Ask Dr. Diane: How to Become an Online Professor

Ask Dr. Diane: How to Become an Online Professor

Ask Dr. Diane:  How Do I Become an Online Professor?
 
Today’s Question:  One of my goals is to teach for an online university. Is a Masters enough or do I need a PhD? What can I do to enhance my chances? Do I need teaching experience or does work experience with education qualify me?

These are all very good questions.  A lot of these questions are answered in a book by Dr. Danielle Babb called Make Money Teaching Online.   http://www.amazon.com/Make-Money-Teaching-Online-Credibility/dp/0470100877/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1.  Dr. Dani gives some great advice.  She was on my doctoral committee and she really knows her business.  I highly recommend getting a copy of her book. 

There are some schools that allow you to teach with a Masters.  Some schools do prefer a PhD – especially for teaching higher level courses.  I think the best site to find online teaching jobs is www.higheredjobs.com.  Your best bet to enhance your chances of getting accepted is to apply for actual jobs that are listed on sites like Higheredjobs as well as through other sites like www.monster.com.  I have seen the University of Phoenix on Monster but not on Higheredjobs – so it is important to look at several sites to find all of the jobs out there. It is good to have online teaching experience but not all schools require it.  They like to see that you have real world working experience which is helpful when you are participating and sharing in the classroom.    

10 Tips If You Want To Be A Pharmaceutical Sales Representative

            I was in pharmaceutical sales for 15 years so a lot of people ask me about how to get a job in that industry.  Many people see being a pharmaceutical representative as a glamorous job.  It can be.  I write about my experiences with pharmaceutical sales in my book How to Reinvent Your Career.  Being in pharmaceutical sales was not a good fit for me personally.  However, it can be a good job for a lot of people.  There are good and bad aspects to any job. 

            Pharmaceutical sales may be a good job if you:

  • Like driving
  • Like not being at a desk
  • Like being in sales
  • Like traveling
  • Like making decent money
  • Like having a company car
  • Like having good benefits
  • Don’t mind having a boss riding with you watching you work at times
  • Enjoy taking doctors out for dinners/lectures

I can remember sitting at round table discussions with other representatives where we would talk about the things we liked about the job. Many people would say they liked driving and be away from an office.  I personally like office-based jobs, as long as you are not required to always be there 9-6 every single day.  But it can be nice to get out and about once in a while.

Pharmaceutical sales may not be a good job if you:

  • Don’t like driving
  • Like to work in an office
  • Like administrative work
  • Don’t like traveling
  • Don’t like the pressure of sales
  • Don’t handle rejection well
  • Don’t like to have a boss riding with you watching you work at times
  • Don’t like to hold a lot of luncheons and give presentations
  • Don’t enjoy having to take doctors out for dinners/lectures.

I live in Arizona where it is HOT HOT HOT!  It could be very difficult to do that job in the summer.  I think it could be just as tough to do that job if you lived in Seattle where it was always raining or Michigan in the winter.  Any job where you are going in and out of your trunk a lot out in bad conditions can be tough to do day in and day out. 

Pharmaceutical sales was not the best fit for me personally because I prefer to do administrative tasks rather than drive around and go from office to office.  In fact, I was happiest when I was doing my expense reports and other tasks that most sales people would hate.  The key is to find out what types of tasks you enjoy and pick your career based upon those.

If you think that a pharmaceutical sale is a good fit for your personality, you should consider the following:

  1. Realize every guy/gal and their brother/sister seems to be looking for a pharma job so you will need to stand out in the crowd.  Rev up your resume with bulleted points about things you have done in past jobs that showed you increased business, won awards, etc.
  2. They want sales people.  If you don’t have any sales experience, you should consider getting at least a year of experience before applying.
  3. Don’t start with Merck if you have no experience.  Certain companies like Merck hire the cream of the crop people that have had experience, possibly have a pharmacy degree, etc.
  4. You MUST have a college degree.  Usually they do not really specify a certain degree.  When I first started, they preferred science degrees.  Later they decided having a business degree was preferable.  I have seen everything from a sociology to a law degree as acceptable in the industry.  The main point is that you just have one.
  5. You have a better chance of getting into pharma sales if you can find a representative that is already working for a company.  Reps may actually get paid a referral fee should they recommend someone who gets hired.  It behooves them to submit your resume.
  6. If you don’t know a pharma rep., you should still apply to all jobs listings on the major sites such as MonsterCareerbuilder, etc.  but also look at some of the pharmaceutical specific job sites like Medzilla, PharmaceuticalCrossing, Biospace, and Pharmaopportunities. You can also go to this link for a more complete list: http://www.pharmaceuticalwork.com/Links.html
  7. If you get an interview, be sure you know your stuff!  Do not go into the interview without knowing everything about the company and their products.  Be prepared to answer why you want to work there vs. somewhere else.  Know what they have in R&D and are working on in the future.
  8. Be prepared for a lot of interviews.  When I was in the industry, they would first screen your resume, then do a phone interview and then do at least one face to face interview.
  9. Expect to take some sort of personality assessment.  They are looking for true sales professionals and they want to see that your personality fits that profile.
  10. Be prepared that you will need to pass a physical exam, you cannot  have a bad driving record and you can be sure they will Google you to see if there is anything bad about you on the Internet. 

Top 10 Personality, Career, IQ and EQ Tests

This is a list of personality, career, IQ and EQ (emotional quotient) tests that you might want to take to find out more about your personality, intelligence and personal preferences.  I list some of these in my book: How To Reinvent Your Career.  Now that there are so many people looking for jobs, it makes sense to find out more about your personality and preferences to see which jobs would be a good match for you. 

Do You Need Help Finding a Job or Reinventing Your Career?

In my book How To Reinvent Your Career, I list some great sources for information.  Here are just a few of them:  
Area Where I Need Help Solutions
I need help with computer skills. http://www.gcflearnfree.org/computer/topic.aspx?id=140
I need help with grammar and spelling. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com
I want to take understand personality assessment that gives a basic idea of personality type. http://www.humanmetrics.com/#Jung, Myers–Briggs(free site, but not as accurate as the actual Myers–Briggs test)Read my daughter’s (Toni Rothpletz) and my book The Young Adult’s Guide to Understanding Personality.

Monster.com and CareerPath.com have a personality quiz

Personal.ansir.com

Careerplanner.com

Livecareer.com

Assessment.usatests.com/

Jobtest/?v

http://jobsearch.about.com/gi/

o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=

jobsearch&cdn=careers&tm=

17&gps=179_834_1003_630&f=

21&su=p284.9.336.ip_p554.13.336.ip_

&tt=2&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//

tools.monster.com/perfectcareer

http://www.discoveryour

personality.com/Strong.html

I need help getting connected to people to start networking. LinkedIn.comFacebook.comMySpace.comNaymz.com

Ryze.com

Twitter.com

Meetup.com

I need help finding jobs, learning to write résumés, and general career advice. Monster.comCareerbuilder.comjobs.aol.comRead the book What Color is Your Parachute, by Richard Bolles

Check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Careerjournal.com

Workforce.com

Talk to your school counselor

Careermaze.com

Mediabistro.com

Higheredjobs.com

I need help paying for education. Staffordloan.comCollegeboard.comFafsa.ed.govTuitionpay.com

Afford.com

Read my book The Online Student’s User Manual, which is also helpful for all online student questions other than financial.

I need help with diet and exercise information. sparkpeople.combodyforlife.comfitday.comdietfacts.com
I need help with optimism and happiness. Read The Art of Happiness,by the Dalai LamaRead The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey
I am getting older and need career advice for my age group. aarp.org/money/workCareermaze.comhttp://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/econ/workers_fifty_plus.pdf
I need help to avoid work-at-home scams. Read my articleInvestopedia.com/articles/pf/09/work-at-home-scam.asp?&Viewed=1
I need some other suggested reading to help me reinvent myself. Read Career Renegade, byJonathan FieldsRead Reinventing Yourself, bySteve Chandler
I need help with information about expected salaries. Salary.comIndeed.com salary toolNew York Times Salary ToolsGlassdoor.com

TheRileyGuide.com

I need help keeping track of my job search progress. Myprogress.comWorksolver.comExecrelate.com
I need help researching companies for interviews. Google.comExecrelate.comCareerTV.com
I need help finding out about good places to work. http://www.aarp.org/money/work/best_employers/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/

bestcompanies/2010/

www.hoovers.com/free

biz.yahoo.com/ic/

ind_index.html