March 23, 2009-Resumes, Interviews, and Hiring

Here's some tips from last meeting's discussion about resumes, interviews, hiring, and administration shenanigans. Thanks to Will Allen for sharing the information with us.
Resume Tips:

• Keep it to 1 page (front and back is okay)
• Put it on nice paper – Nothing too fancy, but good quality paper that doesn't feel cheap.
• Don't be “cute.” This is a professional document, don't put pictures of your family dog.
• Pick one font and stick with it.
• Make it look clean, to the point, avoid redundancy and clutter.

For work experience or sections like that, be specific.

• List what you did while teaching.
• Use active verbs.
• Don't make the reader dig for information.
• If the district has any online portion or resume database or anything, use it.
  

Interview Tips:

• If you are being interviewed in a place you'd want to work, you will be given opportunity to ask questions – have a couple topics in mind to ask about.
• He was asked a great question once, “Why are you the best principal for this school?”
• Bring some samples of your work, but don't force feed anything. Just have a few things ready in case it comes up during the interview.
• Be genuine above all else, try to relax and answer questions honestly.
• “I don't know” is an okay answer, but it's a better answer if you follow it up with, “but I hope to learn about...”
• They aren't going to expect students who are just out of college to know everything, that's okay. They don't want to hire someone who is going to lie to them, so just be honest and willing to learn. We've been learning for years, it's what we're good at, and that's great.
  The most important thing, “It's about fit.”

Remember that you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you. Sometimes you'll be perfectly qualified and you won't get hired because it's just not the right fit. Sometimes you'll be perfectly qualified and leave thinking, “I really don't want to work there!” because it's just not the right fit. Other times they will hire a young inexperienced teacher over a veteran because it's just a better fit. Don't take it personally if it just doesn't feel right. Some place else will, so don't lose hope.

Next Meeting:

"The Real World: Teachers" - Interview Experience

Louann Reid, Pam Coke, and Joshua Williams

April 6, 2009

From 6-7pm in Eddy 10