7 Helpful Tips for Getting That Interview

Summer can be such a weird time for me! Unlike most teachers I don't get to travel a lot but I do enjoy my staycations. I dream a lot and envision what possibilities are available to me. I journal a lot, write out goals and create vision boards of the what future may hold.

But this Summer has been quite different....

I recently started to feel a growing dissatisfaction in my role and I knew I needed a change!


I started taking inventory and my work environment was no longer bringing me joy. I had to make a life changing edit to find a better fit for me. I love my students (I know "love" is in the present tense, just wait for it). When you truly serve kids, they will always be your kids! I still love my students, their antics, their randomness and their capacity to make every single day different from the next but my environment had to change. I tried to wait it out but finally I decided it was time for a shift to occur.

Landing Your Interview

• CREATE COVER LETTERS & A RESUME - My first step was to create cover letters and an updated resume. I sat down and penned a resume that reflected my roles and responsibilities in strong detail, noted the successes I had in my classroom and the overall strengths I embodied as a teacher. 

• RESEARCH PROSPECTIVE DISTRICTS -  I researched online, spoke to my network of friends on and off of social media and used Glassdoor to find out detailed reviews about the prospective districts that I was applying to. This process allowed me to weed out some prospects and focus in on a few options. 

• APPLY TO YOUR DISTRICTS OF CHOICE - I started applying to every district that I heard amazing things about.

• FOLLOW UP - Once I completed the applications, I followed up with every school that I was applying by sending a personalized emailed cover letter and email resume. I sent my cover letter/resume to every campus principal, assistant principal and science department head. 

• TIMING THE FOLLOW UP - I continued this process and sent out the emails around 8am every morning and around 12pm in the afternoon. My logic was that principals check their emails by no later than 8am in the morning and may work through lunch to fill the open positions by 12pm midday. If you email later in the day, you may not get a response because you're contending with more pressing matters that they're tending to.

MAKE A VISIT

I have an amazing mentor!  He taught me this key tip to being remembered and getting an interview. He advised that I take some time, get dressed up in my best interview outfit and physically go to the prospective schools. I physically visited every school I had a vested interest in working at and requested to meet briefly with the principal. If my request was honored, I let the principal know that I had applied online for the "Science Opening" and I handed them my resume, spoke VERY briefly about myself and thanked them for their time. My goal was for the principal to see the dedication and effort that I would put in versus other candidates and to get my resume into their hands!

ENGAGE WITH YOUR NETWORK

A lot of people will tell you to USE your network and I personally believe this is why networking has caught a bad reputation lately. I hate the notion of using anyone! You must do the work initially to move from the bottom of the resume pile to an interview but contacting people within your network that have insight into your prospective school's dynamics and culture won't hurt. This will hopefully prevent you jumping from the fire to the frying pan, especially if you're looking for a better
environment.

DID IT WORK?

Yes! I used the tips I have provided you with in this post and ended up with 4 interviews at schools I ultimately wanted work at and received 3 job offers. I accepted the option that I firmly believed was the best option for me. 

I would love to hear from you! Did you find any of the tips useful? Drop me a line below AND don't forget to subscribe!