So You Want to Be a Professor: How to Land Your Dream Job in Academia

By Drew Boyd

Nine out of ten professionals fantasize about being a college professor; but competition for these positions is fierce.

Few spots open up for even the most experienced practitioners. When they do, there is a long line of people with extensive experience and abilities waiting at the dean's doorstep.
With energy, provocative style and humor, Drew Boyd maps out how anyone from any field can make the leap into academia as a professor in his latest book, So You Want to be a Professor. How to Land Your Dream Job in Academia. 

Boyd, the award-winning author of Inside the Box: A Proven System of Creativity for Breakthrough Results and the internationally followed blog, Innovation in Practice, helps readers prepare no matter when they want to start: now, mid-career, or post retirement. So You Want to Be a Professor provides examples of things to do now to prepare to land -- and succeed in -- an academic role in the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bosley Publishing
• Release date: Apr 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781732501805

Book preview

Introduction

Should You Read This Book?

Be prepared for a new journey

Wondering if college teaching is for you? Before you read this book, let me tell you why I wrote it.

I had the good fortune of becoming a full-time professor after a thirty- year professional, non-academic career. Many, many people want to know how I made the transition. Friends, family, former colleagues, and complete strangers ask me how I made it happen.

Then they ask, How can I do it, too?

I’ve come to the conclusion that many people from all walks of life and a wide variety of work experiences have an inner, latent desire to teach. Maybe they dream about taking the academic stage and stepping into the shoes of the esteemed professors they had in college. Perhaps they want to escape their current work life and aspire to a higher calling. They may want to prove all their naysayers wrong. Or, heck, perhaps they just want a job with benefits.

Do any of those reasons sound familiar to you? Whatever your motivation, this book is for you if you’re a working professional who believes you want to become a college professor, now or later.

But wait!

Before you jump ahead and start reading, let me share my story briefly and set some expectations for your journey on this path.

My road to academia was one of good luck, good timing, patience, preparation, decisiveness, and sponsorship. It all started with a call from a former MBA classmate, Nancy Kin, who needed a marketing instructor at the last minute to teach a class at Lake Forest Graduate School of Management near Chicago where she was associate dean. I had never taught a college course before, I had two weeks to prepare, and I was terrified. She said that I shouldn’t worry, and that I’d be perfect.

Fortunately, she was right. My ratings from that class were good. In fact, they were so good that Nancy called me and said, You should do this for a living!

That call to action stuck with me.

I went on to teach for two more years at Lake Forest, all while working full-time in the airline industry. I wanted to do more instruction, so I branched out by teaching online classes for what is now DeVry University. Online courses were just coming out, and I became only the second online faculty member for DeVry, eventually teaching six different topics, far more than any other faculty there. Here again, my ratings were high, and I was loving it. At that point in time, I had to be one of the most experienced and successful professors anywhere in the emerging world of online teaching. And I did it all while working a regular, full-time job.

But then a professional change nipped my budding teaching career. I was offered a new job opportunity in my field (marketing), so I changed industries and moved my family to Cincinnati. I knew I could continue online teaching, but I wanted desperately to get back into the live classroom. That was my first love and true teaching passion. Given my solid professional record and success teaching live classes in Chicago, I thought it would be a piece of cake to land an adjunct faculty spot at a school somewhere in Cincinnati. They’ll love me! I thought.

Boy, was I mistaken.

Does this sound familiar? You’re well along in your career and considered an expert. Your career is flourishing and you’ve amassed tons of real-world experience. You feel proud of what you’ve done in your career. As you reflect on it, you’re grateful for the people and things that got you here—a supportive boss, a lucky assignment, your family, some great professors. That’s when it hits you—a feeling that it’s time to give back or take a different career tack. It’s time to take all your hard-earned training, experience, and wisdom and pass it along to the next generation. It’s time to teach.

You make a few exploratory calls to some local universities. You anticipate a warm and inviting reception from the administration as you graciously and humbly offer to teach in their programs. You have no idea where you would fit into their programs, but that’s not your problem. Certainly, they’ll figure it out once they review the success and track record outlined in your glowing resume. They’ll love me! you think.

Surprisingly, the reception from the schools is not as warm as you anticipated. Some of them don’t even return your phone call.

How could this be? You’re one of the most experienced people in your profession. They should be jumping at the chance to grab you as a professor. Right?

You’re shocked when the local college dean tells you she has no interest in considering you as a professor. No reason is given. Just a polite but firm no. That’s essentially what happened to me when I first contacted three major universities in Cincinnati: the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, and Miami University of Ohio. Thanks, but no thanks, they said.

Let me stop here because I’ll share the rest of the story later in the book. But here’s the point: this book is meant to codify what I did to become a professor, somewhat accidentally, so you can follow it in a prescriptive manner. I admit, I meandered a bit to get here, but you won’t have to if you read and follow the advice given here.

But wait!

Is Teaching Right for You?

Before you skip to Chapter 1, let me ask you a few more questions to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Let’s hear some advice adapted from Aileen Gallagher’s article, 14 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Became a College Professor. She is an assistant professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.

First, think about your own experience in college. Did you enjoy it? The happiest professors—and often the best ones—are people who really loved their own higher education experience, Gallagher writes. In college, did you ever think to yourself that you wished you could keep learning like that forever? Your love of academics should probably be the deciding factor in a decision to become a professor.

Next, how good are you at explaining things? Do you like doing it? Explaining things is hard. It’s much different than just giving presentations at work. Teaching is a lot about explaining, not presenting.

How patient are you? Teaching takes patience because students can’t give you what they don’t have. As Gallagher notes, Your students are not you. I was a nerd who loved school and reading and writing and history. Most of my students are not interested in the same things, and they don’t think like me. A small fraction of them, maybe one a year, are total disasters: They skip class, blow off assignments, and then claim ‘they didn’t know’ about whatever it is they screwed up. The majority of my students are trying to do well but might just not know how to do school or act professionally. I have to work to think like them because, like a good manager, a good professor tries to find what motivates each student. The goal is for every student to be better at the end of the semester than they were at the beginning.

Can you give and take feedback? Students crave constant feedback, and you need to enjoy giving it. They also love giving feedback. Your student course evaluations can be harsh; harsher than any professional performance evaluations you’ve had.

How important is autonomy? Do you like freedom of time and choice, or do you prefer more structure with specific guidelines and directions on what to do? With teaching, you get to follow your interests. In the world of academia, you will not get a lot of direction on what to do. Don’t go there if you prefer the rigor and structure of your current profession.

Finally, do you want to make a difference in other people’s lives, not just your own? Students are the best part, Gallagher continues, because they’re young, because they’re excited, because they’re naive, because they’re hilarious. Because when they are kind to each other, it makes your heart happy. Because they say ‘thank you’ at the end of the semester, or even at the end of class. Because they laugh at your jokes or roll their eyes at appropriate times. Because they tell you their secrets. Because they push back. Because they ask good questions. Because they force you to bring it, every day. Because they have great ideas. Because they give your life meaning.

So, Should You Read This Book?

If you’re willing to accept that the road to academia will be hard, then read on. Keep in mind that this is not a group project. It’s a personal journey full of highs and lows.

You can’t make assumptions. It’s tempting to assume that you would be great in the classroom if only college officials would give you a chance so they can see for themselves! As you’ll find out later, you are seeking entry into a world that may seem very familiar because you attended college as a student. How different could it be, right?

Don’t walk into the academic world blindly: It’s vastly different than your professional world, and the teaching world is vastly different than what you experienced as a college student.

So take a deep breath. If you still want to learn more about this journey, then it’s truly time to start reading this book.

Chapter One

The Lure of Academia

Trading your job for the classroom

Do you remember your favorite professor—the one who changed your life forever, the one who seemed to understand you better than friends, supported you as though you were family, and inspired you more than any hero? When you think back to your college days, you might describe your favorite professor with words like wonderful, mentor, witty, friend, caring, gentle, brilliant, legend, counselor, love and respect, lasting impression, ultra-challenging, and inspiring. You are forever grateful to this person. And you are not alone.

Here are quotes from students asked to describe their favorite professors:

He was a kind, gentle soul. Even as he wandered around three blackboards filled with equations searching for that one variable that should have been squared, he was inspiring me. I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, but he taught some very advanced concepts. But, more than that, he lived a life that seemed in perfect balance. He loved his family and it was obvious that he loved teaching. He inspires me even now.

She was a wonderful professor. She went out of her way for her students. Her class was hard and a lot of writing, but I believe it made me who I am today.

He is a wonderful classroom teacher, a helpful advisor, and a good friend. He made the most impact on me because of his outspokenness and his ability and willingness to defend his actions. He probably is not the most popular faculty member on campus, but I have learned life is not a popularity contest.

She inspired me to never stop questioning, testing, or exploring. Looking back, her advice and encouragement helped me to achieve when others doubted my ability.

He expects a level of work out of his students, and won’t take excuses. This gave me the motivation to get good grades and it totally worked. After graduation I joined the Peace Corps. I thank him for giving me that motivation.

My favorite professor is perhaps the most intelligent and interesting person I have ever met. The future students are the ones who will miss out on his knowledge and inspiration. The university really lost something when he retired.

I will also always remember my favorite professor. She took an interest in me as a person both inside and outside of the classroom. I hope to be as caring, compassionate, cheerful, and full of energy as she is after I have taught for 30 years!

He was an unbelievable teacher and a truly extraordinary man. He was and is such a warm, wonderful, and caring person that I feel a fuller, happier, and more complete human being for having been touched by him.

My favorite professor made the basis for my scientific interest. God bless his soul and I hope to see him in heaven.

He takes it upon himself to teach his students about more than literature—he attempts to teach about life. He expects the best from his students by encouraging them to disagree with him ... as long as they can back that argument up.

"A great lecturer and a kind, gentle man