructor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a class instructor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable class instructor resume templates

Build a professional class instructor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your class instructor resume.