Last week I had the unique opportunity to be on the other side of hiring a teacher. I was reading and sorting resumes and cover letters and was amazed at the difference in quality of the 9 applicants. My major AHA moment came when someone help up a cover letter that had no paragraph breaks on the entire page of the letter. He commented, "I don't even want to attempt to read this, I am tempted to just put it aside and not even look at it." I had to agree it was very difficult to read but it also ended up being one of our top choices to interview. If we had been looking at a pile of 100 or more applicants I am sure this person would have just been put aside and not even considered.
That old saying of first impressions is so true. When I went home that evening I went through my cover letter with a fine toothed comb to find any errors at all, because every little error was noticed on these letters and resumes. I also made sure that my cover letter gave a good impression of the kind of teacher that I am and not just a repeat of the same information that is on my resume.
The comments made by others and my own thoughts as I read through these application materials was an eye opener. I will be reviewing all of my application materials to be sure that they are all current, proper format, no mistakes and not only my letter and resume but all of my packet materials. I was in awe of the impact of this first visual impression on how we made our decisions on who to interview. We did read through all nine but I am sure if we had been looking at a bigger pool of applicants some very fine people would have been passed over because of how they presented them selves on paper.
Next week I will be sitting on the other side of the interview table and I am looking forward to what I can learn to help me the next time I am in the hot seat. This is an awesome experience and I hope it will help me in my own job search. Now I am off to ask for updated letters of reference from my principal and superintendent.
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