Professor Career Profile
- Career Name - Professor
- Category - Education / Animal Care / Animal Health / Farming and Livestock Management / Marine Conservation / Wildlife Conservation / Scientific
- Skills Required - Life skills 40% - Career skills 60%
- Basic School Subjects - Language, Biology, Science
- Minimum Required Education - Doctoral Degree
- Species Worked With - Domesticated and Wildlife
- Short Courses with Rewards = Points +Badges
Do you want to work as a Professor?
READ: This page helps you to read about the career and the info you need to decide on whether this is indeed the career you want to follow.
RESEARCH: Learn about the skills required and minimum subjects to enter this career, as well as the places where you can study further after school.
PREPARE: If you want to plan and prepare for the career, then join the OZT Community! Members have access to tools, while chatting with other students and experts from around the world. Prepare to be amazed!
CAREER MENTOR
UPDATED:
28 September 2023
Page Adverts:
What is a Professor?
A professor is someone who achieved a high level of knowledge and experience in a particular field, and uses that knowledge to educate tertiary level students at college or university.
Career Categories
The Professor career can be found in the following career categories:
- Education
- Animal Care
- Animal Health
- Farming and Livestock Management
- Scientific
- Marine Conservation
- Wildlife Conservation
What does a Professor do?
With which Groups of animals does a Professor work with?
What does a Professor focus on?
A professor will focus on instructing students in a specific academic subject, as well as on conducting research and publishing scholarly papers and books.
What are the daily tasks of a Professor?
- Develop a curriculum for the course
- Plan lessons and assignments
- Teach students on the course or subject
- Assess students’ progress by grading papers and tests
- Advise students about courses and research
- Supervise graduate students who are working toward doctoral degrees
- Conduct research and experiments to advance knowledge in the field
- Serve on academic and administrative committees
- Write reports
- Administration and filing
The working Environment of a Professor
Where does a Professor work?
Environment –
The classes and further interaction with students and other role players will be mostly indoors. Practical lessons involving farm animals and wildlife can be held outdoors.
Places of Employment –
They work in public and private colleges and universities, professional schools, junior or community colleges, and career and vocational schools.
What is the average annual salary of a Professor?
They can earn a yearly average of US$140,000 per year. The salary will differ from country to country, and the level of experience.
Can a Professor be promoted?
There are basic levels and the amount of promotions will depend on the specific study field.
The possible levels:
Assistant Professor > Associate Professor > Full Professor
What difficulties can a Professor face?
Most professors only focus on the academic side of teaching, but some do engage in a higher level of practical interaction with animals. They can work with difficult and sometimes dangerous animals. The work might also entail long hours and working over weekends and holidays.
Future Growth and Possibilities
Overall employment of college professors is projected to grow 9%, much faster than the average for all occupations.
Employment within the online educational field (people studying mainly online) will be growing extremely fast, and therefore employ the most lecturers and professors.
Which Skills are required by a Professor?
The skills required for a career as a Professor can be divided into two very important groups. The first is the group containing life skills, which are the core skills that are necessary or desirable for full participation in everyday life. The second group is career skills, or the specific skills required to allow a person to enter and operate effectively within a specific career. Some or maybe even all of the life skills can assist in strengthening the career skills, and they might even be the same for specific careers.
Life Skills
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Critical thinking
- Creative thinking
- Decision making
- Problem Solving
- Effective communication
- Interpersonal relationship
Career Skills
- Ability to give educational talks to the public
- Good health and physical fitness
- Excellent computer literacy
Which Subjects must I have at School to prepare for this career?
Language as a subject is key for you to understand more about communication, creating and effectively delivering curriculum.
If you are going to educate people on animals, then biology will be a good subject at School as a foundation for understanding the animals and their behaviour.
Science is a good subject to have, but it all depends on which direction of study you are thinking of. Some careers or fields do not require science.
The subjects you choose at school are important as they lay the foundation for further studies at college or university. While still at school, it’s also important to learn more about the animals you will work with, as well as gain some experience.
OZT has a list of various tertiary institutions where you can study further, after school. Each of these institutions also have their own Group page on OZT where you will find the exact subjects they require of you to have passed in school. Keep these requirements in mind, and discuss it with your school, guidance counselor and parents to ensure that you are prepared!
What will I need to Study to become a Professor?
Minimum Requirements
The minimum qualifications is a Doctoral Degree or Doctorate in the field you are interested in.
Study Focus
Majors –
A professor is appointed or given tenure within the field of specialization. This means that you need to find out what the field is you are interested in, and then which subjects will be necessary. Most professors who do work with animals would have had at least animal science as a major while studying.
Short Courses –
Short Courses will again be determined by the field you are interested in. If you want to teach about animal care, then short courses in subjects such as animal first aid can be completed..
Study Duration
The duration of University Degrees are between 3 and 4 years, with an additional 4 to 6 years for a Doctorate. Tenure as a professor can then take another few years, depending on experience and specialization. Short Courses are usually between a few weeks and a year.
Possible Career Preparation Paths
If this is your dream career that you want to pursue, then it’s important to plan the way forward.
Why is planning important?
To ensure that you understand the requirements for your career, and that you are always prepared for the next step on the road towards your dream. A Preparation Path is like your road map to where you want to be.
Possible Paths:
Possible Combined Career Paths
It is possible to sometimes combine two or more related careers. This normally happens when you study and practice a specific main career, but the knowledge and experience gained also help you to have a paying hobby or secondary income career.
Possible Alternatives (there are a lot more):
Average level of education of all the people who enter the career
Licenses, Certificate, Registration and Professional Associations
Certain animal careers require some form of legal certification to prove that you can indeed do the work, and work with the necessary equipment.
Learn more about requirements by joining the OZT Community.
Professional Associations
Where can I study further?
All of the above information will help you understand more about the Career, including the fact that there are different paths to take to reach it. But if you are almost done with High School (Grades 11 or 12), you also need to start thinking about further studies, and WHERE you will study.
See the List of Universities, Colleges and Online Training Academies who offer courses towards the field you are interested in.
Join the OZT community and Professor Group
Join us as a special member and learn more about becoming a Professor.
Members of the Platform have special access to:
- Info on the best places where you can study (colleges, universities and online)
- Expertly designed advice to prepare you for the career, and links to places where you can gain valuable experience. For some career experience is necessary, otherwise you wont get the job!
- Top notch info on each of the different species you will work with
- Make friends around the world and share knowledge
- Compete and win points, badges, games, prizes and certificates. Be the best of the best, while you learn and prepare!
If you have decided on being a Professor, please click on the JOIN GROUP button. Members will be directed to the Group, while non-members will be assisted to register first.
If this career is NOT the career for you, then you may return to the MAIN CAREER menu, and search for something different.
Other interesting Careers
Career Profiles and Resources
Career Mentors are Members who assist by volunteering to keep each Career Page factual and current, while mentoring Students in the related Career Group.
Contributions by expert members are always appreciated to allow the Students to make informed decisions. Please add your contribution through the attached Form:
List of Career Mentors/Educators who have contributed to this Career info:
One Zoo Tree
A few pictures about the Career:
- Link
Some of the best websites to help you decide on the Career:
