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[edulocator]

I actually went to a career coach to help me get into teaching. I had taught before while an undergrad as a teaching assistant, overseas and as a teaching assistant again, as well as having my own class during graduate studies. When I moved from one city to another after graduation I found it really hard to land a teaching job. Now that I am in the thick of things, I now know some tricks that I hope will help many people out.

The key is contacting the coordinator of the program you want to work for. At least I know this is true in Canada. It is the coordinator who makes the hiring decisions and they can help you get a job. As well, if you have a special expertise in an area and you see the school does not offer a course in that domain, you should try pitching the course idea to the coordinator as well and this should help you to at least get on part-time. Usually part-time work can lead to a lot more work down the road and if you reach the partial-load status as it is known in Canada, you will get the first pick at full-time employment. The thing is though that depending on how many courses you teach and how many schools you teach at, you may find you are actually making more money working so-called "part-time" or "partial-load" than you would full-time.

I hope that helps out all you qualified job seekers out there.

[pandora]

Thanks, zinnerson.

[voxprincipalis]

Hey, wow! Do you also have helpful links I could look at, like maybe your top ten study tips or how to choose a career?

[zharkov]

Almost none of the OP's experience applies in the US.

[ea15792]

I actually went to a career coach to help me get into teaching. I had taught before while an undergrad as a teaching assistant, overseas and as a teaching assistant again, as well as having my own class during graduate studies. When I moved from one city to another after graduation I found it really hard to land a teaching job. Now that I am in the thick of things, I now know some tricks that I hope will help many people out.

The key is contacting the coordinator of the program you want to work for. At least I know this is true in Canada. It is the coordinator who makes the hiring decisions and they can help you get a job. As well, if you have a special expertise in an area and you see the school does not offer a course in that domain, you should try pitching the course idea to the coordinator as well and this should help you to at least get on part-time. Usually part-time work can lead to a lot more work down the road and if you reach the partial-load status as it is known in Canada, you will get the first pick at full-time employment. The thing is though that depending on how many courses you teach and how many schools you teach at, you may find you are actually making more money working so-called "part-time" or "partial-load" than you would full-time.

I hope that helps out all you qualified job seekers out there.

This is great if this worked for you.  However, I think it's misleading for most job seekers (at least here in the US, I don't know about Canada).  Most colleges and universities in the US don't offer courses  based on an idea a potential adjunct has pitched them.  Every college and university I have been involved with develop courses for a particular major and it's the administration and full-time faculty that make those determinations. 

And there are plenty of stories on this forum alone that indicate that the inside candidate doesn't necessarily get the full-time job.  And last time I checked without benefits, it's very difficult for a person who is adjuncting to make more money working part-time than full-time.

[american_in_ab]

Almost none of the OP's experience applies in the US.

Many (I would bet most) department heads or program chairs in Canada would not respond well to a cold-call from a potential adjunct about new courses that she or he wants to teach.  We're really not all that different from U.S. universities in this regard!

At our university, new courses can be taught on relatively short notice as a section of a "special topics" course, but officially approving new courses for the curriculum and course calendar takes a year or two.  And yes, most chairs generally feel that they already have a good idea of what courses they want taught in their programs.

However, I am glad that it worked out for you, OP.  I just don't think this is very general advice for most people on this board, regardless of location.

Hey, wow! Do you also have helpful links I could look at, like maybe your top ten study tips or how to choose a career?

I honestly think Zinnerson is just enthusiastically sharing her/his experience with us, free of charge and commerical interest.   Worth every penny, too!  Beyond the (not very generalizable) bit about creating your own courses, the main thrust seems to be, "Can't find full time work as an academic?  Be an adjunct instead!"

The one part that does reflect some real differences between Canada in the U.S. is that part-time teaching staff are paid better up here, as has been discussed in other threads.

[voxprincipalis]

Try googling the moniker and maybe you will find some more equally helpful teaching advice.

They may, of course, be unrelated, and it could just be a *staggering* coincidence.

VP

[octoprof]

I actually went to a career coach to help me get into teaching. I had taught before while an undergrad as a teaching assistant, overseas and as a teaching assistant again, as well as having my own class during graduate studies. When I moved from one city to another after graduation I found it really hard to land a teaching job. Now that I am in the thick of things, I now know some tricks that I hope will help many people out.

The key is contacting the coordinator of the program you want to work for. At least I know this is true in Canada. It is the coordinator who makes the hiring decisions and they can help you get a job. As well, if you have a special expertise in an area and you see the school does not offer a course in that domain, you should try pitching the course idea to the coordinator as well and this should help you to at least get on part-time. Usually part-time work can lead to a lot more work down the road and if you reach the partial-load status as it is known in Canada, you will get the first pick at full-time employment. The thing is though that depending on how many courses you teach and how many schools you teach at, you may find you are actually making more money working so-called "part-time" or "partial-load" than you would full-time.

I hope that helps out all you qualified job seekers out there.

One thing to remember when reading an online forum is that some posts will not only not be helpful to you, despite a descriptive and potentially interesting subject line, but rather some posts will, in fact, be total bollocks.

[atalanta]

Hey, wow! Do you also have helpful links I could look at, like maybe your top ten study tips or how to choose a career?

Try googling the moniker and maybe you will find some more equally helpful teaching advice.

They may, of course, be unrelated, and it could just be a *staggering* coincidence.

VP

VP once again proves the truth of her tagline:

"How am I so much smarter than most everyone who has posted?"



She's just waaay sharper and quicker than the rest of us!! :-)   I bow in her general direction.

[sciencephd]

Here are some priceless tidbits from the "Edulocator"  (Educlocator blog) :

"Take your future into your own hands by obtaining professional training in physical labour industries"

"Dental hygiene doesn’t only give clients a radiating smile. It also prevent diseases from spreading to other parts of the body, making them true miracle workers."

Inquiring minds want to know of the Educlocator is related to the Governator.

[zarathustra]

Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam...

[octoprof]

Spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam spam...

is really good fried up like my grandmother used to make it.

[born2late]

Well, there's baked beans and spam. It's not got much spam in it.

[larryc]

When I grew up we used to eat Spam fried in maple syrup. We were Yankee hillbillies, by God.

[yellowtractor]

When I grew up we used to eat Spam fried in maple syrup. We were Yankee hillbillies, by God.

Oh yes, this is very tasty indeed.

--Wait, wait thread is this, anyway??  Why, exactly, are we here?  Is it Beckett again?  Hello?  Anybody?