As you may already know, securing a great teaching job can be difficult, but have you ever thought that keeping your teaching job can be tough? If school districts experience budget cuts, and part of those cuts includes a certain number of teachers.
Here are some things you can do while you are in your teaching position to increase the chances of keeping your teaching job hopefully:
Demonstrate Your Ability to Fill Extracurricular and Volunteer Positions
Extracurricular activities and volunteer work are often the first sections on the chopping block when job candidates want to pare down their resumes. Unfortunately, job seekers often remove special skills, interests, and hobbies relevant to their targeted job position. Notably, sports and extracurricular activities are the first on the chopping block of budget-constrained schools these days.
More part-time volunteer positions open up for teachers and community members with related experience to keep the programs running. These community roles range from an assistant soccer coach, library aide to assisting with teen parent seminars.
Differentiate Yourself From Other Teachers
At A+ Resumes for Teachers, we often find that 50% of the resume is still in the candidate’s head. I always enjoy sharing the experience of Sue, a client.
Sue had spent ten enjoyable years teaching a grade 3 class at the same school but wanted to leap to a senior high school Math position to satisfy her passion for mathematics. A Math and Science genius, she yearned to be involved in teaching our future economists and scientists. On the second resume draft, Sue came forth with her high school and college Math awards (all five of them), and she remembered Math tutoring she did for two years while in college.
By the third resume draft, she offered up two prestigious Science awards. It’s essential you put all the relevant information onto paper – educational leaders won’t know what other information is still in your head.
Make Connections Through Common Interests / Backgrounds
In the competitive high school teaching market, candidates can’t afford to leave these impressive credentials off of the resume. But there is more. Sue spent 10 years in the Girl Scouts as a guide and five of those years involved in a pioneering math and science program for girls.
As it turns out, the school principal that ultimately hired her also spent years volunteering with a similar program for Girl Scouts in a neighboring state. As Sue describes it, she and the head principal immediately ‘clicked.’
Making those connections on your resume is important. Depending on which study you read, build a connection based on things you have in common with the hiring manager may influence anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of hiring decisions.
A few examples of the power of commonality I have experienced include a personal assistant being singled out and eventually appointed by a major entertainment industry executive because the executive and candidate had attended the same high school.
One head principal called his soon-to-be-hired Grade 5 teacher in for an interview and chatted about his new hobby, falconry, in which the grade 5 teacher was an expert. More than who you know and what you know, what you have in common can produce interviews.
In general, you want to emphasize several key messages on your resume and not appear too scattered. Choose to highlight life experiences and interests that are meaningful to you. These experiences are likely to be meaningful to a school principal you will be sitting across in an interview one day.
Please share by commenting below about your job search experience.
