What I Learned: Applying and Interviewing for Teaching Jobs

Let me start out with this because it’s something that I’ve known forever, but have really begun to believe and feel lately:

You are not defined by your job.

Yes, it may be a way you identify yourself, it may be your livelihood, and it may be something that you find joy in doing, but let me repeat: You are not defined by your job.  It doesn’t matter if it’s teaching, being a doctor, or cashiering.  Getting interviews for teaching positions and having them constantly tell me, “We loved your interview, but we’ve decided to go with someone else” was heartbreaking.  It was good, but not good enough.  I equated that with you’re a good teacher, but not good enough.  No more.  No more devil-spawned lies.  Even though I do not have a teaching job currently, I am a good teacher.  You are not defined by your job.

With that being said, I have learned some things along the way that have been useful for applying for jobs and going through the job process.  A little background: between the last three years since graduating from college, I have been through about 15 interviews, had one full-time teaching job, and been a long-term substitute for half of a year.  Hopefully my tips and tricks are useful in applying and interviewing for that perfect teaching job.

What I Learned from Teaching Job Applications

1.  Take time in constructing your resume and cover letter.  Make sure to highlight things that you have actually done and use action verbs to give emphasis to the most important points.  I won’t belabor this point because there are lots of resources out there about resumes and cover letters.  Useful ones include this site and this guide.

2.  If there are essay questions or a profile builder with questions, spend time on these.  These can set you apart from candidates with a similar level of experience.

3.  Proofread.

3.  This one is fairly obvious, but don’t leave any gaps in your application.  This includes not leaving any parts of the application blank, but also making sure that your experiences are all accounted for.  Summer job?  List it.  Student teaching? List it.

4.  Network.  As much as you can.  Use student teaching connections (and professional teaching connections if you have them).  Did your cooperating teacher teach somewhere else before his/her current school?  Ask if they’d be willing to mention your name to the principal.  Did any teachers that you’ve worked with have any connections?  I got a few of my interviews because colleagues knew I was applying for teaching jobs and they knew someone in the school district.  It probably won’t get you a job, but it might get you an interview.

5.  This may be the one that got me the most interviews.  Email the principal of the school.  Attach your resume, cover letter, and one strong letter of recommendation.  Do research on the school and include relevant information in your cover letter or email. There have been at least three interviews that I have gotten the night after I emailed a principal about a position.  Make sure to proofread your emails.  There have been a few that I have sent using a form where I forgot to change the name of the principal.  Check and double check (or risk kicking yourself for days).  Here’s a rough example of what I send to principals:

Dear Mr./Mrs _______,

Hello, my name is _________.  I recently applied to the position of ________ at ________ School.  I am emailing to express my continued interest in the position and attach my resume, cover letter, and letter of recommendation for your review.  As you can see from my cover letter, I have experience with ___________.  Thank you for your time and I look forward to the possibility of hearing from you.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

___________ (leave your email and phone number with your signature)

What I Learned from Interviews

1.  Do your research.  Find out about the school you are interviewing for.  Do they use a curriculum you have used in the past?  Mention it in the interview.  Do they use PBIS and you have experience with that?  Mention it in the interview.  I’ve had some principals be noticeably impressed when I mentioned something that I found out about their school.  The best ways I’ve found to research: go to the district page, go to the school page, go to the teacher’s pages.  Often the teachers pages give me the most information.

2.  In my experience, most interviewers will primarily ask about a small subset of questions.  Here’s the main topics I’ve encountered in my 15+ interviews:

• differentiation
• communication with parents
• technology
• working with diverse learners
• math and reading instructional experiences (guided reading, guided math, whole group)
• working with colleagues (collaboration, team teaching, etc.)
• how you structure a lesson (Hint: Mention that everything you teach is standards-based and you determine your objectives from the standards.  Also, make sure to mention assessment.)
• assessment
• classroom management

Write down everything you know and your experiences with each of these topics.  When possible, use examples to display your knowledge.  If you don’t have any experience, say something like: If I were in the classroom, I would _______)

3.  Come up with thoughtful questions and link some of them to your research.  I found on your district website that ______.  Can you tell me more about that?  Some of my go-to questions include:

• What technology do you have available for use in the classroom and how is it used?
• What is your favorite thing about the school? (gives you valuable information so you can decide if the school is a good fit)
• Do you have a mentor program?  What does that look like? (I almost always ask this.  My first school that I taught at did not have a mentor program for new teachers and it was a lot more difficult to acclimate to the school.)

4.  If the school, grade level, or district is not a right fit and you can afford (monetary- and sanity-wise) to say no, go ahead.  I have always said I want to teach preschool through 3rd grade.  I was on track to get a job as a 3rd-5th grade interventionist, but I had to say no.  It was hard, but it was the best for me.  My dad gave the best advice: No job is worth being miserable for.  Ask yourself if you NEED the job.  If the answer is no, your answer should be, too.  

Then there’s the more abstract things I have learned:

1.  Just because you feel you had a good interview doesn’t mean you got the job.  I have had lights-out interviews where I didn’t get the position (after at least 15 interviews, my litmus test of interview prowess has become pretty refined).  Consequently, my first interview that landed me a professional teaching job I thought went well, but not fantastically.

2.  There are often other circumstances that determine who gets the job.  School districts may have already had someone in mind, but they still have to do interviews.  Someone may have been a substitute, had a connection in the district, or had just a little more experience.

3.  A supportive family member, spouse, or friend is essential and irreplaceable.  The nos, at least for me, did not get easier.  Someone to vent to, pray with, and be there for support has been such a blessing in my life and I pray if you are going through this process you also have those people.

Good luck! Remember: You are not defined by your job.