How To Become A Guest Lecturer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a guest lecturer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A guest lecturer is an individual who is invited to speak to a class that they do not normally teach.

Academic institutions ask guest speakers to the campus for a variety of reasons. A teacher might invite a successful alumnus to come to the classroom and speak with students about how they broke into their field. Lectures delivered by a guest speaker can be invaluable in creating discussions and providing new perspectives.

Beyond professional practices, schools might invite a guest speaker to give advice on general planning for the future. A guest lecturer may be present during a class or at a special time outside of class. The college professor, club, or organization that invites the speaker decides whether to keep the lecture closed or open it to other students.

Sometimes a speech may be made available to the public as well. Guest lecturers need not be limited to campus-based courses. College professors from distance learning and online courses may also incorporate guest speakers into the curriculum.

To be a guest lecturer, you need to be a subject matter expert in the field that you will be lecturing about. In most cases, this requires at least a bachelor's degree, but some institutions may require a more advanced degree, particularly for guest speakers at the college/university level.

ScoreGuest LecturerUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $67,058

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

3.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.77%

Asian 14.42%

Black or African American 9.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.81%

Unknown 7.29%

White 51.34%

Gender

female 54.00%

male 46.00%

Age - 34

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 - 34

Stress level

8.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.8

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.3

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a guest lecturer

Explore guest lecturer education requirements

Most common guest lecturer degrees

Bachelor's

53.7 %

Master's

29.0 %

Doctorate

11.9 %

Start to develop specific guest lecturer skills

Skills	Percentages
Undergraduate Courses	19.44%
Class Discussions	10.86%
Occupational Therapy	9.23%
Seminar	5.78%
Literature	4.93%

Complete relevant guest lecturer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New guest lecturers 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 guest lecturer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real guest lecturer resumes.

Research guest lecturer duties and responsibilities

Create web sites and documentation, using HTML, to manage various projects.
Instill``failing-faster & learning"philosophy.
Design class, create syllabus, teach 4th year acting students financial and business skills.
Present on the components of a succinct and solid sociological research paper to a senior seminar class.

Prepare your guest lecturer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your guest lecturer 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 guest lecturer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable guest lecturer resume templates

Build a professional guest lecturer 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 guest lecturer resume.