10 Academic Jobs That Can Make For A Fulfilling Career

Posted on Sep 10 2019 - 10:39am by Editorial Staff

If you’ve been trying to decide on a career path and you’ve narrowed your search down to the education sector, you’re probably wondering what the highest-paying and most prestigious jobs in this field have to offer. Some jobs offer a great salary and other typical benefits, but they don’t come with any significant morale-boosting perks in terms of the satisfaction gained just by handling your daily duties. If you’ve set your sights high and are aiming for a job that pays well and makes you feel great about the role you’re playing in your community, here are the top 10 jobs that can make for the most fulfilling academic careers:

Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)

As a Higher-Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA), you can play an advanced role in helping students overcome learning challenges and disabilities. By choosing an HLTA course, you can get an idea of what to expect from this educational route and which prerequisites you’ll need to have in order to get started. Findcourses.co.uk provides a continually updated database of vocational courses, including a HLTA course, so it’s also an ideal platform for finding inspiration and comparing career advancement opportunities. You can take a 240-hour course to earn your certification as an HLTA and that will give you a credential that can help you land great teaching jobs in most developed nations. As a certified HLTA, you’ll also be qualified to offer online tutoring services, so there’s a possibility that you could utilise this skill set to pursue remote jobs or build a work-from-home career. Many of the courses that equip you with HLTA certification will also provide a full year of expert tutor services.

School Business Manager

If you’re looking for a job that will put you in charge of business duties for educational facilities, organisations, or districts, you may want to look into becoming a school business manager. While the educational and career path required to qualify you for this job position will normally require some experience in the field, the extra effort will pay off by giving you one of the fastest-growing jobs in the UK’s education industry. Plus, your income will be on the higher end of the spectrum in comparison to other education jobs.

Head Teacher

As the Head Teacher of a school, you’ll be responsible for overseeing and managing the daily, weekly, and monthly curricula, staff management, and student progress. Of course, you’ll also be in an ideal position to serve as a positive role model for the youth on a school-wide basis, so your influence won’t be restricted to one classroom or subject. However, be prepared to earn a master’s degree if this is the route you choose. You should also keep in mind that Head Teachers have to be some of the most disciplined and responsible professionals in the field of academia, so be prepared to operate with the utmost integrity.

Dean or Administrator

As a dean or administrator, you’ll be working with students and other educators to help with admissions, registrations, applications for financial aid and other similar clerical work. This is more of an analytical job that involves conducting research, devising policies, managing budgets, maintaining student databases, and performing other administrative duties. Like Head Teachers, deans and administrators need to complete a minimum of a master’s or doctoral degree. However, you’ll be helping students obtain tuition funding and providing tailored solutions to help your community solve problems related to housing, student life, and educational funding.

Chief Academic Officer

A Chief Academic Officer, also known as a Director of Education, is responsible for planning, coordinating, and directing educational programmes for secondary schools or universities and colleges. This is a good job to opt for if you want to play an administrative role but you don’t want to be responsible for an entire school or district. You’ll be directly responding to student and staff complaints, resolving issues related to discrepancies between departments, and extending and enriching course content and curriculum. Chief Academic Officers are expected to have a doctoral degree in educational leadership and a fair amount of experience in the field.

Instructional Coordinator

If you want to be involved in the design and development of new educational curriculum, becoming an instructional coordinator is an option worth considering. This is an upper level academic job that will have you training educators, selecting applicable textbooks for course curriculum, and refining existing programmes to work towards optimal student progress. Instructional coordinators are expected to have a master’s degree in education as well as a specialisation within at least one academic subject.

Librarian

Librarians play a more relaxed and subtle role in the everyday lives of students. The direct impact that you’re having by working in a library could be disputed, but it’s still a very fulfilling and enjoyable job for anyone who enjoys reading. With an estimated 130 million books in the world, librarians have a practically endless sea of content to explore within the context of their jobs.

Professor

If you’re passionate about a certain subject and you want to teach the next generation about that topic, working towards becoming a professor night be something to add to your list of career goals. Regardless of which subject you choose to specialise in, there’s a certain amount of prestige that comes with being a professor. This is another path that will require you to earn a master’s degree, but qualified professors are always in high demand and they have some of the greatest potential to directly impact students out of all the roles in academia.

Counsellor

If you’d rather help students with the emotional, social, and strategic aspect of managing student life and schoolwork, becoming a counsellor might be the path that rewards you with that fulfilling educational job you’ve been looking for. Many students go on to formally thank their counsellors or credit them with playing pivotal roles in their development as professionals. You’ll also be in the unique position of being able to gain insight into the personal affairs and problems that students face outside of the classroom which have an impact on their academic efforts.

Special Education Teacher

Teaching special education is definitely one of those jobs that can be fulfilling when you consider the fact that you’re doing a tough job which many other educators shy away from. By stepping up to the plate and specialising in popular learning disabilities and disorders, you can become a beacon of hope for special needs students in your community. In terms of career requirements, this is the second-most lenient option on this list behind only the top-mentioned HLTA, as you’ll only need a bachelor’s degree and special education certification to land a job as a special education teacher.

Most Academic Jobs Offer Some Sense of Fulfilment

Ultimately, regardless of which job you choose to pursue from the list above, you’re most likely going to find some sense of fulfilment by acting as an educator or important figure within the field of academia. Any time you’re influencing the next generation, there can be a tremendously inspiring feeling of satisfaction in knowing that your job is having a tangible impact on the near future of society. However, in order to expedite the process of landing a job that will not only make you feel good about yourself but also pay high wages, it’s important to make a commitment to get started on your career path as soon as possible.

About the Author

Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.