What does a vocational instructor do?
Depending on their field of specialization, a vocational instructor is usually found working in secondary schools, technical schools, or other training institutions. Their major duty is to teach students a specific trade or occupation. Their responsibility is to teach a particular subject that can immediately be applied to a specific field or job. They are also expected to provide guidance to students and assist them with placement, aside from teaching them in the classroom.
Vocational instructor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real vocational instructor resumes:
- Accomplish creating new work processes for the students to follow; successfully bringing the required ASHP and the PTCB require standards.
- Utilize blackboard management system to encourage online discussions and manage grades.
- Teach all requirements necessary to prepare for the certification exam: proper aseptic sterile product technique for compounding and iv preparation.
- Provide yearly first aid and CPR training for students and faculty.
- Provide pertinent information and opinions for ISP and IEP team meetings.
- Develop new products, jigs, fixtures, and production processes.
- Develop course syllabus to include goals, objectives and course learning outcomes.
- Play a role in preparing the pharmacy department for programmatic accreditation through ASHP.
- Create PowerPoint presentations as well as other media presentations to engage learners in lessons.
- Create an employability skills curriculum in accordance with requirements of program grant agreements.
- Create a foundation for leadership and management operations for successful operations and future endeavors for students.
- Develop technical curriculum for immunology including both didactic instructional material in PowerPoint format and laboratory sessions.
- Assist students in identifying personal goals, developing leadership skills and planning career and secondary educational moves.
- Create models of training that facilitate the improvement of educational skills and the successful retention of occupational and employability skills.
- Identify appropriate techniques for teaching and responding to literature, and ways to effectively use literacy to positively impact diversity education.
Vocational instructor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Vocational Instructors are proficient in Plumbing, Course Objectives, and Developmental Disabilities. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Organizational skills, and Patience.
We break down the percentage of Vocational Instructors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Plumbing, 24%
Performed general maintenance work including HVAC, electrical, refrigeration and plumbing.
- Course Objectives, 23%
Prepare course objectives and outlines for course of study following curriculum guidelines for vocational program operations.
- Developmental Disabilities, 6%
Monitor physical and emotional well-being of clients with developmental disabilities and report unusual behavior or physical ailments to administration.
- Vocational Training, 5%
Job Developer, Caseworker, and Vocational Training Instructor for adult students enrolled in Weatherization Training Program.
- Safety Standards, 4%
Manage health and safety standards.
- Curriculum Development, 4%
Course Instructor / Curriculum Development: - Develop, implement, revise and maintain managerial and technical courses and supporting materials.
Common skills that a vocational instructor uses to do their job include "plumbing," "course objectives," and "developmental disabilities." You can find details on the most important vocational instructor responsibilities below.
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a vocational instructor to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "career and technical education teachers must explain concepts in terms that students can understand." Additionally, a vocational instructor resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "instructed customer service retail/marketing classes including professional behavior and appearance, communication, conflict resolution and basic mathematics. "
Organizational skills. Many vocational instructor duties rely on organizational skills. "career and technical education teachers must coordinate their time and teaching materials.," so a vocational instructor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways vocational instructor responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "performed employee professional development training in computer skills, ms office suite and organizational software applications. "
Patience. This is an important skill for vocational instructors to perform their duties. For an example of how vocational instructor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "working with students of different abilities and backgrounds can be difficult." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a vocational instructor: "embodied and honored the instructor s code of ethics of professionalism, patience, rapport, respect, and admission. ".
The three companies that hire the most vocational instructors are:
- Woods Services12 vocational instructors jobs
- The GEO Group8 vocational instructors jobs
- Easter Seals South Florida5 vocational instructors jobs
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Compare different vocational instructors
Vocational 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.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, vocational instructor responsibilities require skills like "plumbing," "developmental disabilities," "vocational training," and "safety standards." Meanwhile a typical adjunct faculty has skills in areas such as "student learning," "philosophy," "course syllabus," and "course content." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Adjunct faculties really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $115,189. Comparatively, vocational instructors tend to make the most money in the utilities industry with an average salary of $41,669.adjunct faculties tend to reach higher levels of education than vocational instructors. In fact, adjunct faculties are 22.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.8% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Vocational instructor vs. Teacher-in-training
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.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, vocational instructor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "plumbing," "course objectives," "developmental disabilities," and "vocational training." Meanwhile, a teacher-in-training has duties that require skills in areas such as "k-12," "staff development," "student achievement," and "student engagement." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, teachers-in training earn a lower salary than vocational instructors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, teachers-in training earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $39,697. Whereas vocational instructors have higher pay in the utilities industry, with an average salary of $41,669.teachers-in training earn higher levels of education than vocational instructors in general. They're 13.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 8.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for vocational instructors in the next 3-5 years?
John Porter Ph.D.
Executive Director and Online Instructor, AGWA - American Grant Writers' Association, Inc.
The technology is that younger, individual writers may like to stay up on the most recent software and communication methods. Whereas funders, private, corporate, and government, tend not to keep up as fast and have older software versions. This means that the newest and glitziest software may not be compatible with the funder's software when submitting grant proposals and applications.
Vocational instructor vs. Cooperative education student
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.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, vocational instructors are more likely to have skills like "plumbing," "course objectives," "developmental disabilities," and "vocational training." But a cooperative education student is more likely to have skills like "patient care," "co-op," "gpa," and "icu."
Cooperative education students typically earn similar educational levels compared to vocational instructors. Specifically, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Vocational instructor vs. Instructor, adjunct faculty
Even though a few skill sets overlap between vocational instructors and instructors, adjunct faculty, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a vocational instructor might have more use for skills like "plumbing," "developmental disabilities," "vocational training," and "safety standards." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of instructors, adjunct faculty require skills like "student learning," "course syllabus," "course curriculum," and "learning outcomes. "
In general, instructors, adjunct faculty earn the most working in the education industry, with an average salary of $54,888. The highest-paying industry for a vocational instructor is the utilities industry.instructors, adjunct faculty reach higher levels of education compared to vocational instructors, in general. The difference is that they're 19.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 5.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of vocational instructor
Updated January 8, 2025
