I didn’t have any luck on the postdoc/job market my first time around, so I’ve been preparing to apply for adjunct positions. And I’ve realized that I don’t actually know what hiring committees want in cover letters for adjunct positions.
At present, I’ve got four paragraphs:
1.) An introductory paragraph stating who I am, what I’m applying for, and assuring them that I’ll defend my dissertation before the fall semester starts.
2.) A paragraph on my experience as an instructor of record.
3.) A paragraph on my experience as a TA.
4.) A paragraph about my ability students from diverse backgrounds.
As you can see, I’ve basically cut all mentions of my own research and plans for publication here, since they aren’t hiring me for that. But part of me wonders if I’ve taken it too far. I’m also wondering if there is anything else that I need to cover that I’ve missed so far. Am I on the right track here?
Comments
You don’t need to cover the things that are apparent in your CV. You don’t need to say what you’re applying for— they already know. I recommend going to the campus career center and asking them to help you draft something concise and focused on teaching.
Adjunct positions are meant for teaching specific open classes. The most important thing then is experience in those topics: either through having taught those classes before or through industry experience. You should look up classes on the school’s website and make sure you talk about being able to teach those classes. Sometimes some schools will even show which classes don’t have instructors assigned, which is good intel to use.
It’s good you’ll defend before fall, that’s better. Otherwise, teaching can suck all of your time!
It may be worth emailing someone in that department at the university you are applying for and asking about the position. Sometimes a university will post a tenure track position, then cancel the search and post adjunct instructor positions. Some universities with uncertain state funding (California in particular) have been doing this for a few years. A tenure track job search is more expensive than hiring an adjunct. The standard (in my experience) is zoom interviews for the first stage, they’ll fly candidates out for a few days for a job talk and in person meetings with faculty, then funding for a move. Hiring an adjunct can be done via zoom with no in person interviews or job talk. And there is no expectation to pay moving costs for an adjunct. Long story short, at some point they may offer a full time position to one of the adjunct instructors. And it’s a good idea to email someone, I usually just email and ask if they are still accepting applications for the position.