The Adjunct Alert › Online teaching guides
How to find online adjunct teaching jobs
Where do colleges post online adjunct jobs?
Colleges post openings on their own careers page first. Posting there is free for the college. Posting on a national job board usually costs money, so many departments skip it for part-time roles.
That means two instructors with the same degree can see very different openings. One searches a national board. The other checks college career pages and sees far more.
The big boards are still worth a look. HigherEdJobs, Inside Higher Ed, and Indeed all carry online teaching roles. Treat them as one source, not the whole search.
What job titles should you search for?
Colleges do not agree on what to call an adjunct. If you only search the word "adjunct," you will miss openings. Try each of these:
- Adjunct faculty, adjunct instructor, or adjunct professor
- Part-time faculty or part-time instructor
- Lecturer or part-time lecturer
- Associate faculty (common at community colleges)
- Online instructor or online faculty
- Course facilitator or online facilitator
- Instructor pool or faculty pool
Then add the words colleges use for online teaching: online, remote, distance education, distance learning, virtual, and eCampus.
What is an adjunct pool, and should you apply to one?
Yes, apply. An adjunct pool is an open posting with no single class attached. The college collects applications all year. When a section needs an instructor, the department chair looks in the pool first.
Pool postings often say "applicant pool," "ongoing," "continuous recruitment," or "open until filled." Many have no closing date. An application in the pool today can turn into a class months from now.
When do colleges hire online adjuncts?
Colleges hire online adjuncts all year. Hiring picks up in the weeks before a term starts, when sections are added and instructors drop out. Colleges with short terms start new classes every few weeks, so they hire often.
Some openings close fast. A posting with a deadline may be open for two weeks or less. Checking once a month is not enough.
How do you keep up with it all?
This is the hard part. There are thousands of colleges, and each one has its own careers page. A simple routine helps:
- Keep a list of colleges that teach your subject online.
- Check their careers pages on a schedule.
- Write down every application: the college, the date, and the posting link.
- Follow up with the department when a new term is close.
Or let us do the checking. We track about 4,000 college career pages, read each posting, and send you the online teaching job leads that match what you teach.
Common questions
Are online adjunct jobs posted on the big job boards?
Some are. Many are posted only on the college's own careers page, so a search that stops at the big boards misses them.
How many colleges should you apply to?
More than you expect. Pools move slowly, and one application rarely leads to a class right away. Steady applications over time work better than one big push.
Do you apply through The Adjunct Alert?
No. We are not an employer, a recruiter, or a staffing agency. Every job lead links straight to the college's own posting, and you apply there.
The Adjunct Alert Team