Education, Training, and Library · Holland code SIR

Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary

Teach vocational courses intended to provide occupational training below the baccalaureate level in subjects such as construction, mechanics/repair, manufacturing, transportation, or cosmetology, primarily to students who have graduated from or left high school. Teaching takes place in public or private schools whose primary business is academic or vocational education.

Also called: Cosmetology Instructor, HVAC-R Instructor (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, And Refrigeration Instructor), Instructor, Professor, Automotive Instructor, Automotive Technology Instructor, Flight Instructor, Teacher.

O*NET 25-1194.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $63,820; Middle half earn $50,320 to $82,360. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree; 42% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Observe and evaluate students' work to determine progress, provide feedback, and make suggestions for improvement.
Present lectures and conduct discussions to increase students' knowledge and competence using visual aids, such as graphs, charts, videotapes, and slides.
Supervise and monitor students' use of tools and equipment.
Administer oral, written, or performance tests to measure progress and to evaluate training effectiveness.
Provide individualized instruction and tutorial or remedial instruction.
Prepare reports and maintain records, such as student grades, attendance rolls, and training activity details.
Develop curricula and plan course content and methods of instruction.
Determine training needs of students or workers.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Learning Strategies4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Speaking3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Education and Training4.5 / 5
English Language3.8 / 5
Mechanical3.7 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.7 / 5
Mathematics3.7 / 5
Administrative3.5 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic46
Investigative53
Artistic36
Social94
Enterprising18
Conventional38

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

fine arts instructor · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Bildende Kunst · FR professeur des beaux-arts/professeure des beaux-arts
vocational teacher · DE Lehrkraft im Bereich Berufsbildung · FR professeur d’enseignement professionnel/professeure d’enseignement professionnel
food service vocational teacher · DE Lehrkraft im Bereich Gastronomie · FR professeur de restauration/professeure de restauration
hairdressing vocational teacher · DE Lehrkraft für Friseurwesen · FR professeur de coiffure/professeure de coiffure
industrial arts vocational teacher · DE Lehrkraft für industriell gefertigte Kunst · FR professeur d’arts industriels/professeure d’arts industriels
medical laboratory technology vocational teacher · DE Lehrkraft für medizinische Labortechnik · FR professeur en techniques de laboratoire d’analyses médicales/professeure en techniques de laboratoire d’analyses médicales

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Higher education teaching professionals (2311)258,500 employed
Further education teaching professionals (2312)59,800 employed
Teaching professionals n.e.c. (2319)128,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.16. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (25-1194).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test