How To Become An Adjunct Online Instructor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an adjunct online instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Rodney Foster

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an adjunct online instructor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.74 an hour? That's $51,452 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 5,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to an adjunct online instructor?

Rodney Foster

Instructor - Aviation Maintenance Technology Instructor - Airframe & Powerplant Technology, Orange Coast College

Orange Coast College (OCC) teaches Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) and Avionics. Although the Government has dampened air travel by putting up restrictions to prevent a Covid-19 spread, there is still a certified mechanic/skilled labor shortage. I believe all our students will have permanent jobs within a six-month search. OCC AMT is listed as an essential workforce by the state of California and is back in classes full-time, Face-to-face labs, and online lectures. Our next semester registration maximum filled in two days and still has over 35 additional students per class on the waiting list.

ScoreAdjunct Online InstructorUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,452

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.9

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.36%

Black or African American 6.96%

Hispanic or Latino 9.93%

Unknown 4.90%

White 66.58%

Gender

female 64.88%

male 35.12%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

6.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an adjunct online instructor

Explore adjunct online instructor education requirements

Most common adjunct online instructor degrees

Bachelor's

45.7 %

Master's

39.2 %

Associate

7.7 %

Start to develop specific adjunct online instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
Canvas	12.47%
Student Performance	8.58%
Student Learning	8.55%
Course Curriculum	5.94%
English Language	5.03%

Complete relevant adjunct online instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New adjunct online instructors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an adjunct online instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real adjunct online instructor resumes.

Research adjunct online instructor duties and responsibilities

Prepare and submit a course lesson plan to accomplish the course objectives as described within the objectives list on the syllabus.
Utilize blackboard management system to encourage online discussions and manage grades.
Create lesson plans, powerpoint presentions and lectures for the classroom and maintain gradebooks.
Serve as theory instructor for medical-surgical nursing and pharmacology for junior students and leadership and management nursing for senior students.

Prepare your adjunct online instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your adjunct online instructor resume.

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