Networking and luck. I hate to say it, but that’s what I always heard, and that’s what worked for me, though that’s not to say that time and effort aren’t just as important. Who you know certainly does matter, but there’s no reason you can’t create those relationships from the ground up.

I graduated college with my Bachelor’s and grabbed my teaching certificate… so then what?

I’m here you guys! Who wants to hire me!?

I soon discovered the profound paradox of entry level careers: you need experience to land the job, but you need a job to gain experience…

So what do you do?? Treat finding a job like a full time job.

Dear Every School, I love what you’ve done with your hair.

One colleague of mine got dressed in formal work clothes and spent his days applying to jobs from 9 to 5. He even took a lunch break as if he were on the clock.

First I’ll walk you through the specifics of the application process.

Then I’ll tell you my story.

Letters of Recommendation

Along with your degree, teaching license, cover letter, and resume, you’re going to want some solid recommendation letters. Your first choices are probably college professors and anyone from your student-teaching placement who saw your work, e.g. your mentor(s), your clinical supervisor, the principal of the school you student-taught in, maybe any paraprofessionals you worked with… Another neat option is asking one of your students for a letter of recommendation. I never did this, but I love the idea.

As far as I’m concerned, the more rec letters the better. You’re only going to use two or three in your applications, but don’t be afraid to ask everyone who is qualified to write a good letter for you. For all that these people know your character and your work, the truth is that some of these letters still fall flat, so you want to keep your options open.

Resume

White space is bad. If there’s a lot of empty white space on your resume, then you must not have much experience, or you’re not so good at writing/communicating. Find ways to elaborate on the responsibilities/accomplishments for each of your experience entries. Or split the page into two columns so that experience takes up one side and education/skills/honors & awards take up the other.

Arrange your experience either by relevance to the job or chronologically. Don’t forget to mention any volunteer work you’ve done, especially with adolescents. If you can fit it, then include any experience you have at all with kids.

If you include a goal or mission statement, then mention the name of the school that application is going to. “To acquire the 8th grade English teaching position at Blah Blah Middle School.”

Include a Skills section and list these in order of importance from top to bottom. I would also include sections for Education, Experience, and Honors & Awards.

If you have a lot to fit in, then lower your page margins to a half inch.

I’ll talk about paper quality later.

Cover Letter

Like the goal of the resume, cater each letter to the schools. Find the names of the specific people you’re writing to – usually a principal or superintendent. Include the name of the school.

Keep the letter to one page. Chop all four of the page margins down to 0.5″ if you have to. Keep your letter to three or four paragraphs. Introduce yourself and specify the job listing you’re responding to. In a new paragraph, explain what kind of teacher you are and work in experience you have with the latest trends in education (classroom management techniques, using technology…). This might look like two paragraphs. Then conclude by asking them to consider your qualifications and thank them for their time.

Something to consider: sans-serif fonts (Arial) are easier on the eyes on digital screens while serif fonts (Times New Roman) are easier on the eyes printed on paper.

Sending Applications

I found many schools used the same online program to manage electronic applications. It even allows you to import all of the general information you’d already entered for other school applications. If/when you use this method, you’ll want good quality scans of your recommendation letters. For a personal and human touch, I scanned my own signature and pasted it onto my cover letters.

For printed applications, use expensive and sexy (sexpensive?) cotton paper. Maybe splurge on the matching folders and envelopes too. People do notice the attention to detail as a sign that you care and you’re a professional who takes this seriously and you want it badly.

Consider unsolicited as well as solicited applications. Unsolicited means they didn’t advertise the position. Whether they were advertising for openings or not, I mailed dozens of paper applications to schools within an hour of my house asking them to keep my information on file. It was an unsolicited application that got me a subbing job at the school where I ended up getting my first contract!

The Interview

Get them off the script. Talk to them. Make them laugh. Make them remember you. Impress them with your unique personality and people skills. Use anecdotes whenever possible because real experience trumps hypothetical plans.

Arrive in the office up to ten minutes early, but not more than that. But you can still show up earlier and read a book in your car until then. I’d rather be an hour early than a minute late.

Interviews get easier with experience. You will bomb a few, but then become comfortable and confident. It’s a lot like dating that way.

“This chick brings her dog AND litters… I think I’m in love.”

Similar to using anecdotes, bring one or two printed examples of handouts you’ve designed and explain why they’re innovative or effective. If you can bring a photocopy of an anonymous student’s response to one of your handouts, even better.

The examples I liked to use were a guide to writing an essay in MLA format in the form of an essay in MLA format, a graphic organizer I created for writing paragraphs, and a photocopy of one of my student’s responses to a handout I’d designed.

This handout asked students to draw a symbol to represent Fahrenheit 451 as a whole and explain their choice. This particular student misunderstood the directions and yet blew my mind with his answer because he could barely spell to save his life, yet he used visual metaphors which proved his distinct understanding of the text.

Not getting interviews? Are you treating finding a job like a job? You should be checking those job search engines every single day. If not, then you must not want to teach badly enough.

Check the job listings.

Mail applications or complete online applications every week.

Email people you know in the field. Ask people you know to connect you with people they know.

Print business cards (vistaprint.com is a solid choice).

Attend alumni events.

Still no bites? Stop and take an honest look in the mirror. Does your resume have white space? Is your cover letter generic? Do you have people skills? Use your resources. Ask for a resume review. Ask professors to review your letter.

When you do land those interviews, this is the show stopper you have to ask at the end and you have to own it.

When the scripted exchanges are finished and they’re getting ready to send you out the door, they’ll ask if you have any questions. You should ask all kinds of questions at this point because YOU are interviewing THEM as well. When you’re done gathering data about that particular school, ask this question:

Based on what you’ve seen so far, what hesitations do you have about hiring me for this position?

They will always be rocked back on their heels. They will be impressed. They’ll say, “Good question.”

At that point if they have anything to share, then you address it right then and there and remove that doubt about your qualifications while communicating at the same time that you’re a confident and capable asset. The last thing on their mind should be, “They impressed me with their professionalism and I had my concern but they proved me wrong.”

Now if you’re interested, here’s how I got my big break…

I submitted dozens of applications. I went to a lot of interviews. People liked me, but they wanted someone with experience. It seemed to me like I was always the one young guy they were willing to talk to, but they were more comfortable with someone with experience. Or who knows what! I applied for one job where I knew plenty of people in the building, but they didn’t interview anyone because they gave the job to someone who had already been subbing there for a few years. The school had a legal obligation to advertise the position, but it wasn’t really available.

Subbing became the key, the stepping stone. I would sub until I landed long-term subbing jobs, and then snag the full time position once it opened. I needed to be that guy who’d already been in the building for a few maternity leaves. At one point, I subbed in three districts at once. I worked my way into the culture of these schools. People knew my name, my face, my personality, my reputation, and my desire to teach.

About a year went by and it was the summer time – hunting season for would-be teachers and schools. A higher up at one of the schools I subbed in called me to tip me off about an opening. By now I’d networked my way into their social system and this was the payoff.

I interviewed. I didn’t get the job. They hired someone with many years of experience. A new school year started and I was still subbing.

About halfway into the first quarter, that higher up called me again. “Can you come in tomorrow and teach three 90 minute blocks?”

“…Sure!”

The big break had come. The teacher they’d hired had to resign suddenly. They needed someone immediately and they knew I wanted it. They brought me in as a long-term sub until they could fill the position. They told me, “Consider this your audition.” Again, they were legally bound to advertise the position for a number of days, so I long-term subbed for about two weeks before the principal and vp called me into the office and said, “We love what the kids are saying about you – we’re gonna go ahead and offer you the position.”

I got my first contract. I became a full time teacher. I think my big break was a fluke, but it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t applied, interviewed, networked, interviewed again…

If you don’t have good connections already at the school you want to work in, or even if you do, work your way into the system and use those stepping stone positions to climb the ladder.

Personally, I used substitute teaching as a stepping stone, but I avoided special education jobs like paraprofessional or working in some type of resource room. Special education is a terrific field with hard workers, but teachers and paras simply aren’t the same job. I’ve seen people take para jobs thinking they’ll become teachers later, but they get stuck there – sometimes for decades – and resent it, which doesn’t do the students who need that assistance any good.

The way I see it, if you take a para position and apply for teaching positions, the powers that be will say, “That’s great that you want to teach, but we NEED you to be a para.” Paraprofessional work is profoundly challenging, so it can be hard to find people who are willing to do the work. I think they’re less inclined to lose a capable para when teachers-for-hire are a dime a dozen.

Back before I got my contract, I was the number one sub in a school where someone offered me a full time job in a type of resource room. I politely declined. I told the man who approached me that I appreciated the consideration, but that I was focusing my career on the mainstream classroom position, which he respected.

If you want to take a para job because you think it will help you network and work toward that teaching position, then by all means. I just think that the substitute position shows people a better picture of you as a would-be teacher because you can showcase the leadership skills you would use teaching full time; whenever I subbed I practiced the classroom management techniques I’d learned in college.

Click here to read more about what to expect in the first year.

And click here to read my account of the first week of my third year teaching.