Jill Duggar‘s husband, Derick Dillard, recently announced a major career switch-up that surprised Counting On fans. In early November, Dillard revealed via LinkedIn that he had begun a new job at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Ark.
“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as Adjunct Professor at John Brown University!” Dillard, 36, captioned his LinkedIn update.
Additionally, his current jobs include “Associate” at Blair Law Firm and “Attorney At Law” at Dillard Law, per his LinkedIn profile. Dillard graduated from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2021, earning his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. On Reddit, followers of the super-sized TLC family— Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar and their 19 kids—reacted to Dillard’s career news.
- One Redditor predicted, “This feels like a potential leap into politics.”
- Another agreed, writing, “Smells like a prep for a political run. With the support of the Federalist Society, I could see them packaging Derrick and Jill as their new norm without changing a thing about what makes them awful.”
- Someone else wondered if Dillard is “using this more for resume padding and networking rather than pay.”
Meanwhile, others pointed out that adjunct professors are typically part-time and receive low pay.
“This position may sound semi-fancy, but it has little else,” a different Reddit user shared. “Adjunct professorship positions are like minimally paid freelance substitute teaching gigs. It pays diddly squat, probably no benefits, and certainly nothing like tenure.”
A second fan echoed, “*ADJUNCT professor. That’s basically an unpaid profession (they get paid really low wages and teach a few classes a year). It’s not prestigious or well-respected at all in academia.”
Still, other Redditors seemed surprised that Dillard decided to teach at a college, considering that Jill, 34, homeschools their three sons, Israel, 10, Samuel, 8, and Freddie, 3.
Someone commented, “But yet he lets Jilly homeschool his kids,” as another echoed, “Soooo, he wants to teach but his children don’t attend a school?” Meanwhile, yet another Reddit user shared, “I hope this might be a gateway to some of the younger Duggars to consider higher education.”
