Knowing and expressing your value proposition as a teacher during your job search will set you apart from the other teaching candidates. When you plan your job search, you need to approach it as a marketing campaign.
The superintendent, school principal, or recruiter are the buyers, and you are the product. As a product, you must clearly articulate your value proposition as a teacher – this is essentially your advertisement.
Your job search success rate will partially depend on your ability to fine-tune your value proposition. This means ensuring your education job search plan includes adding unique selling points to your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile and effectively communicating them in the teaching job interview.
What is Your Value Proposition?
It is a unique benefit you can offer a school that matches the school’s exact needs. Your value proposition is the most critical facet of your education job search plan.
You may be thinking that all teachers perform the same duties. So, how will you develop unique talents that set you apart?
Discerning what you do best is the key to finding what separates you from the competition. Often, what you do naturally may be a struggle for others. For example, if you are a teacher and excel at classroom management, lesson planning, or individual tutoring, others may not. Remember that many others might consider these areas of weakness.
Unleash Your Marketing Advantage
A great way to uncover your most significant accomplishments and strengths is to use the C.A.R. (Challenge, Action, and Result) method. By reviewing your accomplishments and discovering the challenges you faced, the actions you took to fix them, and the results of your efforts, you will better understand your strengths and, thus, your brand.
When targeting your application letter to specific job postings, you can use your value proposition to communicate what you can accomplish for the school—study job postings and school websites to uncover their needs and the school culture. Once you’ve discovered their focus areas and needs, you can position your resume, cover letter, and other career documents to match them.
And, of course, you can further expand on this during the job interview. Demonstrating to school principals how you can solve their problems and bring higher student achievement is the best way to position your application, which is critical to job search success.
Your Value Proposition Doesn’t End Here.
You will carry it throughout the entire job search process as your marketing strategy. Communicate your value proposition in your LinkedIn profile and while you network.
Based on current circumstances, you must keep refining it constantly to ensure it answers the magical question, “Tell me more.” If it doesn’t entice the listener, go back and refine.
Brand statements are a work in progress and are not engraved in stone. You may keep changing them because you will continue to have more experiences and accomplishments. If relevant, incorporate them into your brand.
Once you land that dream job interview, be ready to further discuss your accomplishments and strengths in great detail.
A Brand Statement Will:
• Create a strong differentiation between you and your competition
• Increase not only the quantity but the quality of your prospective job search leads
• Gain interest from those hiring and position you as a desirable teaching candidate
• Assist you in enhancing your career documents and tools to improve your job search
Don’t Under-sell Yourself While Job Searching.
Your positive track record and ability to bring value to schools will override any possible concerns a school principal may have about your teaching application. To fine-tune your value proposition and keep it consistent throughout your job search. It will become your brand and get you hired because schools want to know what you can do for them, not the other way around.
