Resume and Interview Tips from the Principal's Office

As the summer begins, I have been inundated with hundreds of resumes for teaching vacancies. It is wonderful to have such a great interest in our teaching jobs. Some positions have had over 250 applicants! How do I begin the process of narrowing my candidate pool to start the interview process? I’d like to begin by sharing some of the tips that job seekers should avoid when applying for teaching positions.

1. Resist the urge to add photos to your resume or letters of interest.  I have received resumes that include photos of woman seated at a desk with an apple on top, as well as some people that appear to have taken a selfie in their bathroom with a risqué facial expression that might be uploaded on a dating website. Let your credentials do the talking.  Employers will ultimately see your face when called upon for an interview. These particular photography buffs got passed over for interviews by this employer.
2. Include critical details about you.  Start with the most recent and important information. Where did you receive your degree? Who was your most recent employer and what did you teach there? These are the details that jump off the page. Most employers don’t want to know where you went to high school. Once you have finished college, people don’t really care about the old information.
3. Speaking of old information, I recently asked a candidate to tell me about any experiences that would help to prepare them for the position. Most people would talk about where they have been working and the types of responsibilities and programs that they were involved with. One of my recent interviewees told me the hospital where they were born. Really?!  Use the interview time to tell your professional story and sell the employer on you. 
4. Help the employer to know exactly what will be happening in your classroom each day.  If you say that you will do small group instruction, talk about what you will be doing with students during this time. Also, make sure that they are developmentally appropriate tasks. For example, first graders cannot sit still for a 30 minute, lecture style, whole group lesson. Engagement would be lost after 10 minutes. This was offered by a veteran teaching applicant in a recent interview.
5. Show some enthusiasm.  Teaching requires constant energy. If you can’t muster it during an interview, then you will definitely struggle in a classroom for 7 1/2 hours a day.
6. Know what you are talking about.  Experienced educators will know if there is substance behind what you are saying. Buzz words such as technology integration, classroom management, hands on instruction, and differentiation need to have some follow up examples to show that these strategies will actually be implemented and used appropriately.
7. Don’t be too pushy.  A candidate recently fussed at my secretary because I was unable to physically accept a hand delivered resume. This individual clearly doesn’t realize that I am unable to do that for over 250 people. It is also tells me that this would be a high maintenance teacher. Administrators often don’t have enough hours in their day to provide people with immediate attention.

The education profession needs the best and brightest teachers. I strive to find these individuals at my school because our students deserve nothing less. I hope that these pointers will help the strongest candidates to land a position in a school where they can make a lasting impact on students.......what should be a teacher and administrators’ ultimate goal.