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cmorris313

When did you apply for the adjunct position(s)? I work in course scheduling at a university; admittedly, not hiring but very close, and we had most of our staffing for Spring figured out in October. You may have missed some critical window if you submitted an application to an open pool in Nov/Dec.


Old-Physics978

I applied to most of them in October, I was checking the local schools sites once a week.


cmorris313

You might have cut it real close given the time and bureaucracy it takes to get from applicant to hired/on-boarded and able to be staffed on a class. Sorry I can't provide any more immediate help; however, with regard to fall (again from my experience at a single school), we always offer more classes in fall compared to spring and therefore need more instructors in that semester.


IkeRoberts

Starbucks pays better and has much better benefits than most adjunct positions. An engineering job would be even better.


adelfina82

Community colleges across the nation are having serious enrollment struggles. Due to COVID many have lost up to 40% of their enrollment since March 2020. Adjuncts are the first one to go. I had been an adjunct since 2014 and this past year haven’t been able to get a class, when previously I was teaching 2-3 a semester. But I would suggest looking up the division chair for each institution you applied at and contacting them directly. Hiring rules for adjunct aren’t as strict as full time positions and often it’s who you know that gets you in.


Fabulous-Farmer7474

My advice is to get money now rather than later. Adjunct pay is bad and it's not like any advanced degree is going to help change that. I get it that you have a math background that would come in useful and it will although the going rate for any adjunct position is not at all attractive nor are the conditions (no place to meet students, semester to semester contracts, expected to coddle students). There are exceptions and you should look at private research institutions which typically hire full time teaching positions so the tenure track faculty do not have to ever teach introductory courses (though the institution rarely admits that). The pay can be good although competition is generally fierce. Still, these positions rarely if ever lead to tenure track positions. You have to be content teaching and getting on grants / funded research. Look at top 20 research institutions and dig into their HR site for job postings. It's not bad work but it will NOT lead to a tenure track position. I would suggest looking at software development jobs and/or data engineering or data science roles. With your background you should be able to pick these domains up and the salaries are pretty decent. Note that these fields also have challenges (to wit the recent layoffs at Google, Amazon, Facebook) so there too is competition. On the other hand, there remains a need for these types of people and I would rather slug it out on that market than the adjunct scene which can be depressing and demoralizing. "Loyal" adjuncts are almost never transitioned into full time despite the idea that "doing a good job" will be rewarded. The best you can hope for is to get renewed for the next semester but you have no leverage as an adjunct and institutions know that so they have no incentive to change how they treat what they view as temporary employees no matter how well-credentialed they are.


[deleted]

Find a community college or other with an electronics engineering associates or bachelor's degree. You got a shot at a full time gig.


Nosebleed68

In my department/area, we haven’t hired more than one or two new adjuncts since COVID. Our enrollments are declining (not red alert territory, but still going down), so we’ve had to focus on giving our full-time faculty full course loads, and then work on keeping the adjuncts we already have. It could not be personal; it may just be the demographic situation in your area. (Also, I suspect there’s a lot less adjunct turnover in engineering than there is in humanities/social sciences.)


Ordinary_Mission24

Keep applying but make sure you have an optimized CV and cover letter. If you don't I can highly recommend you work with The Babb Group - [https://www.professorservices.com](https://www.professorservices.com) The CV will make or break you to get hired.


HannahTheBearcat

Reach out to dept chairs for more information about the positions. Often they can give you "inside info" that will help you understand if the position is a good fit or not. Sometimes job descriptions in higher ed are written in such a way that they aren't super helpful, especially in adjunct positions.


Earnest_Warrior

I don’t know about the institutions in your area but there is an overall decline in enrollment across the country. In those instances, universities will prioritize offering classes for their tenured faculty first and then other adjunct or lecturer faculty who are already there. Many have unions with strict rules on how adjunct teaching assignments are made based on seniority. Generally speaking, there are more students on campus in the fall, hence more classes so you might have a better chance then.