Tip Sheet
10 Ways To Get Started Teaching Online!
#1 Get One Job; Build From There – Everyone has to start somewhere. In the world of online
education, experience leads to networking and even more jobs. If you want a career teaching online,
you really need to get one job and build on it. Plan to teach anywhere that’s not a diploma mill, and you
will find yourself networked with lots of individuals who can tell you the schools hiring and who to
contact.
#2 Make Contacts with Colleagues – Most schools have faculty forums, blogs, mailing lists or all of
the above. Make friends and help one another network and find good schools to work for. Be careful
who you refer out because your referrals should be saved for the best (it’s your reputation!), but you
will need to offer something to those who help you. Reciprocal networking works wonders in this tight
knit community.
#3 Find Your Niche – If you are a subject matter expert in an area that is in high demand (such as
Statistics or Computer Networking) capitalize on this. Offer your services and your experience as often
as possible – even if you have no experience teaching, your professional work counts! If you can teach
general courses (such as Management) that is also good; you can be of service to an organization that
may be able to use you for a variety of classes.
#4 Guest Lecture – If you have zero experience training or teaching anyone, ask local college
professors if they’d like you to guest lecture. This looks good on your resume and shows that you are
genuinely interested in the education of others.
#5 Know Your Teaching Philosophy – In our book we provide numerous examples of Statements of
Teaching Philosophy. Know your own, document it, and then live it when you work with students.
#6 Be Extremely Responsive – As you begin the hunt for your first or twentieth online teaching job,
you must be extremely responsive. This is representative of how you’ll handle learners questions and
concerns. Don’t fake it; you truly must adapt to being extraordinarily responsive and having email
capability most anywhere.
#7 Search Online - Finding your first teaching job may be as simple as finding schools in Adjunct
Nation or through Google, and emailing the Deans. Be sure to read our section on how to word your
letters and what to say (and equally important, what not to say) in these introductory emails. You might
find yourself with 2 or 3 offers in a month.
#8 Ask Around At Your Alma Mater – What better way to give back to the institution that helped you
achieve success? Contact those who may remember you at your alma mater(s) and explain why you are
making a move into academia. They may be willing to help you with a first job there; or even refer you
to others who are hiring.
#9 Ask Teachers for Referrals – The world of online teaching is extremely tight knit. Wherever you go,
you’re sure to run into someone else who teaches for other schools that you do. Ask those who teach, even
if this is your first job, if they will refer you. If they know your skills and work ethic, they may be happy to.
Often this is how a first-break occurs.
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#10 Use Monster.com – Many online universities post their job openings on Monster. So much so
that Monster created a separate online teaching job category for potential educators! Be sure to
follow the standard Human Resources procedures for entry into the system, but it doesn’t hurt to go
to the school’s web site and look up the Dean’s or Chair’s email address and send him or her a
personal email. In this email you’ll detail the courses you’re interested in teaching, and outline your
relevant experience. Review this section of our book for more information.
Other Tips
Be sure your technology at home (or wherever you will be working from) is extremely reliable and
backed up well.
Have a ready-made resume available at any time and respond to individual requests, which can be
quite demanding, promptly.
Strategize tackling new schools and find out who works at the ones you’d like to work for. They
may be existing colleagues that will gladly help you enter the online world.
Know what you’re good at. Don’t pretend and try to teach something you aren’t qualified to teach.
You will look foolish and your students pay the price for this unethical action.
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