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

What is a course instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Rodney Foster

Course instructors provide post-secondary education, typically teaching in colleges. They might specialize in a wide array of academic subjects. They prepare course material, plan their classes, and give lectures or seminars. They also do research in their area and publish their results writing books or articles for academic journals.

Working in this position, it will be your job to support your students in their academic progress and career. Apart from delivering course material, you will give assignments, advise on resources for further reading and independent expanding on course work. You will evaluate the performance of your students as well, by grading their papers and exam results.

A master's degree is the minimum requirement for people filling this role, but typically a Ph.D. is required in your field of specialization. A teaching certificate and license will also be necessary. Working experience teaching young adults is also a common requirement, as well as in more practical fields of study. If you love working with people and have a passion for continuously expanding your own knowledge, this career path can be deeply fulfilling. It will also earn you a comfortable living with average annual salaries around $73,000.

What general advice would you give to a course instructor?

Rodney Foster

Instructor - Aviation Maintenance Technology Instructor - Airframe & Powerplant Technology, Orange Coast College

Orange Coast College (OCC) teaches Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) and Avionics. Although the Government has dampened air travel by putting up restrictions to prevent a Covid-19 spread, there is still a certified mechanic/skilled labor shortage. I believe all our students will have permanent jobs within a six-month search. OCC AMT is listed as an essential workforce by the state of California and is back in classes full-time, Face-to-face labs, and online lectures. Our next semester registration maximum filled in two days and still has over 35 additional students per class on the waiting list.

ScoreCourse InstructorUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,389

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.5

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 6.90%

Black or African American 10.23%

Hispanic or Latino 14.91%

Unknown 6.73%

White 60.71%

Gender

female 41.89%

male 58.11%

Age - 44

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 - 44

Stress level

5.5

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a course instructor

Explore course instructor education requirements

Most common course instructor degrees

Bachelor's

58.3 %

Master's

20.6 %

Associate

10.2 %

Start to develop specific course instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
Course Curriculum	9.52%
Syllabus	8.36%
Course Materials	7.81%
Blended Learning	6.46%
DOD	6.37%

Complete relevant course instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New course 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 course instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real course instructor resumes.

Research course instructor duties and responsibilities

Manage and upload SCORM content to the LMS for delivery.
Achieve certification in high ropes course training, CPR and first aid.
Assist classmates with developing positive study habits and strategies for managing classroom material.
Create course syllabus, determine course requirements, facilitate class discussion.

Prepare your course instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your course 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 course 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 course instructor resume templates

Build a professional course 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 course instructor resume.