As the author of Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have
Increased Salaries, which has been used and proven highly
effective by over 2 million job seekers, hundreds of employment
security, workforce and college programs (click here to read
dozens of client and career professional testimonials),
I've used all of the techniques presented in that book to
create Proven Resumes & Cover Letters for Teachers ... That
Double & Triple Interview Rates!
A big mistake teachers make when writing their resumes, is not knowing
what skills, experience and achievements schools are
seeking. Most teachers just sit down, with little
forethought, and begin describing their work experience or
copy sections of other teacher resumes that sound good. Then they
pass their resume around having others, sometimes even
professionals like HR Directors or principals, look at their
resumes and give it the seal of approval.
However, many teachers are very disappointed, after much feedback
and many revisions, that the resumes they mail for dozens and even
hundreds of teaching positions generate few if any calls for
interviews. In contrast, by learning how to follow these
simple steps in analyzing teacher job ads you can learn how to
create a powerful teaching resume that can increase your calls
for interviews by 10%-100%! I have many client
success stories that describe
sending out 10 resumes and getting 10 calls for
interviews. While that may sound fantastic .. the light
bulb will go on when you realize why your teacher resume is not working.
To write Proven Resumes & Cover Letters for Teachers ...
That Double & Triple Interview Rates!, I gathered 50 ads for
elementary teacher jobs and in doing that identified 18 skill
categories that were not only requested repetitively in
Elementary Teacher job ads but were also requested in all
teacher job ads.
I found the base of skills requested in those 50 job ads are transferable across all teaching categories whether for
elementary or adult classes or for specific coursework such as
High School Chemistry or Adult ESL Teachers. So, if you are
searching for a way to improve your teaching resume, then I
recommend you consider buying Proven Resumes & Cover Letters
for Teachers ... and follow the examples for analyzing job ads
to compile your own highly customized list of skills needed for
the teaching jobs you want.
Now, let's review an abbreviated version of an
Assistant Professor of Mathematics
job
ad from Proven Resumes & Cover Letters for Teachers ... That
Double & Triple Interview Rates. BEFORE
YOU SCROLL DOWN, read through the ad and
on a piece of paper make a list of what you feel would be the
top 4-6 skills to address in a cover letter for this job
ad. REALLY, YOU'LL LEARN
MORE if you take the time to
do this before reading on.
|
BEGINNING OF JOB AD |
Assistant Professor
of Mathematics
_______________________________________
DESCRIPTION OF POSITION
Duties include teaching secondary and elementary mathematics
classes, elementary education mathematics, and
other mathematics classes as appropriate. Typically
teach 3 or 4 classes per semester with class size ranging
from 15 to 35 students. Classrooms have computer and media
facilities.
MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Create K-12 mathematics & computer science lesson
plans.
- Pursue grants
to help fund projects, maintain records of grants
submitted and for all correspondence with agencies.
-
Must demonstrate strong commitment to teaching lesson
plans that further the school and district's
standards.
-
Teach mathematics programs during the academic year and in the summer
to special needs and individual students periodically.
-
Should have experience as a teacher, supervisor, or consultant in a K-12
setting.
-
Implement computer and media technology into lesson plans.
-
Assist other mathematics teachers and professors as
needed.
|
|
END
OF JOB AD |
Now that you've compiled your list, take a moment and compare it
to the skill headings I created below with abbreviated
statements adapted from the job ad above. Which list of
teaching skills--meaning your list or the list below--would land
you more interviews for Assistant Professor of Mathematics job ads similar to
this one? Which list would create an image of you as being
more qualified? Which list could help you land a higher
pay grade or promotion? As
you can see with this simple example, effectively analyzing job
ads can help you create a much more powerful teacher resume.
SECONDARY &
ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS
- Duties include teaching secondary and elementary mathematics
classes, elementary education mathematics, and
other mathematics classes as appropriate.
- Teach mathematics programs during the academic year and in the summer
to special needs and individual students periodically.
- Should have experience as a teacher, supervisor, or consultant in a K-12
setting.
- Assist other mathematics teachers and professors as
needed.
K-12
CLASSROOM & LESSON PLAN DEVELOPMENT
- Create K-12 mathematics & computer science
lesson plans.
- Typically
teach 3 or 4 classes per semester with class size ranging
from 15 to 35 students.
- Must demonstrate strong commitment to teaching lesson
plans that further the school and district's
standards.
- Implement computer and media technology into lesson
plans.
PROJECT FUNDING &
GRANTS
- Pursue grants
to help fund projects, maintain records of grants
submitted and for all correspondence with agencies.
|
WHY PEOPLE WRITE WEAK RESUMES & COVER LETTERS
I originally discovered why people write such weak resumes and cover letters when teaching a resume class one day. Inadvertently, I asked a class to read a job ad for a Delivery Driver (example provided in Proven Resumes - Strategies That Have Increased Salaries). It was a tiny ad only about 3 lines long. Being so short I was shocked when I asked the class to tell me what skills and abilities they felt should be addressed in cover letters for the driver ad. The ad actually asked for these 5
skills:
2+ Years Driving Experience
Delivering High Value Products
Knowledge of Puget Sound Area
Customer Service Experience
Corporate Accounts Experience |
In contrast to the list above, people in my classes very often came up with lists of skills like the ones below, that make sense, but that didn't address the 5 skills actually requested in the job
ad.
Being Bondable, Trustworthy, Dependable, Self-Motivated
Possessing an Excellent Driving Record
Knows the Area
Likes to Deal with People
Being Detail Oriented
Possessing Accounting Skills & Time Management Skills |
Which list of skills, used in a cover letter, would do a better job of landing more interviews for the driver job ad? This example, even though from a different industry, shows how important effectively analyzing job ads is ... and illustrates why some resumes and cover letters land far more
interviews!!!
Having analyzed 50 teacher job ads and extracted all skills from them, I've compiled 18 categories of skills
and hundreds of skill statements, that are highly transferable for all teacher jobs. I spent about 2 weeks gathering the job ads and then another week analyzing them and creating skill headings for use in teacher resumes and cover
letters.
If you consider the time you'll save in gathering and analyzing that many teacher job ads ... such time and effort would cost you far more than what I charge for for
Proven Resumes for Teachers ... That Double & Triple Interview Rates! ... which comes bundled with
Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries ...
both for only $27.80.
Using Proven Resumes & Cover Letters for Teachers will guide you through every step of creating a powerful teacher resume and then as a major bonus you also receive
Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries to help you write powerful, transferable skill descriptions for any non-teaching jobs that you've
held.
Click here to read a full description of Proven Resumes & Cover Letters for Teachers!
Click here to read a full description of Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries!
|
Buy
TEACHER RESUMES & COVER LETTERS
... and receive FREE ... Proven
Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries!
both for only $27.80
|
|
|
|
Website Contents,
Regina Pontow, 1997-2005