The Hidden Facts About Resumes - Part II

This week's posting continues our discussion of some of the hidden elements of teacher resumes.  Since many readers are now in the process of constructing these all-important documents, here are some additional ideas for you to keep in mind:

Principals Don’t Read Every Item on Your Resume.  Every building principal has numerous and non-stop responsibilities.  They must handle a whirlwind of duties, demands, schedules, unexpected events, and last minute chores that strain their patience and their resolve.  It’s like a circus performer who juggles fifteen bowling balls while encouraging a dozen lions to jump through flaming hoops AND walking a tightrope a hundred feet in the air.  And, that’s every day.  To say that principals are overworked and overscheduled would be to understate the obvious.

With their time so precious it is not unusual for many administrators to have developed a series of time-saving techniques and strategies that help them wade through an, oftentimes, towering stack of job applications.  Over the years, they have learned various signs and signals that identify those resumes that are less than professional, as well as those signs and signals that designate resumes that are the “cream of the crop.”  As a result, it is not necessary to read every single item on every single resume to know which ones are outstanding and which ones will be deposited in the nearest “circular file.”  Here are the key factors principals look for: a short, brief objective, action verbs (for Professional Teaching Experiences) in the past tense, statistics that confirm what you've taught, sufficiently high G.P.A., appropriate certification, one page in length, and white space.

Your resume is not a summary of your life.  Here are descriptions written by two separate individuals.  Based solely on these brief overviews, which person do you think principals would be most interested in meeting?

A - “I have been interested in computers ever since I was in third grade.  When I was in high school I was the vice-president of the Cedarville Computer Club.  I learned a lot about computers there.  When I went to college I was able to work on a really cool computer program.  It was a very successful program used by many people on campus.”

B - “Developed and designed an innovative app matching singles across campus.  After a 3-month trial run, assessment data revealed a 23% increase in the number of confirmed dates visiting Murph’s Study Hall (the local student hangout) on Saturday evenings.”

Not surprisingly, most principals would select Person B.  That’s simply because B provides readers with a “product” to sell.  He or she marketed himself or herself by appealing to a basic need.  Person A, on the other hand, just described something about himself or herself.  That individual simply shared some personal information.  He or she was not particularly interested in what the reader wanted or what a principal may have been looking for.  They simply related some events from their past.  In short, not very exciting stuff!

If you'd like additional information that expands and elaborates on those themes, please obtain a copy of Ace Your Teacher Resume (and Cover Letter) - http://amzn.to/2niIS9D.