Adjunct Professor Cover Letter Example—2024 Guide

You've spent years honing your expertise and are now ready to impart that wisdom as an adjunct professor. But first, let's tackle the academic challenge of crafting a cover letter.

In a few minutes, you'll learn to create an adjunct professor cover letter that showcases your scholarly prowess and leaves everyone eager to add you to their faculty roster.

In this guide:

• An adjunct professor cover letter example that passes all exams.
• How to format your adjunct faculty cover letter for academic jobs.
• A fill-in-the-blanks adjunct professor cover letter template you can use to make your letter in the blink of an eye.

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Looking for other academic & education jobs? Read our other guides:

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• Cover Letter for Faculty Position
• ESL Teacher Cover Letter Example
• Post Doc Cover Letter Guide
• Psychologist Cover Letter
• Recent Graduate Cover Letter Example
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• Tutor Cover Letter Guide

Sample Cover Letter for Adjunct Professor

How to Write a Cover Letter for Adjunct Professor Jobs

Adjunct professors are part-time faculty members hired on a contractual basis to teach courses at universities or colleges. They specialize in a particular subject they teach. Often, adjunct professors are professionals working in their respective fields alongside their teaching responsibilities.

Now that you know what a stipend-worthy cover letter for an adjunct professor looks like, let’s break down each step of creating one that’s just as good.

1. Set Up the Perfect Adjunct Professor Cover Letter Format

You’re looking for an academic job. And both you and your students will most likely have to do a ton of writing. Why do we mention this?

Well… Ask yourself this question. Would you want to spend hours trying to decipher an essay from one of your students? Even if it was going to be the best essay you’ve ever read? Pretty sure that’s a no.

And you must consider that recruiters also don’t want to spend their precious time trying to get through scrambled cover letters. So, the first step is to make your adjunct professor cover letter visually appealing by applying the proper cover letter format. Here’s how:

• Use the same resume font on your cover letter as the one on your application.
• Don’t justify the text. Align everything left instead.
• Just like your resume margins, set them to 1 inch on your cover letter too.
• Use 1.15 line spacing. Leave a line between each section and in between paragraphs.
• The only good cover letter length is up to one page. Never spill your cover letter to two pages in length.

Set that up from the start, and recheck these steps by the time you finish writing. Things can get messed up mid-way, after all. 

Now that your formatting is set, let’s determine what to include in your cover letter for adjunct professor jobs.

Expert Hint: Want more generalized advice? Check out our guide on how to write a cover letter for any job!

2. Address Your Adjunct Professor Cover Letter

Here’s what you must do before you start writing your adjunct professor cover letter. Address it clearly and professionally.

List your contact details in the header, ensuring it matches your resume header. Then, do the same for the person you’re writing to. Here are the notes to a successful cover letter header:

• Your full name, academic title, address, phone number, and email address
• Leave a blank line and then add the current date
• Another blank line and: Honorific + recipient’s name, their academic title, department, the university’s name, and address

When addressing the cover letter for adjunct professor jobs, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Firstly, do not omit your physical address. Many academic institutions prefer traditional means of contact.

Secondly, remember always to address your cover letter directly. Do a bit of research and find out who will be the recipient of your adjunct professor's cover letter. If you can’t find the recipient’s name on the university’s website or LinkedIn. Call the college directly. It will show your dedication to getting the job, and that’s worth several points.

3. Start Your Cover Letter for Adjunct Professor Position With a Greeting and an Engaging First Paragraph

Now that you addressed your job application letter, time to get to writing. And the best way to start a cover letter is with a captivating introduction. We prepared a cheat sheet for you so that your cover letter for the adjunct professor position gets the highest mark:

• Begin with a professional greeting. “To whom it may concern” is the fastest way to lose all your chances of getting the position. Address the hiring official by their name.
• Mention the position you’re applying for. In your case, it will be the name of the faculty you’re looking to join.
• Have the university’s name in the first paragraph. This shows you’re making a targeted application, not a generic cover letter.
• Emphasize a strong, relevant achievement. Make it different from the achievements on your resume to avoid repetition.

Expert Hint: The first paragraph needs to grab attention, so make it short. You’ll have plenty of room to prove your expertise in the coming paragraphs. For now, think of an abbreviation, not an essay.

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Want to try a different look? There's 21 more. A single click will give your document a total makeover. Pick a cover letter template here.

4. Showcase Your Expertise In the Main Body of the Cover Letter

The way to a successful adjunct faculty cover letter is paved with your previous experience. With it, you must show you have what it takes to thrive in the college classroom. So, now it’s time for you to address the job requirements and ensure you meet and exceed all of them.

How to do that? It’s simple.

You’ve most likely been working in your field for many years now and have accumulated a metric ton of valuable experience, which your future students would love to hear about. But before you can impart your knowledge, you must first share your successes on your adjunct professor cover letter. 

Here’s the summary:

• Start by researching the university's values, culture, mission, and recent developments. This will help you align your adjunct faculty cover letter with the company's goals and demonstrate your genuine interest.
• Carefully read the job posting to understand the specific requirements, responsibilities, and qualifications the school seeks.
• Present your professional experience and show how it will benefit your adjunct professor position. Use specific examples from your experiences that demonstrate your qualifications.
• Quantify as many achievements as you can. Pure text can be interpreted in several ways, but numbers leave no room for doubts.
• When presenting experience, mention your skills. Treat them the same way as you do resume keywords. This shows alignment and helps with applicant tracking systems (ATS) used by some schools.

Always customize your cover letter for each job application. While the core content may remain similar, make specific adjustments to align with the job's unique requirements.

5. Explain Why You’re the Best Fit for the Position

You may tick all the requirement boxes, but it will get rejected if your adjunct cover letter reads like a cranky, unmotivated guy wrote it. Show some enthusiasm for the job; it will do wonders for you!

Every university or college has its culture and values. And you may just be applying for a short-term contract, but that doesn’t mean you get a pass to break out of their established ways. Do some research on the school’s mission and vision, and then show how you, personally, fit into that.

Mention specific aspects of the university’s culture or values that resonate with you, and explain how your values align. This shows that you've done your homework and are genuinely interested in them.

Expert Hint: Cover letters are necessary. 83% of surveyed recruiters say so. Ensure each part of your adjunct professor’s cover letter is perfect, and you’re going to be miles ahead of your competition.

6. End Your Cover Letter for Adjunct Professor Position by Asking for an Interview

You wouldn’t let a student pass if they just asked for it.

But that doesn’t apply to your adjunct cover letter. In fact, it’s the opposite. Ask, and you shall receive, as the saying goes. So, how do you do it without sounding desperate? Give the reader an incentive to call you.

It’s the best approach to ending a cover letter. This way, you show confidence and have a strong chance to pick the recruiter’s curiosity.

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Key Points

When writing a cover letter for an adjunct professor position, remember to:

• Address your adjunct faculty cover letter directly to the recipient.
• Present applicable achievements that prove you’re the best candidate.
• Show the university that you’re motivated and fit their culture and values.
• End the adjunct cover letter with an engaging call to action that secures you the phone interview.

Do you need further help with writing your cover letter for adjunct professor positions? Or do you have some questions that need answers? Let us know in the comments; We’ll be happy to help!

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