As someone in the profession for over a decade, what is the best way to offer yourself out as a guest lecturer for community college courses focused on software development?
I'll give you my approach as someone in the profession for over a decade who started teaching part time at a private university last year. I enrolled (as a student) in a couple of classes at a local CC for fields that were just passive interests of mine. One lecturer was great and served as a model for in-class instruction.
After a semester of that I applied to various local community colleges and private universities (one my alma mater). Many of these universities didn't even have an official "adjunct lecturer" position posted, but I selected whatever sounded most appropriate and spent a lot of time on cover letters tailored to each university explaining what I had to offer to them and why I ought to be a good fit for whatever they valued in instructors.
It took over a month to hear back from the first which was pretty disappointing. 3 months later I heard back from the second, and I never heard back from a third private university or either of two local CCs. By the time I heard back from the second I had already been informally offered a position at the first.
* Adjunct lecturer/temporary faculty: These are people hired for just one semester for a specific course, for fairly minimal salary. Ads for these are posted usually 3 to 6 months before the semester starts, and you can just apply to them.
* Visiting faculty: If you are actually really good, sometimes Universities will hire you as a visiting faculty. There is a case-by-case negotiated contract (usually 1 or 2 courses per year, with whatever other constraints you have). The difference from the first choice is that you have some choice in the course you get to teach, and how you teach it.
I would recommend starting from the first choice, and teaching a large standard course where other faculty are around to help you. Teaching well is very difficult (and teaching badly is relatively easy), and people's future is at stake, so its best to start slow and learn the ropes before attempting something difficult.
After a semester of that I applied to various local community colleges and private universities (one my alma mater). Many of these universities didn't even have an official "adjunct lecturer" position posted, but I selected whatever sounded most appropriate and spent a lot of time on cover letters tailored to each university explaining what I had to offer to them and why I ought to be a good fit for whatever they valued in instructors.
It took over a month to hear back from the first which was pretty disappointing. 3 months later I heard back from the second, and I never heard back from a third private university or either of two local CCs. By the time I heard back from the second I had already been informally offered a position at the first.