There are some days where I still am not quite sure how I ended up with a career in online education. Looking back, it seems like I just fell into it – but a great deal of hard work, time, and resume building went into landing both my adjunct and ultimately my full-time positions.
When I attended college, teaching online was a relatively new endeavor and I never imagined being able to work full-time teaching from home. I started my career in a traditional high school and truly enjoyed it. After my son was born in 2007, I started daydreaming about what I wanted my future to look like and I knew we would be moving due to my husband’s career in the near future. While I loved my traditional teaching position, I needed more flexible work hours and more time at home to raise my family. During one of my son’s naps, I applied for an adjunct position with a well-known online university. Honestly, I didn’t think much about it and just applied on a whim.
About a month later, I heard back and went through their interview process. There were written questions, a phone interview, and a few weeks of unpaid training. I was still naïve enough to believe that working from home would be a breeze and was excited for the opportunity. I started teaching online while still working part-time at a traditional high school. I did my online teaching when my son was asleep – early in the morning or at night, and taught in a traditional classroom while he stayed with my mom and napped for a few hours each afternoon.
When my husband was transferred and I became pregnant with twins, I decided to teach online part-time exclusively and then found a part-time position at a local community college to obtain more teaching experience when the twins were about 4 months old. As my children grew, I took on more online schools to build my resume. At one point I was teaching 8 classes for 4 schools, with 3 young children at home. Most people call me crazy.
Once my children started full-time preschool (8:30-2:30 each day), I was ready to start searching for a more permanent position. When I had a few minutes, I would search online for full-time teaching positions online. One day, I came across a full-time position, in my field of expertise, at a school where I was already teaching part-time. I applied immediately and started the interview process within a few weeks. I had almost given up on the job when I received an email to my faculty account letting me know I had been hired into a full-time position. I was thrilled and overwhelmed. Mostly, I felt like my hard-work, early mornings, late nights, and crazy work ethic had paid off. While I could have stopped working when I had children, keeping my foot in the door and building my resume proved to be beneficial.
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a specific set of criteria that will guarantee one an adjunct or a full-time online teaching position. The minimum requirements are usually teaching experience and a Master’s degree in the field of study – but many other factors influence hiring decisions as well.
About the Author
Jamie Weitl is a WAHM teaching for several online universities and raising three precocious little ones. In her spare time she enjoys writing, baking, and running. For more info, see my Google Plus Profile.
