Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between course instructors and trainers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a course instructor and a trainer. Additionally, a course instructor has an average salary of $49,389, which is higher than the $47,574 average annual salary of a trainer.
The top three skills for a course instructor include course curriculum, syllabus and course materials. The most important skills for a trainer are PET, training programs, and leadership.
| Course Instructor | Trainer | |
| Yearly salary | $49,389 | $47,574 |
| Hourly rate | $23.74 | $22.87 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 28,255 | 40,650 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A course instructor typically works at a school or other instructional institution. Besides teaching, they are primarily responsible for developing syllabi, creating learning materials, creating lesson plans, creating coursework, administering examinations, grading, and monitoring the students' progress. Additionally, a course instructor may organize seminars for their students and invite guest speakers to provide additional insights.
A trainer is responsible for instilling knowledge and process techniques for a specific business role. Duties of a trainer include facilitating engaging classes, identifying areas of improvement and opportunities for the learner, evaluating skills and attending to the learner's challenges, organizing training materials and scheduling training sessions, and submitting timely reports to the management on progress. Trainers are required to have excellent public communication skills and extensive product knowledge to provide effective learning methodologies and maintain strategic project management.
Course instructors and trainers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Course Instructor | Trainer | |
| Average salary | $49,389 | $47,574 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $77,000 | Between $30,000 And $73,000 |
| Highest paying City | Arlington, VA | - |
| Highest paying state | New York | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Jacobs Engineering Group | - |
| Best paying industry | Non Profits | Technology |
There are a few differences between a course instructor and a trainer in terms of educational background:
| Course Instructor | Trainer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between course instructors' and trainers' demographics:
| Course Instructor | Trainer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% | Male, 48.6% Female, 51.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 6.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.9% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |