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

What is a lecturer/instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Rodney Foster

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a lecturer/instructor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.42 an hour? That's $59,105 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 12% and produce 159,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a lecturer/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.

ScoreLecturer/InstructorUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,105

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.9

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 16.00%

Black or African American 6.62%

Hispanic or Latino 9.47%

Unknown 4.84%

White 62.79%

Gender

female 47.68%

male 52.32%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

6.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lecturer/instructor

Explore lecturer/instructor education requirements

Most common lecturer/instructor degrees

Bachelor's

48.5 %

Master's

33.6 %

Doctorate

10.6 %

Start to develop specific lecturer/instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
Semester	15.33%
Social Work	9.81%
Graduate Courses	9.72%
Mathematics	8.66%
Syllabus	7.17%

Complete relevant lecturer/instructor training and internships

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

Research lecturer/instructor duties and responsibilities

Assist classmates with developing positive study habits and strategies for managing classroom material.
Work closely with department principal to outline student learning, design syllabus, teaching methods, and student learning assessment.
Create PowerPoint presentations used for teaching.
Develop syllabus and overall course structure, including lab experiments, and administer grades

Prepare your lecturer/instructor resume

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

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