principle Career Path | See the Career Paths People Really Take

executive director

art director

building inspector

professor

author

keynote speaker

strategy director

adjunct professor

chief medical officer

assembler

host

Adjunct faculty instructor is a part-time professor at colleges or universities. The responsibilities of adjunct faculty instructors are to teach specialised subjects, prepare syllabus, conduct exams, and evaluate the students performance and skills. They are often expected to address the students on moral and social principles including environmental issues while guiding the students and following the conduct rules and organisation norms. As an adjunct faculty instructor, they need to conduct regular meetings and discuss the methods to improve the performance of students while developing and using the relevant teaching approach and methodologies.

Discover the journey to becoming an assistant professor, from earning a PhD to managing postdoctoral research, and uncover valuable tips on expanding your academic network. Learn about the unique challenges and rewards of this passion-driven career, including the opportunity to shape young minds and witness their growth firsthand.

<h2>Assistant Professor Requirements&nbsp;</h2><p>I am a teaching and research assistant professor. I've always loved teaching, and becoming an assistant professor was my dream job. When you graduate from high school, you go to college and university to earn your degree but you need a higher degree. A PhD is the minimum requirement for securing an academic job. If you decide just to teach, obtaining a PhD should be enough. However, if you plan to have your own lab, manage PhD students, or pursue postdoctoral research, you need to complete postdoctoral positions as well.&nbsp;</p><h2>Degree Tip</h2><p>It is advisable to get your PhD from one university and pursue postdoctoral opportunities at other universities to expand your network and enhance your knowledge.</p><h2>Salary</h2><p>Salaries for assistant professors in the US vary between $100,000 to $200,000 based on the location and depending on experience and funding.&nbsp;</p><h2>Things to Know&nbsp;</h2><p>This is not a 9 to 5 job like a typical industry job. There are times when you need to respond to emails, prepare presentations for classes or meetings, or work on weekends or nights. It is important to be aware of these requirements.</p><h2>Pros and Cons</h2><p>This job is not easy; you need to be passionate about your work and love what you do. If you don't, academia might not be the right fit for you. However, one of the great benefits of academia is being in constant touch with the younger generation. I work with five to ten undergraduates each year, and I learn a lot from my students. At the same time, I have the opportunity to witness the growth of others, which makes this job wonderful for me.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

The Art Director creates the visual aspects of a specific campaign and oversees a staff to produce the related designs.  Their role is to provides work direction to a team, assign schedules, coach employees, and meet art department work standards by following production, productivity, quality and customer assistance regulations.  Their responsibilities are to resolve operational queries, identify work process changes, meet art department cost measures by monitoring expenses and implementing cost-saving actions, formulate art concepts, select and secure illustrative stock by forming basic layout design concepts and conducting research, produce layouts for printing by marking-up, pasting-up, and finishing layouts, obtain client approval by offering final layouts, storyboards and models, and improve the results by studying, evaluating and re-designing processes.

Audrey shares her career journey as a successful associate creative director. She shares how to get into a design field and tips for advancing your creative career while staying inspired and fulfilled.

<h2>My Career Path to Associate Creative Director</h2><p>I started out working on a magazine as an intern, and I learned a lot on the job as we do. And then from there, I became a graphic designer. And from there, I became a junior art director. And from there, I became an art director, a senior art director, and now I'm an ACD—associate creative director. So maybe next, I'll be a creative director. But that's kind of like the path.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Pros and Cons of a Creative Leader</h2><p>I think some of the pros are being able to work professionally as an artist. That's a huge pro. And some cons are, you know, you have to be willing and able to understand that you're doing this for a client. So it's not going to always be the work you think it should be.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Creative Environment</h2><p>Creative direction is a job that can often be done totally remote, and that can be a pro and a con. I think going into an office is great because, as an artist, I really need to collaborate. I really need people to balance things off of, and I just need to not be in the same place every day.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Salary</h2><p>I feel really privileged to have a full-time career as a designer. I think salary depends on where you work, every job, not only where you work regionally, but the company you work at. Because, for example, a lot of tech jobs have bigger budgets, smaller companies have smaller budgets. So I think it's good to consider where you want to work, if you want to work at a really big company, if you want to work at a really small company, and then how much is it important to you to make a lot of money? Is it important to you to live in a place where cost of living is low and make enough money? I would look online to really check out—there's a salary guide done every year by maybe the AIGA, and so every year I think it's good to check on that and see where salary guidelines have upped or improved.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Power of Exposure</h2><p>I think that as an artist, as a creative, getting exposure to different work processes, tools, creative directors, different clients, different types of creative you're working on, different asks is super crucial. If the opportunity comes up to move around, move around often, not only for the creative opportunity but also because they say that the best way to get a raise is to get a new job.</p><p><br></p>

The Assembler places parts and subassemblies by following instructions and established procedures.  Their role is to put together parts to build more complex units, select or modify components according to measurements and specifications, and take precision measurements to ensure a perfect fit of components.  Their responsibilities are to report on issues, malfunctions or defective parts, keep records of production quantities and time, check output to ensure quality, and collect all materials and equipment needed to begin the process.

A Building Inspector is responsible for inspecting buildings and structures to ensure that they comply with local building codes, health regulations, and safety standards. They may also be tasked with issuing permits for construction projects or providing advice on the necessary steps to obtain such a permit. Inspectors will typically examine both new and existing buildings and structures to assess their structural integrity, as well as any potential fire or electrical hazards. Additionally, Building Inspectors are often required to document their findings in clear reports which can then be used by other professionals (such as architects) for further analysis.

The Chief Medical Officer is a healthcare administrator who supervises the effective management of medical centers. Their role is to liaise between administration, managing clinical operations, and medical staff and ensure that patients are receiving the highest standard of medical care. Their responsibilities are balancing the duties of physicians, being responsible for the performance of physicians, ensuring that all healthcare regulations and safety standards are met, keeping staff updated on new healthcare regulations, finding ways to improve clinical services, reporting to the chief executive officer, recruiting and mentoring physicians, and developing and managing a hospital budget. 

An Executive Director makes the decisions for a company in how to manage operations and resources.  Their role is to maintain a deep knowledge of the markets and industry of the company, analyze problematic situations and occurrences, and provide solutions to ensure company survival and growth.  Their responsibilities are to build trust relations with key partners and stakeholders, act as a point of contact for important shareholders, review financial and non-financial reports to devise solutions or improvements, enforce adherence to legal guidelines and in-house policies, make high quality investing decisions to advance the business and increase profits, and lead and motivate subordinates to improve employee engagement.

The Host greets guests, escorts customers to the dining and bar areas, and provides accurate wait times.  Their role is to monitor waiting lists, welcome guests to the venue, manage reservations, and coordinates with wait staff about available seating options.  Their responsibilities are to provide menus, thank customers upon their departure, maintain a clean reception area, answer incoming calls, and address customers’ queries.

The Keynote Speaker is someone who provides information to an audience.  Their role is presenting speeches about a company and its products, answering audience questions, and interacting with members of the public.  Their responsibilities are leading pre-speech research, outlining and writing speech scripts, meeting with company managers to discuss speech topics, rehearsing and perfecting speech delivery, driving to public auditoriums and conference centers, conducting sound and microphone checks, and attending post-speech meetings.

A principle job role is a position that has the highest level of responsibility within an organization. It typically involves overseeing the overall operations and direction of the company, setting policies and ensuring they are followed, allocating resources to various projects or initiatives, developing strategies for growth and success, monitoring performance metrics, providing leadership guidance to staff members, and representing the organization in public forums.

principle

A professor is the highest academic rank at a university.  A professor often teaches classes, but their broader role is to improve academic standards, and to provide leadership in curriculum development, course design, and teaching methods. Professors mentor students, present lectures, evaluate student progress, conduct original research, supervise graduate students' research, and teach undergraduate, professional, or postgraduate courses in their fields of expertise.  In many universities, full professors take on senior managerial roles such as leading departments, research teams and institutes, and filling roles such as president, principal or vice-chancellor. The role of professor may be more public-facing than that of more junior staff, and professors are expected to be national or international leaders in their field of expertise.

The Strategy Director works with senior managers to determine the current direction of a business, and how it will be able to acheive its goals within its current trajectory.  Their role is to guide strategy discussions that encompass the purpose and values of the organization with a focus on setting medium and long-term goals.  Their responsibilities are to obtain and evaluate information about industry and market trends, competitive threats, and possible business opportunities, be aware of potential legislation that can affect areas of the company's operations, and understand the internal culture and capabilities of the company.

Principle Career Path