Kid-friendly career (teaching) X-posted

(I know there are a few PhDs on mkp and mkb. That's why I'm
crossposting)

A bit of background before I ask you the question. I'm 29. I have a
one year old and a baby on the way (EDD sept). They will be one and
half years apart. I'm currently working fulltime in IT. It's a good
job in a great work place. Yet, it's not my dream job if there's one.
I have undergraduate degree in Engineering and an MBA in Marketing and
Finance. Since my kids are so close in age (I always wanted it that
way), I'm seriously considering taking a break from my job for two
years until my kids are old enough to communicate well and play with
other kids.

I have always wanted to teach. I taught graduate level courses as a
teaching assistant for a professor during my MBA days. I have a
commanding presence in the class and students listen to me. I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD. Since I don't
want to do research, I don't think I need a Ph.D (please correct me if
I'm wrong). I'm looking for 'Adjunct Instructor' kind of positions.
How exactly do I go about applying for these? Should I expect
rejections based on the fact that I don't have a PhD? I want to teach
Marketing/IT or a combination of these two.

Also, I'm assuming that being an adjunct instructor in a college will
be more conducive to my family. I'm assuming I will have
holidays/breaks when my kids do. I'm also assuming that the hours are
rather flexible. I know I will be earning considerably less than what
I'm earning now but that's a trade off I'm willing to take. Please
correct my assumptions. Any advice is very much appreciated. If you
want to reply directly, please mention that in your post because I
usually don't check my yahoo mail.

Thanks for reading.

ted wrote:
(I know there are a few PhDs on mkp and mkb. That's why I'm
crossposting)

I have always wanted to teach. I taught graduate level courses as a
teaching assistant for a professor during my MBA days. I have a
commanding presence in the class and students listen to me. I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD. Since I don't
want to do research, I don't think I need a Ph.D (please correct me if
I'm wrong). I'm looking for 'Adjunct Instructor' kind of positions.
How exactly do I go about applying for these? Should I expect
rejections based on the fact that I don't have a PhD? I want to teach
Marketing/IT or a combination of these two.

It really depends on the institutions to which you apply. More competitive
programs (i.e. research institutions) are more likely to insist on Ph.D.s
than four-year colleges and community colleges. However, I wouldn't assume
that adjuncting at a university is out of the question for you. It really
depends on the institution and, frankly, how much they need "slave labor"
for the introductory courses. (I use "slave labor" because adjuncting pays
notoriously little--more on that below).

My field is English, and I have adjuncted, taught as a grad fellow, and
taught as a one-year full-time replacement instructor. In the university
where I got my Ph.D., adjuncts were mostly grad students who had an MA and
had not yet finished their Ph.D. However, some also stayed on after they
finished but were still looking for full-time positions elsewhere. The
institution where I adjuncted and taught full-time is a four-year college.
For the most part, their adjuncts have MA's without Ph.D.'s, but a knew a
couple who had Ph.D.'s but who had chosen for various reasons to adjunct.
In my case, I adjuncted there when I was still working on my doctoral
dissertation, and I was hired on to teach the full-time temp. position when
I'd finished the doctorate. I decided I wasn't going to adjunct anymore
because of the low wages, but depending on your circumstances, it might be
something you'd want to do.

With adjuncting, you are paid by the course. I was taught $2100/course, and
the college rarely allowed adjuncts to teach more than two courses per
semester. Occasionally, an adjunct there was given a third course, but
never a fourth (because four/semester is their official full-time load and
they want to avoid having to pay their adjuncts anything approaching what
full-timers get, let alone benefits).

As for how you apply, I'd suggest beginning by looking at the websites of
colleges in your area. See who has a business program with courses you
would be able to teach. Find out who the department chair is, then send
him/her a cover letter outlining your experience and education, and a
curriculum vitae. Note that a CV differs from a resume. You can find
useful advice on putting one together at _The Chronicle of Higher Ed_
site--as well as advice on other topics that might be helpful for you.
Here's an index of their advice columns:

http://chronicle.com/jobs/archive/advice/talk.htm

Also, I'm assuming that being an adjunct instructor in a college will
be more conducive to my family. I'm assuming I will have
holidays/breaks when my kids do. I'm also assuming that the hours are
rather flexible. I know I will be earning considerably less than what
I'm earning now but that's a trade off I'm willing to take. Please
correct my assumptions. Any advice is very much appreciated. If you
want to reply directly, please mention that in your post because I
usually don't check my yahoo mail.

Yes, at most institutions you can expect winter break (roughly from
early/mid December to early/mid January), spring break (a week in March) and
summer (early/mid may to late August/early September). Typically, you can
expect a course that you teach to meet two-three times/week, for 50-75
minutes. I'd recommend teaching one course your first semester to get your
feet wet, and then work your way up to teaching more if you want to. Keep
in mind that, as I've mentioned, adjuncting is notorious for its low pay.
However, it might be just the thing for you. Also, you may find wide
variation as to how much each institution pays, so I'd suggest that you
apply to as many places as you can (however many are reasonably commutable
for you), and see who offers you the most. (Schools where the adjuncts
are unionized--more likely at state institutions--tend to pay more and
sometimes offer benefits.)

BTW, Jill Carroll writes an advice column for the Chronicle, "the adjunct
track," and has a webpage http://www.adjunctsolutions.com/. As I
understand it, she makes around 50K per year by doing *a lot* of adjuncting
at many different institutions. It's not for everyone, but you might find
some useful info from her.

HTH

--
Belphoebe

ted wrote:

(I know there are a few PhDs on mkp and mkb. That's why I'm
crossposting)

A bit of background before I ask you the question. I'm 29. I have a
one year old and a baby on the way (EDD sept). They will be one and
half years apart. I'm currently working fulltime in IT. It's a good
job in a great work place. Yet, it's not my dream job if there's one.
I have undergraduate degree in Engineering and an MBA in Marketing and
Finance. Since my kids are so close in age (I always wanted it that
way), I'm seriously considering taking a break from my job for two
years until my kids are old enough to communicate well and play with
other kids.

Hey, I resemble that ;-) My undergrad degrees are in
CS and music and I have an MBA. I also have an ABD, and bailed
on my PhD with 80 percent of my dissertation done (because
life got really busy and I decided I *didn't* want to teach).

I have always wanted to teach. I taught graduate level courses as a
teaching assistant for a professor during my MBA days. I have a
commanding presence in the class and students listen to me. I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD. Since I don't
want to do research, I don't think I need a Ph.D (please correct me if
I'm wrong). I'm looking for 'Adjunct Instructor' kind of positions.
How exactly do I go about applying for these? Should I expect
rejections based on the fact that I don't have a PhD? I want to teach
Marketing/IT or a combination of these two.

Honestly, you may have a challenge here. Most of
the good jobs require a PhD even for adjuncts (my mom taught
for a while as an adjunct with a PhD). You might have better
luck in your area, but my hunch is that any adjunct job you
can get without a PhD will not really even pay enough to
make it worth your while, unless money is totally not
a consideration. I know one of the local universities only
pays about $2000 *per semester* for adjuncts teaching, I
think, two classes. That's only $500/month. Gross income.

Also, I'm assuming that being an adjunct instructor in a college will
be more conducive to my family. I'm assuming I will have
holidays/breaks when my kids do.

Not necessarily. The colleges are not always on the
same schedule as the local schools. I have a friend (who is
ABD) who teaches as an ajdunct. She doesn't have a break
when her kids have spring break. Generally the winter break
mostly overlaps. She usually teaches one of the two summer
terms. Junior adjuncts can sometimes get stuck with more
of the summer courses.

I'm also assuming that the hours are
rather flexible.

This also depends. You may or may not have much
control over when the courses happen, but you should have
control over office hours and all the stuff you do at home.

I know I will be earning considerably less than what
I'm earning now but that's a trade off I'm willing to take. Please
correct my assumptions. Any advice is very much appreciated. If you
want to reply directly, please mention that in your post because I
usually don't check my yahoo mail.

Since you say you work in IT, is there a possibility
finding yourself a part-time mostly telecommuting job? That's
what I do, and I've usually been able to find something like
that with my background. I worked at the VA (health services
R&D) for a while, doing simulation modeling and statistical
support. I got that job through a professor who knew that
they were looking for someone. I now work for a government
contractor as their quality manager (ISO 9000). Normally,
that would be a full time job, but this company isn't that
big (yet) and because I bust my hump for them and give them
more QM for less money than they could get otherwise, they
accommodate my working part time mostly from home. It's
sometimes hectic, but it works well for me.
It usually takes connections to find jobs like this,
but since you're working now you might be able to arrange
something. I think teaching can be nice, but in the
situation you describe, you may have much more difficulty
finding anything, and what you do find may well pay peanuts.
Frankly, I'm not sure I'd be willing to go through the effort
for the money my friend who teaches as an adjunct makes. She
does it mostly just because she wants to keep a professional
oar in the water.

Good luck,
Ericka

Hi Ted,

You've gotten good advice so far, but I thought I'd
just add a bit... Most of the folks that I know who teach
adjunct courses have other FT (or PT) jobs (including one mom!),
and sort of belong to the research community already,
in particular of the university they teach at. So, it
might be worth your while to go to colloquia or other public
events at the institutions you have in mind, and start
getting to know people.

I don't think that a PhD is absolutely required (especially
if you have relevant industry experience), and it might well
be less so in business schools.

You should expect adjuncting to pay peanuts, but then
again, maybe they'll be bigger peanuts in the fields you're
talking about (IT, marketing) than in something like
English or Linguistics.

--
Emily
mom to Toby 5/1/02
Scheherazade, stillborn at 20 weeks, 3/2/04

ted wrote:
I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD.

The junior colleges here will hire folks with only a Master's. I
suspect they don't pay well, though.

Phoebe

ted wrote:

I have always wanted to teach. I taught graduate level courses as a
teaching assistant for a professor during my MBA days. I have a
commanding presence in the class and students listen to me. I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD.

I've no personal experience but my BIL has a masters and he teaches at
Vocational Technical Institute (Vo-Tech) He makes good money. Our
university publishes the pay rates and he makes better money then a lot of
the professors there although he has been at it for awhile now so I'm
guessing he has had a promotion in there somewhere. This works well for him
as he has no interest in doing research. He gets lots of breaks but they
don't always coincide with the public schools.
--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

Phoebe & Allyson was all, like:
ted wrote:
I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD.

The junior colleges here will hire folks with only a Master's. I
suspect they don't pay well, though.

A friend of mine, a psychoanalyst, was an adjunct professor at NYU with only
a Master's. *Was*, because she said it wasn't worth the effort at what they
were paying her...

ted wrote:

(I know there are a few PhDs on mkp and mkb. That's why I'm
crossposting)

A bit of background before I ask you the question. I'm 29. I have a
one year old and a baby on the way (EDD sept). They will be one and
half years apart. I'm currently working fulltime in IT. It's a good
job in a great work place. Yet, it's not my dream job if there's one.
I have undergraduate degree in Engineering and an MBA in Marketing and
Finance. Since my kids are so close in age (I always wanted it that
way), I'm seriously considering taking a break from my job for two
years until my kids are old enough to communicate well and play with
other kids.

I have always wanted to teach. I taught graduate level courses as a
teaching assistant for a professor during my MBA days. I have a
commanding presence in the class and students listen to me. I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD. Since I don't
want to do research, I don't think I need a Ph.D (please correct me if
I'm wrong). I'm looking for 'Adjunct Instructor' kind of positions.
How exactly do I go about applying for these? Should I expect
rejections based on the fact that I don't have a PhD? I want to teach
Marketing/IT or a combination of these two.


I don't know about the subject matter, but you might want to look at
community colleges. They *may* take someone without a PhD. But with
the rising unemployment rate among PhDs (friends with social science
PhDs and relatives with science PhDs all bemoan the awful job market), I
find many new PhDs apply (and get) the adjunct instructorships.

Also, I'm assuming that being an adjunct instructor in a college will
be more conducive to my family. I'm assuming I will have
holidays/breaks when my kids do. I'm also assuming that the hours are
rather flexible. I know I will be earning considerably less than what
I'm earning now but that's a trade off I'm willing to take. Please
correct my assumptions. Any advice is very much appreciated. If you
want to reply directly, please mention that in your post because I
usually don't check my yahoo mail.


As everyone else said, don't assume that college holidays and breaks
coincide with the local school system. I never seen the colleges and
school systems make any effort to coordinate (my dad was a college
professor). As for hours, you'll probably be working fewer hours (e.g.,
less than 40) but the classtimes may or may not be more convenient. If
you teach at a local community college, the classes may be in the
evenings.

In any case, good luck with your job search. For many people it's a
viable work option.

Jeanne

Quick comment: have you considered doing commercial IT training, rather
than teaching in a university? I don't know what that field is like in the
US, but here in the UK there is quite a lot of it around, it's *much*
better paid than casual university teaching, and it's in some ways more fun
(IME, more motivated students, for example). This tends to be in short
intensive courses, which might or might not suit you, but at least
arranging to have breaks when your kids do shouldn't be a problem. You'd
either contact a university/college that runs a part-time Masters degree or
similar aimed at people working in industry, or contact commercial
providers of training.

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

"ted" wrote in message
om...
(I know there are a few PhDs on mkp and mkb. That's why I'm
crossposting)

A bit of background before I ask you the question. I'm 29. I have a
one year old and a baby on the way (EDD sept). They will be one and
half years apart. I'm currently working fulltime in IT. It's a good
job in a great work place. Yet, it's not my dream job if there's one.
I have undergraduate degree in Engineering and an MBA in Marketing and
Finance. Since my kids are so close in age (I always wanted it that
way), I'm seriously considering taking a break from my job for two
years until my kids are old enough to communicate well and play with
other kids.

I have always wanted to teach. I taught graduate level courses as a
teaching assistant for a professor during my MBA days. I have a
commanding presence in the class and students listen to me. I want to
teach college level. The issue is, I don't have a PhD. Since I don't
want to do research, I don't think I need a Ph.D (please correct me if
I'm wrong). I'm looking for 'Adjunct Instructor' kind of positions.
How exactly do I go about applying for these? Should I expect
rejections based on the fact that I don't have a PhD? I want to teach
Marketing/IT or a combination of these two.

Also, I'm assuming that being an adjunct instructor in a college will
be more conducive to my family. I'm assuming I will have
holidays/breaks when my kids do. I'm also assuming that the hours are
rather flexible. I know I will be earning considerably less than what
I'm earning now but that's a trade off I'm willing to take. Please
correct my assumptions. Any advice is very much appreciated. If you
want to reply directly, please mention that in your post because I
usually don't check my yahoo mail.

Thanks for reading.

In Australia, to run an undergraduate course, you pretty much need a PhD (at
least in the sciences). This might not be strictly necessary in order to
actually teach some courses, but in order to compete for a position, you
really do need a PhD (and a few post-docs as well). I tutored my way
(undergrad botany) through my PhD, but the supervising tutor did have a PhD
and several post docs.
Then again the situation in Australian universities is pretty dismal for
many staff. Many of the top professors that taught me (including my PhD
supervisor who is a leading figure in his field of expertise) have thrown
in the towel as the pay and conditions are pretty poor. They are mostly
consultants now and work much fewer hours for much more pay.
OTOH, conditions for staff wrt children is pretty good in my old Uni Dept.
One of my best friends has a Masters in plant pathology and works as an RA
(Research Assistant) for one of the profs there. Her job is pretty cruisy,
but her pay is pretty lousy. On the plus side, she is allowed lactation
breaks and there is a dedicated room (in another building) that she can use
to pump in.

That being said, I don't know what the circumstances are for your area
(geographically) nor for your specific fields of interest. It may be that
your specific skills are exactly right to teach in your area. Certainly,
real-life experience should count for a lot. I would call your old prof and
have a chat about possibilities with him. At least he would know if you
have a shot with your current qualifications.

As for me - I work from home for the govt (in my interest area) looking at
big-picture research stuff .... and I get paid comparatively well all things
considered. I had considered teaching at one stage, but got offered this
arrangement when I was & mo pg last time and its been fantastic.

Hope you find something that suits you.
Amanda

--
DD 15th August 2002
1 tiny angel Nov 2003
EDD 19th August 2004