Is it time to re-evaluate your teacher job search methods? Are you searching for a teaching job and find you are in a rut?
Ask yourself some questions to find out why you are not moving forward in your job search.
Maybe it’s time to refocus and try new ideas to land a new teaching position successfully?
Give yourself time to reflect on the prior teacher job search methods you used. Determine what areas you may be able to improve; remember, staying active and positive is imperative.
Reflect on Past Job Search and Interview Feedback
An essential job search method is to look carefully through any feedback you may have received after your past interviews. These interviewing experiences contain valuable information and insight into your interviewing skills.
Were you told that you were ill-prepared for an interview, which cost you the job?
Have you been told that you couldn’t effectively back up your stated skills and accomplishments?
If any of these sound familiar (or you suspect them to be the case), it’s time to take another look at your approach to your job search.
Teacher Job Search Methods – Preparation and Follow-up
Before any interview, make sure that you research the institution or school where you wish to teach. Learn the demographics of the students and the area.
Take a look at the average test scores of the school and the district as a whole. How does the school stack up against neighboring schools?
How does the district do overall?
Make sure that you find out vital information before doing an interview. Going in blind will make you appear unprepared, uninterested, and overall a disappointing candidate.
Regarding further preparation, ensure that all of your career documents are in order (we’ll go into more detail on those later). Build a professional portfolio to keep your resume, cover letter, significant accomplishments, certificates, thank-you letters from students and parents, and any other relevant information you’d like to show an interviewer.
Make sure to come prepared with a pen, highlighter, and plenty of extra copies of your resume (at least 5, but tailor according to how many interviewers you’ll have). If you have personal business cards that list your contact information, it’s a good idea to bring those too.
Don’t bring a business card from your current job; make sure it’s only your personal information listed, not the company you work for. Print shops and services will do 500 business cards relatively cheap for your job search use.
Review Your Existing Career Documents
When reviewing your job search methods, take the time to re-examine your career documents. Could your resume or cover letter use some touch-ups, or do they need to be updated?
Here are questions to ask yourself to help decide if your documents are outdated:
- Your resume hasn’t been updated within the past six months (it’s a good idea to do this periodically)
- You have more than 4 or 5 previous jobs listed on your resume, causing it to trail off onto three or more pages. Resumes should be concise, with the most relevant and recent experience listed.
- The cover letter you use is the same for every job. Big mistake! Tailor the cover letter to the skills the school is looking for in the job posting. Use examples of those skills to tell a brief story in your cover letter.
- Your job search documents haven’t landed you a phone call or interview in quite some time, if ever (this is usually a sign that they are ineffective)
We have plenty of resources available to you to revamp your teacher resume and your career documents.
Browse our homepage and find out more about what we can help with – you can reach out to Candace at 1 877 738-8052 to learn more about our resume writing or coaching services.
Networking to Land Job Leads
If you haven’t been using resources such as LinkedIn for your job search, you’re certainly missing out. Recruiters are frequently visiting LinkedIn to find candidates or learn more about current job applicants. It’s not uncommon for an interviewer to mention that they looked at your LinkedIn page before bringing you in for an interview. It’s important to make a good impression by having a top-notch LinkedIn profile!
If you need help shifting the focus of your job search, consider reaching out to a professional. Candace can help you land more interviews and jobs today!
I hope these teacher job search methods were helpful, be sure to comment and share with others below!
