Graduate Assistant
Impact: Knowledge creation, Student development
Assists faculty or staff with research, teaching, or administrative duties while pursuing a graduate degree.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- Moderate
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Flexible
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 20-30 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $28,000
- Entry-level
- $20,000 - $35,000
- Senior
- $40,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 5% (average)
- Demand
- Stable
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- Low to 20-50% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $20,000 - $75,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Research Methods
- Data Analysis
- Academic Writing
- Presentation Software
- Subject Matter Expertise
Soft skills
- Time Management
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Problem-Solving
- Collaboration
Technical complexity: Moderate
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 2-4 years
- Years to senior
- 5-8 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Graduate Assistant
- Postdoctoral Researcher
- Assistant Professor
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 25% to some tasks like grading and data entry could be automated
- AI disruption risk
- Moderate
- Demand trend
- Stable
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.5/10
- Meaning
- 4/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.2/10
- Prestige
- 6.5/10
- Social perception
- High