visual artist Career Path | See the Career Paths People Really Take

administrative assistant

business owner

group leader

lecturer

jewelry designer

machine operator

fashion model

clerk

visual artist

adjunct professor

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 Administrative Assistant helps and supports managers in administrative and clerical activities.  Their role is handling administrative requests, organizing and scheduling appointments, scheduling meetings, preparing minutes of meetings, preparing reports, and maintaining appropriate filing systems.  Their responsibilities are arranging events, supporting office policies and procedures, maintaining client and employee lists, reconciling expense reports, and arranging the accommodation and travel of employees or visitors.

If you are just starting out or looking to switch careers, working in an office environment may be your ticket. Can you communicate effectively and enjoy people? Advancement opportunities may be in your future.

<h2>Office / Administrative Support Education</h2><p>Technically you don't need a degree to get into this field. This is a great career for anybody just getting started or anybody who has been in another career and wants a good career change. A degree can definitely help you in this career especially if the position is asking for management and this will help you especially if you want to supervise or if the position allows you to supervise others.</p><p><br></p><h2>Skills</h2><p>It takes just somebody who is <strong>willing to learn</strong> who's a good <strong>people person </strong>and somebody who just really likes to <strong>help others</strong>. Being able to <strong>adapt</strong> is a very important skill in this position. Your company that you'd be maybe working with may change their needs. <strong>Technology </strong>is always changing to be able to adapt and to <strong>grow</strong> with that is very important depending on your company. Strong <strong>excel skills</strong>. Being able to have strong <strong>communication skills</strong> is going to be key to be able to work with and communicate with your managers, your customers, internal and external.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Role Pro</h2><p>One big pro of this is you can work in an in-person setting, hybrid or remote.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Role Advancement</h2><p>In my current company that I work for I started as an admin assistant and I developed this position to be more of a management position. I've taken that to managing people and now actually taking over onboarding and doing more HR role, payroll.</p><p><br></p><h2>Role Challenges</h2><p>A Con can be that you can be working under a lot of pressure with a lot of competing demands especially if the company has a lot of internal and external customers. This career is definitely customer service related so if you don't like working with people I do not recommend it.</p><p><br></p>

The Business Owner operates their own companies. Their role is creating a business plan, arranging finances, hiring staff, reviewing sales, and developing marketing strategies.  Their responsibilities are overseeing daily activities, identifying business opportunities, establishing prices of goods and services, maintaining a clean and orderly store, resolving customer complaints, and compiling and maintaining records and bookkeeping.

Do you like working with your hands and pushing yourself? Check out what it's like to be a Painter and Independent Contractor. See what it takes to be your own boss, and if this role suits your lifestyle and skill set.

<h2 dir="ltr">What I do:</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I'm an independent contractor and I work in construction. I do both residential and commercial painting and that leads into both interior and exterior repaints and new construction. I don't have any employees, it's just me sometimes I sub out work.&nbsp;</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Career Skills:</h2>
<p dir="ltr">You have to be healthy, you know, there's a lot of times when you're up on a ladder, you push yourself to your limits a lot, you can work out that there's a lot of roof work sometimes. That having a willingness to learn new things is huge if you're not learning something new every day, you're doing it wrong.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Job Challenges:&nbsp;</h2>
<p dir="ltr">You really do push yourself to the limits a lot but I really like that challenge personally. That's one aspect that I really enjoy about my job is that I'm working with my hands and I'm physically pushing myself every day.&nbsp;</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Work Life Balance:</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Sometimes my work to life balance is pretty sporadic. Most of the time there's not much life balance if you would. When you are working alone and you're on a kind of a larger project it comes time to get that done and you're going to work the weekends, you're going to work late, when you're outside, you're in the sun all day, you're going to come home tired and you're not going to want to do anything, at least for me that's that's the case.&nbsp;</p>
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<h2 dir="ltr">Tips for Starting Your Own Business:</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Be determined, have goals and plans and work towards them every single day. Find good construction companies to get in with and they're gonna help you throughout your entire career.</p>

The Clerk performs clerical and administrative duties for a company.  Their role is answering the telephone, typing documents, liaising with clients, maintaining filing, database systems and inventories, and welcoming clients.  Their responsibilities are to transcribe, record, fax and file documents, communicate with clients and employees, operate office equipment like  photocopiers and fax machines, respond to queries or complaints, sort and forward incoming mail and emails, prepare and send outgoing mail, prepare meeting rooms, and disseminate information to office staff.

A Fashion Model promotes and showcasew clothing, footwear and other products.  Their role is to participate in photoshoots, fashion shows, commercials, enterprise shows and conventions as well as pose for sculptors, artists and painters.  Their responsibilities are following the directions of photographers and posing for photoshoots, participating in advertisements and television commercials to promote various products and services, maintaining an updated portfolio of work, collaborating with hair and clothing stylists as well as makeup artists to create specific looks, ensuring a suitable health and fitness regimen to maintain a well-defined physical appearance by industry standards, and researching designer's fashionwear and products that are to be modeled and promoted.

A Group Leader oversees, coordinates, instructs and manages groups in a variety of settings.  Their role is managing, coordinating, supervising and training groups.  Their responsibilities are providing clear written and verbal instructions to group members, addressing any questions or concerns, planning daily activities and delegating tasks, ensuring health and safety regulations are obeyed, educating and training new group members as well as support staff, analyzing group performance, and making recommendations for improvement.

A Jewelry Designer studies, designs and prepares innovative jewelry ideas using sketches and sound drawings.  Their role is to design innovative jewelry pieces according to the brand aesthetic along with target cost points.  Their responsibilities are to review and correct products for technical accuracy, modify and integrate new features in samples creatively, create clear, clean and meticulous designs and sketches, develop well imagined and visualized jewelry designs, identify and determine market jewelry trends and arrange materials accordingly, maintain and manage workflow and jewelry track designs, components and materials, and complete projects as per product development guidelines and timeline.

Lecturers are subject matter experts who teach students usually at colleges and universities and are responsible for the design and development of course material, lesson plans, and curricula.  Responsibilities of a lecturer also include attending conferences, delivering and preparing lectures, seminars, and workshops, preparing test or exam papers, evaluating student's performance and collaborating with other academics and lecturers.

The Machine Operator works with heavy tools as well as computer-operated or mechanical equipment.  Their role is to assist with fixing and maintaining equipment by performing periodic tests and repairs, and operate the equipment to help in plant processes.  Their responsibilities are making sure machine parts meet specifications, calibrating machines to ensure tasks are completed correctly, reading blueprints, and following company safety rules and regulations.

The Visual Artist designs sculptures, paintings, videos, sketches and other types of artwork.  Their role is to communicate with clients and use their input to create visually appealing pieces.  Their responsibilities are to create sketches and project plans to help them stay on track and ensure the finished piece meets the specifications of the client or employer, create graphics for use in purchasing materials and promoting campaigns, and choosing the right materials for each project.

If you love art and love to create, have you considered making a living selling what you create? Paul has been a professional twig artist for over 30 years. Check out what he has to say about his career as well as some of his art pieces. 

<h2>Why I choose this Medium</h2><p>I'm an artist. I make twig art. I loved art and I art and it really rings a bell with me and I just had to go with it. I went to art school and I saw somebody else's work and it triggered the twig idea - the using twigs as my medium. You know it's taken a long time and I've had successes and failures. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years and every step is kind of exciting even when sometimes it's more boring and drudgy. In general it's very fulfilling.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>My Average Day as an Artist</h2><p>The average day depends on if I have an order and I know specifically somebody wants and then I have to build it. But if I'm just on my own and have free time I might collect twigs. I'm always kind of looking around when I drive around. So either that or being in my studio/space in the backyard and I put them together. Sometimes I'm working on the computer and trying to entice art advisors or interior designers to buy my art.</p><p><br></p><h2>How to Get Into This Field</h2><p>You need to have a body of work or something to show what you do and what you're trying to try to get out there. You can do it. You can go to school but today it's about promoting yourself.&nbsp; With the internet, it's wide open and you can do it easily. But it's a lot of work and you got to decide who you're going to write to. You still work hard at it. I would recommend you make yourself a website and send that around. I don't know what&nbsp; artsy little store you might have around you.- It could be around the country and get into ones so you could consign your art there. That's one way or work with an art advisor or work with an art gallery or anything and you can keep doing new shows and such.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Pros and Cons of being an Artist&nbsp;</h2><p>You can really get into it and love what you do then it's just a great thing. Cons are if you're not Picasso or somebody and have your name out there it could be a long road. But its still worth it. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

Visual Artist Career Path