Career Path Case Study- Lecturer

When thinking about work after university I would consider becoming a photography lecturer. I have been thinking about this recently because I am so grateful for my lecturers and everything they have taught me over the past 3 years. Therefore, I would love to pass on my knowledge to other aspiring photographers. Furthermore, I feel that it would be a great way to also stay connected to the industry and inspire me to progress.

With that being said, I have no experience in the teaching industry, therefore that will be something I need to gain to develop those skills. In terms of a future plan here is what i’m thinking for my first years after university.

1 Year Plan:

  • Get my flat in Bath

  • Get a standard job to earn some money

  • settle into non-uni life

  • start looking into ways i can gain experience within the teaching industry

  • KEEP MAKING WORK

I would like to complete this in the first year post uni as a start to gaining money and heading in the right direction for a career. Alongside this i obviously want to carry on producing my own projects on the side, which I know may be difficult but I know that it is vital to my life and that i love to do it so why would i stop? I know I would be working full time, so that doesn’t give me a lot of spare time to complete these things but I feel like the knowledge, connections and satisfaction would be worth it.

In terms of actually becoming a lecturer I am aware this will be quite a long term investment and will take a lot of time and effort. In the next five years I would like to carry on making my own work, in the hopes to make some kind of name for myself, but I would also like to look into getting my MA in that time. Furthermore, I want to keep studying and becoming knowledgable in my craft.

For me personally, I feel like i need to trust the process of this journey and take it slow. I find i can get quite caught up in getting things done straight away rather than slowing down and taking time to complete things. I think this is relevant to this career plan too, I need to be aware that it will take time to complete this. Therefore, I’m planning in the next 5 years to:

  • Get a flat

  • get a job

  • keep making work
    - along with making books etc

  • stay within the industry
    - attend talks
    - attend shows
    - netwrok

  • Look into getting some experience within the teaching industry
    - specifically in the arts

  • Get my MA
    - going to need to research where I want to go
    - look into funding/finance (not sure how that works with an MA)

Finally within the next 10 years i want to do all of that and then move on into lecturing.