An interesting oppertunity presented itself to me

I'm currently attending college looking to have a career in welding and NDT. There is a lot of money in the former and much more in the latter. This fascinates me because it will afford me many opportunities.

However... my school needs... desperately teachers for the auto tech department. And I have been a professional mechanic for almost 2 decades.

I have the credentials and I do enjoy teaching.

Im considering being an adjunct instructor to get a taste.

Anybody here ever taught high level classes like this? If so is it something you would recommend?

CLAX1911 said:

I'm currently attending college looking to have a career in welding and NDT. There is a lot of money in the former and much more in the latter. This fascinates me because it will afford me many opportunities.

However... my school needs... desperately teachers for the auto tech department. And I have been a professional mechanic for almost 2 decades.

I have the credentials and I do enjoy teaching.

Im considering being an adjunct instructor to get a taste.

Anybody here ever taught high level classes like this? If so is it something you would recommend?

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I've taught two courses for criminal psychology.

Though both the fields are highly separate and in no way really relatable, my experience was rather refreshing. The field was not my main course of study in college and when I started teaching the courses there where some unforeseen hurdles along the way, but all in all it was enjoyable.

I got to know my students well and I even managed to learn a few things that the original thesis for the class didn't cover.

Experience is a better teacher in most any case.

Oborosen said:

I've taught two courses for criminal psychology.

Though both the fields are highly separate and in no way really relatable, my experience was rather refreshing. The field was not my main course of study in college and when I started teaching the courses there where some unforeseen hurdles along the way, but all in all it was enjoyable.

I got to know my students well and I even managed to learn a few things that the original thesis for the class didn't cover.

Experience is a better teacher in most any case.

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Well... I've been pushing for the sun to set on my mechanic career. But teaching... I'm not repairing people's broken junk I'm explaining theories like fluid power and electrical systems.

It's the part of it I really like...

Maybe I'll give it a try.

CLAX1911 said:

Well... I've been pushing for the sun to set on my mechanic career. But teaching... I'm not repairing people's broken junk I'm explaining theories like fluid power and electrical systems.

It's the part of it I really like...

Maybe I'll give it a try.

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I'll say that I did work as a line rat in the navy before going to my Ordnance designation came through. Small things, hydraulic distribution, power ratio and the such. It was good, honest work in my opinion and when you watch the plane take off from the tarmac and its nose wheel leave the ground... Its safe to say that at least that part of the plane isn't my work load.

Oborosen said:

I'll say that I did work as a line rat in the navy before going to my Ordnance designation came through. Small things, hydraulic distribution, power ratio and the such. It was good, honest work in my opinion and when you watch the plane take off from the tarmac and its nose wheel leave the ground... Its safe to say that at least that part of the plane isn't my work load.

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I've repaired just about anything with wheels and an engine. Freelancing was my favorite. I'd work on a D6 one day and an RTV the next. It was never boring.

I just don't know a lot about SVTs or synergy drives. I honesty thought that would never catch on.

CLAX1911 said:

I'm currently attending college looking to have a career in welding and NDT. There is a lot of money in the former and much more in the latter. This fascinates me because it will afford me many opportunities.

However... my school needs... desperately teachers for the auto tech department. And I have been a professional mechanic for almost 2 decades.

I have the credentials and I do enjoy teaching.

Im considering being an adjunct instructor to get a taste.

Anybody here ever taught high level classes like this? If so is it something you would recommend?

Click to expand...

I probably hurt my career advancement by refusing orders for a 3 year tour in Great Lakes as a diesel training instructor, but I had my reasons and loved what I did anyways.

Being out in the field makes for a much more interesting day than facilitating subjects in a classroom in my opinion. I guess it will depend on whether or not the teaching criteria and the school allows you to use your own creative ideas for getting a point across to the students. Too many of the occupational training schools these days restrict teachers to the point of being a repetitive sounding boards so the school can hurry the kids out the door and cash the check.

Be careful with the choice you make because burnout is a real bitch.

RetiredUSN said:

I probably hurt my career advancement by refusing orders for a 3 year tour in Great Lakes as a diesel training instructor, but I had my reasons and loved what I did anyways.

Being out in the field makes for a much more interesting day than facilitating subjects in a classroom in my opinion. I guess it will depend on whether or not the teaching criteria and the school allows you to use your own creative ideas for getting a point across to the students. Too many of the occupational training schools these days restrict teachers to the point of being a repetitive sounding boards so the school can hurry the kids out the door and cash the check.

Be careful with the choice you make because burnout is a real bitch.

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Well if I do it I'll do it on a temporary basis as a adjunct.

The career I'm going into is different

Arent you a cop? I'd have thought you'd wanted to stay as one till you get the retirement benefits- which I heard is pretty good.

PoS said:

Arent you a cop? I'd have thought you'd wanted to stay as one till you get the retirement benefits- which I heard is pretty good.

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couldn't make any money doing that. I was a volunteer for 8 months.

Benefits aren't worth it. I could weld for 2 years get a cwi cert and make in a week what a cop does in 3 months. Thats not including the 2+ years I'd have to volunteer.

That's a lifestyle choice isn't it.
If you want to teach, teach. Otherwise, I'd focus on your welding/NDT goals, teaching would be a distraction IMO.
If they are wooing you to be a teacher, that's normal, but that's their goal, not yours.

I was on a local college industry advisory board for years, we recruited some of our staff from their programs specialized in the technology we worked in. I was encouraged to adjunct, I was young and flattered, but I declined. I know a few people who did though, and I later hired some people who it turns out had also taught some of the programs for a few years. For one guy he kind of enjoyed it because he got to build the curriculum, and I guess he got to be around people who appreciated his deep expertise in the field. But it's really a different beast, teaching, and from what I understand to do it well you need to invest some time, both in attending all your classes and in preparing for them and what not. But none of them changed to teach full-time, they all had good paying full-time jobs. 3/4 of the people I recall only did it for a year or two, and the other one I don't recall how long.

my 2 cents.

CLAX1911 said:

couldn't make any money doing that. I was a volunteer for 8 months.

Benefits aren't worth it. I could weld for 2 years get a cwi cert and make in a week what a cop does in 3 months. Thats not including the 2+ years I'd have to volunteer.

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Oh OK, well a former member here said that a certified welder will always find work, but I would say you ought to do the thing you like best. Good luck to you.

CLAX1911 said:

I'm currently attending college looking to have a career in welding and NDT. There is a lot of money in the former and much more in the latter. This fascinates me because it will afford me many opportunities.

However... my school needs... desperately teachers for the auto tech department. And I have been a professional mechanic for almost 2 decades.

I have the credentials and I do enjoy teaching.

Im considering being an adjunct instructor to get a taste.

Anybody here ever taught high level classes like this? If so is it something you would recommend?

Click to expand...

Fairly out of my field, but....

I'm wanting to presume there is some benefit to being a skilled instructor, no matter what you're going to do. If you don't want to pursue it as a full-time gig, and the career prospects are not so great for being an instructor....I'm not sure it's going to hurt you to develop your training and teaching skills for a year or two.

If it's possible it's valuable to be able to train other people in your line of work or even educate those outside your line of work about what it is you folks do, brief experience in teaching can be an asset.

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Mach said:

That's a lifestyle choice isn't it.
If you want to teach, teach. Otherwise, I'd focus on your welding/NDT goals, teaching would be a distraction IMO.
If they are wooing you to be a teacher, that's normal, but that's their goal, not yours.

I was on a local college industry advisory board for years, we recruited some of our staff from their programs specialized in the technology we worked in. I was encouraged to adjunct, I was young and flattered, but I declined. I know a few people who did though, and I later hired some people who it turns out had also taught some of the programs for a few years. For one guy he kind of enjoyed it because he got to build the curriculum, and I guess he got to be around people who appreciated his deep expertise in the field. But it's really a different beast, teaching, and from what I understand to do it well you need to invest some time, both in attending all your classes and in preparing for them and what not. But none of them changed to teach full-time, they all had good paying full-time jobs. 3/4 of the people I recall only did it for a year or two, and the other one I don't recall how long.

my 2 cents.

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Mach, this is purely a curiosity question for my own education.

Do you think there's much benefit to a professional in those trades being able to teach, at any particular spot in their career?

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Fiddytree said:

Mach, this is purely a curiosity question for my own education.Do you think there's much benefit to a professional in those trades being able to teach, at any spot in their career?Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

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Certainly. Let me start by saying that my involvement with the college was one of the best things to every happen to my career. Maybe eight hours a year, and I had countless real, tangible benefits come out of that in terms of customers, hiring great students, relationships with faculty, other industry/customers, etc., etc. Too many to list. Without reservation, I would say the main thing is that everyone pursuing a career should consider ways to be involved in that industry, outside of their job/employer. Whether it's a group or organization or college. All that counselor advice of how good extra-circular is, they weren't lying apparently. I stayed involved at the college and got most of the benefits I think I would have, had I taught there, with just 8 hours a year or so of involvement. That's why I say unless it's really teaching that someone wants to do, consider other ways to get benefits outside of a job, that are far more time efficient. School is one such place for that, for sure.

Formally teaching classes, that's a big commitment. Putting aside people who know they want to teach, I'd say that for people new to a career, or in a competitive 9-5 with lots of ours, or with serious time constraints, no, I would not consider it. For everyone else it's a possibility. The folks I knew that taught were in the latter group, they were established in their careers and taught in those careers. A few for the enjoyment and some extra pay. A few because they could basically train and cherry pick people who would later come to work with them. Beneficial, I think they all enjoyed it. But if I were starting a new career in a potentially lucrative field, I'd likely not take up a lower paying offer outside that career, at least not without more information.

That's just my gut feel I suppose. If it's teaching IN your career/current job that supports you well, I think it's much more attractive. Again, this is just for people not necessarily wanting to be a teacher first and foremost.