How to Become a College Professor

Who wants a job of security AND summer/winter breaks?

Photo by Michael Marsh on Unsplash

Many undergraduate students ask me about what career paths they should go, and many tell me they want to go to graduate schools. Some even tell me they want to be college professors. But they don’t really know what it takes, and if they really will like the life of being a professor.

I googled “how to become a college professor” and found this site: The 19 Steps to Becoming a College Professor. When I checked it out, I agreed with some but shook my head about others. I think I should give a review for those who are interested.

Salary

Before introducing the 19 steps, the site first shows the potential salary of being a professor. As you can see, there are 3 levels of professors: assistant, associate, and full. But this 3-level division is only for those lucky ones (thank goodness I’m one of them) who are on the “tenure track,” which means once they’ve “proved” themselves, their jobs are “sealed;” very few things can jeopardize their position. They have the best job security and the highest pay.

There are other types of professors, such as “instructors” or “adjunct professors.” They have to renew their contract with schools every year or even just every semester, and they usually aren’t able to…