Transcripts are your permanent academic record listing courses you took and your academic performance. Your transcript is a documentation of your education journey. I like to view my transcripts as the roadmap to my degrees. My transcripts showcase the courses I took, which led me to the end result of becoming a Doctor of Philosophy.
The standard rule when applying for online teaching jobs is to submit your CV and cover letter. An important aspect I learned when applying for an online teaching job is to submit your unofficial graduate transcripts along with your CV and cover letter. Most often, a college or university will ask you for your official transcripts during the application process. Submitting your unofficial transcripts is a great way to take initiative so recruiters can get a head start reviewing your coursework.
When I first learned about submitting my unofficial transcripts I was skeptical. I understood it showed proof that I attended and graduated from a university but I disregarded the idea that individuals on the hiring team would read through each page to see what courses I took. However, I adopted this idea and began submitting my unofficial transcripts with every application.
A few months ago I was interviewed by a university via video chat for an online teaching position. The recruiter explained how she and the department dean liked how I earned my PhD in human behavior because of its sociological and psychological background. She began discussing my PhD transcript and asked me about a course I took called Aging, Grief and Bereavement. She emphasized how this course caught her attention when reading my transcript. The humanities department recently developed an aging course and was looking to hire an instructor with the background to teach the course. In her next breath she offered me the position.
Needless to say I was not only shocked that I was offered the job on the spot (which I gladly accepted!), but how the recruiter read through pages and pages of my transcript discovering a course that caught her eye. As a graduate student earning my PhD, I took an excessive amount of courses. Some were interesting and some were not. Luckily, the Aging, Grief, and Bereavement course was something that stuck with me because of its many fascinating elements. It is a great feeling knowing I will be teaching a course that I enjoyed so much as a doctoral student.
My skepticism proved me wrong and I learned the vital role submitting my unofficial transcript played in the hiring process. It can easily be assumed that a cover letter and CV is enough to get hired. However, colleges and universities want to establish the courses you took toward your degree, which can help place you within the institution. By reviewing your transcripts, recruiters have a window of opportunity to learn the extensive background of your educational journey. We take so many courses as graduate students that it can be impossible to remember each course off the top of our heads. Our transcripts are a great way to remind ourselves how much knowledge and experience we have on a topic. By sharing our transcripts along with our CV and cover letter, we are taking the initiative and saying;
look at the courses I took and the knowledge I have gained.
Dorothy Miraglia
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