How to Become an Adjunct Professor

Universities hire adjuncts to teach.

Working as an adjunct is very rewarding. It is the perfect job for the teacher who doesn't need full-time work or for those just starting out in the teaching profession. While adjuncting does not usually pay all the bills, it can pay most of them.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree (at least)

1. Get your degree. Most universities are looking for someone with at least a master's degree to teach college classes. However, community colleges and career colleges hire adjunct professors with only a bachelor's degree to teach prep classes.

2. Put all your professional information in one place and keep it organized. Keep your resume, transcripts and reference letters where you can access them quickly. Consider scanning important documents to your computer so that you can upload them instantly when making applications online.

3. Make a thorough search of your immediate neighborhood for every college you can find. Almost every major city has a career college or two, and they are always hiring adjunct professors. Also, there are technical schools for everything from culinary arts to real estate to massage school. You may just have skills that they need in their classrooms. And some of them hire with only a bachelor's degree.

4. Prepare your resume. Have a professional look over the resume to see if you can beef it up at all. Have print versions and online versions of your work available for potential employers.

5. Sell yourself. When you go in for the face-to-face interview you need to bring everything that you can think of that will sell you. Know your area of expertise backward and forward so that you will be comfortable. Run a search online for possible interview questions. This will help you feel more prepared during the interview.

6. Relax. Patience is one gift you will need in your search for an adjunct position. It may take several years before that call comes asking you to fill a position. Be patient but persistent. Watch the colleges you applied to for openings and call them to remind them that you are available and your paperwork is already on file.

Tips & Warnings

• Fill out all the paperwork when applying for jobs. Your application will be not even be looked at if all the documents requested are not present and accounted for.

• Don't expect to become rich by adjuncting. Adjuncts are paid fairly decent but they are only allowed to teach a certain number classes each term.

References

• Adjunct Professor Online