Wanted: Community College Instructors in Houston

The expanding petrochemical industry in the Houston/Gulf Coast region is providing opportunities for tens of thousands of students to get a two-year degree at our community colleges and go straight to work for high wages in the next decade. ExxonMobil and other petrochemical and oil & gas corporations are expected to have thousands more jobs opening in the next decade than they will have qualified applicants. So, they’ve given us the task of educating and training the workforce they need in the coming years. We’re more than happy to do that – it fits our member colleges’ mission to a T.

However, our Community College Petrochemical Initiative (CCPI) described on this site has left us with a little workforce issue of our own. Our member colleges don’t have enough instructors to teach all of those CCPI students! While we’re recruiting new students for these courses, we also have to recruit new teachers. Don’t get us wrong – it’s a great problem to have.

And, our need can be a big benefit to you, because you might be qualified to teach our courses even though you’ve never taken a teaching course and might not have a four-year degree yourself. For instance, if you’re an expert pipefitter and you have the experience and background to prove it, you might qualify to teach a piping course with only a high school diploma. If you have an associate or bachelor degree with more experience, that’s even better – but your skills and experience are what we really need to pass along to our students.

One great thing about our petrochemical industry in the Houston/Gulf Coast area is that the companies tend to get employees young and keep them. People often start with ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical or other petrochemical company in their early 20s, and because of good pay and benefits, they may be able to retire at 55 or 60. That leaves relatively young retirees with a lot of time and energy that they can put to good – and profitable – use by teaching the next generation of petrochemical workers. The hours are flexible, we have campuses all over the region, which ensures you a pretty easy commute, and the wages we pay vary by college, but they will be competitive on an hourly basis.

So, if you have an associate degree in computer technology and worked in computer maintenance for three or more years, you can have a second career teaching at one of our community colleges. Or, if you have an A.S. in welding and you’ve been a professional welder for three or more years, we need you to apply and come teach our students.

Every surging industry in the United States creates career opportunities at many levels. It’s up to you – and us – to identify the opportunities that fit you. These teaching opportunities in the vocational fields are historically rare, but the petrochemical boom is far from over – and it’s not the only growing industry in Texas. We need instructors and students in the healthcare field, as well.

Take a look at the petrochemical instructor page we have, and then go visit the individual community college job pages listed at the bottom to see openings at a college near you. You can apply for those openings online, or if you have questions, just contact the career departments for the individual schools. You may have a second career just waiting for you. And, you know it won’t be that annoying when your friends start calling you “Professor”!