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Become an Adjunct Professor
Don’t Just Sit There. Reach Out! 93
Many colleges and universities offer professionals the opportunity
to serve as adjunct professors. Not only do these roles enhance
your credibility, they put you in touch with a big pool of potential
A-players.
Todd Gibson is chief executive officer of Gibson Media, a Seattlebased
advertising agency. Every morning during the school year,
Todd teaches a communication class at Highline Community College.
Teaching this class is a great way for him to give back to the
community and a smart way to identify entry-level A-players. Todd
gets to see students in action over a three-month academic quarter
and discerns which ones are highly effective. After grades are in and
the quarter ends, he often offers internships to the best of these students,
which in turn can lead to full-time jobs. As Todd says,
‘‘Teaching keeps me engaged with cutting-edge material and helps
me to stay in tune with the issues, passions, and concerns of younger
people. It also gives me a built-in opportunity to screen students
as potential interns and employees.’’
Todd’s class includes live-fire assignments that get students interacting
with executives in the local business community. For example,
every quarter he asks each student to report on a Seattle area
business that is giving back to the community. The students have to
identify and contact the businesses, set up interviews with the executives,
and conduct the interviews at the companies’ offices. They
then deliver a six- to eight-minute presentation to the class reviewing
what they learned. The assignment challenges students to use
and develop skills that really matter in business. It also reveals
which class members are proactive, organized, and effective
communicators.
Todd always waits until a class is completed and grades have
been submitted before offering students an internship, as it’s generally
not a good idea to have a conversation about employment with
a current student. However, after they’ve completed his class, Todd
often approaches the top one or two students about an opportunity
at his company. Gibson Media structures its internships to last from
one to three academic quarters and pays at least $15 per hour