Post job

What does a technical instructor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
Quoted expert
David McMahan Ph.D.
What does a technical instructor do

Technical instructor or trainer assists the training managers in educating and training technical employees to become competent and technically skilled workers. This job requires strong verbal communication, good teaching skills, and the ability to inspire and motivate learners since it involves skills assessments to track the progress of trainees individually. Also, a technical instructor regularly attends educational workshops and reviews publications to maintain his/her /her technical knowledge and quality service and to be able to design computer training manuals more effectively.

On this page

Technical instructor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real technical instructor resumes:

  • Manage bank deposits, employee and vendor payments, invoices and receipts, and keep quickbooks update.
  • Manage a host multi-server Linux operating environment in support of those systems.
  • Create a quality learning environment where kids can thrive and advance their knowledge.
  • Establish advanced high school computer classes such as desktop publishing, computer applications.
  • Solve and troubleshoot problems relate to desktop computers, laptops and different types of computers.
  • Develop training materials with PowerPoint.
  • Evaluate client feedback to determine training needs for DOD service units.
  • Train students in methods for setting up blackboard for college level classes.
  • Develop school LAN network, Linux terminal servers, and Linux virtual machines.
  • Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) in a production environment.
  • Recognize SME, consistently grade by students as an exceptional instructor for difficult topics.
  • Provide the skills necessary to write standalone, client/server, and Internet applications in JAVA.
  • Support, maintain, and troubleshot epic training environment servers, training desktops, printers and routers.
  • Install, maintenance, troubleshoot and repair hardware, software and peripherals, plus training of end users.
  • Create the required course assets as needed, such as PowerPoint's, slides, examples, lab exercises.

Technical instructor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 14% of Technical Instructors are proficient in Kids, Professional Development, and Curriculum Development. They’re also known for soft skills such as Organizational skills, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.

We break down the percentage of Technical Instructors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Kids, 14%

    Tutored kids K-8th in the subjects of chemistry, computer programming, robotics and math

  • Professional Development, 11%

    Developed curriculum and designed instructional material for advanced professional development classes in Heavy Construction Equipment Maintenance Management and Technical Skills.

  • Curriculum Development, 4%

    Collaborated in curriculum development meetings to integrate technology and information literacy skills into the social studies and science curriculum units.

  • Technical Training, 4%

    Delivered hands-on and Web-based technical training for proprietary software and hardware products for internal and external customers.

  • Course Content, 3%

    Conduct manufacturing technology training courses for adult learners and develop course content and instructional design of coursework for adult learners.

  • PowerPoint, 3%

    Upgraded and maintained approximately 20 different product PowerPoint presentations used for instructor lead training.

"kids," "professional development," and "curriculum development" are among the most common skills that technical instructors use at work. You can find even more technical instructor responsibilities below, including:

Organizational skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a technical instructor to have is organizational skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "career and technical education teachers must coordinate their time and teaching materials." Technical instructors often use organizational skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "formulated and executed complex organizational training programs and new equipment training (net) for customers and in-house employees. "

Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform technical instructor duties is communication skills. Technical instructors responsibilities require that "career and technical education teachers must explain concepts in terms that students can understand." Technical instructors also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided classroom training (evenings/2-days a week/40 hour course) to at&t; technicians on telecommunications subject matters. "

See the full list of technical instructor skills

The three companies that hire the most technical instructors are:

Choose from 10+ customizable technical instructor resume templates

Build a professional technical instructor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your technical instructor resume.
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume
Technical Instructor Resume

Compare different technical instructors

Technical instructor vs. Adjunct faculty

Adjunct faculty is the collective term for adjunct professors or lecturers. The adjunct faculty teaches students based on the limited-term of their contract. Oftentimes, they teach preparatory or introductory courses by semester arrangement for the entire academic year. Most of them are employed in higher education. Unlike regular professors, adjunct faculty do not have benefits and are not required to be present in meetings. They can work as either a contract professor or a part-time professor.

The annual salary of adjunct faculties is $14,983 higher than the average salary of technical instructors.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both technical instructor and adjunct faculty positions are skilled in professional development, curriculum development, and course content.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a technical instructor are more likely to require skills like "kids," "technical training," "c++," and "network+." On the other hand, a job as an adjunct faculty requires skills like "student learning," "philosophy," "course syllabus," and "social work." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Adjunct faculties earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $115,189. On the other hand, technical instructors are paid more in the energy industry with an average salary of $92,283.adjunct faculties tend to reach higher levels of education than technical instructors. In fact, adjunct faculties are 19.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 7.9% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Technical instructor vs. Cooperative education student

A teacher-in-training is a teaching professional who offers technical teaching assistance to teachers in developing effective behavior management and instructional strategies to support student learning. The teacher must collaborate with principals while employing diverse techniques to increase the effectiveness of student learning. By observing classes and then giving feedback to teachers about their teaching style, classroom management, and techniques are some of the responsibilities of a teacher-in-training. The teacher must also develop a wide array of curriculum materials and lesson plans for classroom instruction.

Cooperative education student positions earn lower pay than technical instructor roles. They earn a $29,657 lower salary than technical instructors per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both technical instructors and cooperative education students have skills such as "professional development," "powerpoint," and "learning environment. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that technical instructor responsibilities requires skills like "kids," "curriculum development," "technical training," and "course content." But a cooperative education student might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "patient care," "co-op," "gpa," and "icu."

In general, cooperative education students achieve similar levels of education than technical instructors. They're 2.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 7.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for technical instructors in the next 3-5 years?

David McMahan Ph.D.David McMahan Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies, Franklin and Marshall College

Technology is moving so fast that it is unpredictable. One of the most important skills you can have is working with a several thousand years old technology: writing. If you're a good writer, it opens up possibilities that aren't there for those who can't write.

Technical instructor vs. Teacher-in-training

An adjunct faculty member works in a state university or college. They typically work on a part-time or contractual basis. Although they work in a university, they have limited responsibilities compared to those who work as a regular instructor, but they still need appropriate work etiquette and a love of teaching and working with students. Like any other instructor, they develop learning material, conduct lectures, prepare exams, and assess students' grades.

On average, teachers-in training earn lower salaries than technical instructors, with a $30,872 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on technical instructors and teachers-in training resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "curriculum development," "powerpoint," and "learning environment.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, technical instructors are more likely to have skills like "kids," "professional development," "technical training," and "course content." But a teacher-in-training is more likely to have skills like "k-12," "staff development," "student achievement," and "student engagement."

Teachers-in training make a very good living in the education industry with an average annual salary of $39,697. On the other hand, technical instructors are paid the highest salary in the energy industry, with average annual pay of $92,283.Most teachers-in training achieve a higher degree level compared to technical instructors. For example, they're 9.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Technical instructor vs. Instructor, adjunct faculty

Instructors, adjunct faculty average a lower salary than the annual salary of technical instructors. The difference is about $15,861 per year.While their salaries may vary, technical instructors and instructors, adjunct faculty both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "professional development," "curriculum development," and "course content. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between technical instructors and instructors, adjunct faculty, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a technical instructor might have more use for skills like "kids," "technical training," "c++," and "network+." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of instructors, adjunct faculty require skills like "student learning," "course syllabus," "learning outcomes," and "instructional strategies. "

Instructors, adjunct faculty enjoy the best pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $54,888. For comparison, technical instructors earn the highest salary in the energy industry.instructors, adjunct faculty reach higher levels of education compared to technical instructors, in general. The difference is that they're 16.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 4.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of technical instructor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse education, training, and library jobs