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[hollow_man]

One thing I have not seen raised in this thread: Teaching is evaluated by means that are untrustworthy, to put it bluntly. Student comments and internal teaching awards can be highly subjective and idiosyncratic.

In contrast, a list of publications in Big And Well Known Journals allows a committee more trustworthy "vetting" of the candidate's strength.

[patchouli]

I have heard the a variety of answers on the questions you ask, Naomin.  I've heard stories of less than a year adjuncting and getting hired, and more than 20 and getting hired.  It would be very interesting to see some hard statistics on how this plays out in reality.

It may also help you to apply to areas that are less geographically desirable in order to well use your best "selling" years, if there are any.

I personally think having a Plan B is good for anyone with a Plan A, and I had one, and would have moved to another job.  Much of that decision rests on your own financial and personal goals, as well as your own family situation.  In a larger sense, I do not think it is good for the system if people are willing to adjunct forever as I believe it encourages exploitation, and I wish part-timers would get more collective, but that is their choice.

Also, I have heard more criticism for those who carry too heavy a teaching load adjuncting than those who don't.  This is unfortunate because part-timers need more classes to make ends meet; however, those extra classes are looked at as lessening the quality of teaching--but it would probably have to be over five, from what I have heard.

I realize there is no standard answer, but I'm curious- how many years of adjuncting before one realizes that it's just "not going to happen" meaning inspite of applying everywhere to schools one is qualified for, one is not going to land that TT job?

Do adjuncts have a shelf life? At one end I was told 2-3 years and then you should look at other options-another opinion was that I'd need at least 5 years of full time adjuncting.

The pay is killing me. The lack of security is killing me. But I know I love teaching and I want to do it as a career. I'm just not sure when I should "give up" on the idea of a TT job and stop adjuncting.

And, would SCs look as favorably on one or two classes per semester of experience as they might 5 or 6 classes per semester of experience?

[iomhaigh]

iomhaigh,

I don't understand what you are getting at here - can you spell it out for me? I don't know what the book contract and six articles mean in terms of research or publishing because my field does not work that way. Do this example represent someone accomplished in their work but not in teaching?

Do we want someone with a book contract, six articles and two sections of a intro class?  Nope. 

Sorry for the supremely late reply, but yes -- a book contract and six articles is meant to represent someone who is very accomplished in their research.  If that research accomplishment is accompanied by only two sections of teaching EVER, then you're not the person for us and we're not the school for you.  (Remember, we're a 4/4 school where most people have at least 3 different preps each semester.) 

That CV would be great for another school, but that CV would not make it to the top of our 200+ applicants because of the lack of teaching experience and, frankly, the assumption that you'd never come/ never stay/ be miserable because of the teaching load which doesn't leave time for the kind of research agenda that the person with that CV succeeds at producing.