How to Become a College Teaching Assistant in the US

To get a job with an income of 17-18 USD per hour and learn from professors, international students need to have a solid knowledge and good communication skills.

Teaching Assistant ( TA) is one of the part-time jobs at school, usually assisting professors in creating lectures, arranging classes, grading papers, supervising exams, lecturing students... In addition to earning extra income, this job helps students gain more knowledge in their work and expand their relationships.

Below are the shares of Le Thuy Duong, Gonzaga University, and Vu Ngoc Suong Mai, George Washington University, about this work:

Suong Mai (left cover) and Thuy Duong. Photo: Character provided — Suong Mai (left cover) and Thuy Duong. Photo: *Character provided*

Conditions to become a teaching assistant

The requirements for a teaching assistant will vary depending on the school, professor, or class, but there are usually some commonalities: having taken the subject and getting an A; making a good impression on the professor; and having a deep understanding of the material covered in the subject.

At smaller schools, such as liberal arts colleges, teaching assistants are often third- and fourth-year students, and sometimes even sophomores. At larger universities (National Universities), teaching assistants are graduate students. Some teaching assistants are doctoral students who may fill in for some classes.

Check your school’s career page regularly; read emails from your professors/departments for job openings, or ask your friends. If you really like a particular class and want to be a teaching assistant, ask the professor directly if they are looking for someone.

Benefit

Duong works as a teaching assistant to learn more from professors and help students, especially Vietnamese students. She is currently assisting a professor in Marketing. Mai, who aims to pursue a PhD, has been teaching since her third year of university in General Chemistry Lab. When she did her master's degree, she assisted professors in Medical Biochemistry and Medical Biochemistry Lab.

Both of them believe that this job helps them interact with professors regularly, improving their communication skills and English in general. Teaching assistants will also gain more knowledge in the job, building good relationships with professors.

In addition, the job also provides a stable income, helping international students cover part of their living expenses. The salary of a university teaching assistant will be equal to the minimum wage of each state. Duong is paid $18 (440,000 VND)/hour, compared to the state's minimum wage of $15.74 (more than 380,000 VND).

When she worked at Juniata College, Mai was paid the Pennsylvania state minimum wage of $7.25 (VND 177,000)/hour, but now it is $17 (VND 410,000).

Typically, master's students are paid higher teaching assistant salaries than undergraduate students.

4 things to note when working as a teaching assistant

- Grasp the knowledge

Mai used to have a habit of studying only to get high scores on tests, so after leaving the exam room, she would forget all that knowledge. When working as a teaching assistant, Mai was asked a lot of questions by students about the basic knowledge she had learned, so she had to open her old books to review the lessons. From that experience, Mai learned from her experience and tried to understand deeply the knowledge she was learning so that she could fully explain it to her students in the next class.

- Make a good impression on the professor.

Being a teaching assistant to a professor means that they value you so much that they chose you. But making an impression is not enough, you have to maintain that good impression with the professor by always completing assigned work, always being on time, and regularly discussing work with them.

If you maintain a good relationship, you may later be introduced, recommended, helped with job applications or have an advantage when applying for graduate school.

- Be a bridge between professors and students

This is one of the most important duties of a teaching assistant. Sometimes students are afraid or shy of the professor and do not dare to give feedback, they will come to you. It is your responsibility to bring those comments to the professor.

- Always maintain a neutral stance

The experience Mai and Duong learned was to limit expressing personal opinions and keep a neutral attitude as much as possible. The reason is that if you give some advice and students follow it and make mistakes, the person responsible will be you.

For example, if a student comes up to you and asks about a test like, "What do you think I should do?" or "I want to hear your opinion?" you might say, "I think you should ask the professor directly" or suggest the student talk to a counselor.

Thuy Duong - Suong Mai

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