About being a professor

First of all, let me talk about my MBPI results briefly. My personality type is INTJ, so I am kind of a perfectionist, private and creative person. Expected careers for INTJ people could be as a scientist, writer, doctor or professor. I have chosen to investigate the career of professor.

Next, I am going to talk about a professor’s work conditions. Basically, they do lectures or research, so their work places would be universities, high schools or labs. Actually, they do not have tight schedules except when they need to teach classes. They have 3~5 classes a week, and they do research or have meetings with students during the rest of the time. Many professors have a part-time job as a writer or commentator, but being a part-time teacher is the most popular thing.

Now I will talk about the way to become a professor. This is the basic way to be a professor, and of course there are some other ways. At first, a Ph.D. is needed! Getting this advanced degree will help your career move forward. To get a Ph.D., you will need to study at a grad school for at least 5 years, so the youngest age you could start your career would be at age 27.

Next, I will examine the job outlook for professors. The future prospects for would-be professors is decreasing in Japan. The main reason for this is the declining population. This is true not only in Japan, but also in the U.S.

Now I would like to talk about salary. I think most of you will want to know about this. Entry-level salaries are about four million dollars, and up to 12 million dollars can be earned for experienced professors. Of course you can earn much more money depending on what your part time job is.The following list shows you about the career path of a professor. At first, many people get a job as a teaching assistant when they are a graduate student. Actually, this is not a paying job. It is a kind of volunteer position that helps you gain experience. Then, after finishing graduate school, people start their career as an assistant professor at around the age of 27. Later, they become an associate professor in their middle of thirties to forties. Finally they can become a professor in their fifties. However, this is very traditional career path, and the situation will soon change.

In this section, I will talk about advantages and disadvantages of being a professor. First, professors can do what they want to do. In other words, professors research or study some academic field that they really interested in, and this is so attractive because most people do what they want as a hobby and it never makes them any money. In addition, professors have more free time compared with people who work for a company. Of course this is NOT free time actually, because they have many tasks including their research, class work, and some desk work. One more thing: professors have less stress than people working for company because they usually work individually so nobody watches over their work. However, professors need plenty of knowledge, so you have to study very hard. In addition, you need a vast amount of money to earn a Ph.D. This might be the biggest wall to becoming a professor. And, once you earn a Ph.D, really heavy competition is waiting for you. There are so many people waiting for job offers from universities.

Now I’d like to give you my final impressions about being a professor. Through my research for this presentation, I really got interested in the work of professors. Actually, I am looking for a job where I can really take advantage of my skills. The work professors do really hits me in my mind, and the working conditions are attractive to me. I am not sure what I will do after a couple of years, but becoming a professor might be my final career goal.