How To Prepare a Great Resume

Preparing Your Resume



Your resume serves as the initial indicator of your organizational skills and professionalism. A poorly prepared resume could convey the wrong message to a an interview committee member. A properly constructed resume should have the following contents:



A letter of interest, with a brief statement of your teaching and coaching philosophy.

Resume of no more than two pages (include picture).

Teaching and coaching chronology
“Success” Page: List top accomplishments: Championships, Team G.P.A., and Scholarships.

Three to five references (always include current and recent principal).







Additional Suggestions for Preparing Your Resume



Actively sell your qualifications by focusing on accomplishments and results rather than routine job descriptions.


Final hiring decisions are rarely based on resumes alone; however, the resume should be concise, factual and positive listing of your education, experience and accomplishments.


Be conscious of the continuity of your history. The reader will be looking for reasons to eliminate as many resumes as possible. Resumes with gaps of unaccountable time often reach the circular file (garbage)!

Weigh your choice of words. Select strong action verbs, concrete nouns and positive modifiers for emphasis. Use concise phrases and clauses rather than complete sentences.


Try your resume on another coach that has experience with the interview process or members of faculty that has sit in on the interview process before.

Keep a separate list of references and make them available only on request.

Always send a cover letter on matching paper with specific reference to the school’s needs and your qualifications for the job. A personal letter is always best, so make an effort to get the name and title of individual making the hiring decision.

Remember, your resume is only a door opener. You want a personal interview.

Your Resume Has Only a Few Seconds to Impress - or it will end up in the trash.

A strong resume needs a solid foundation, and no amount of trickery can mask poor organization. Start with these basics.

Contact Information: List your contact information at the top of the resume. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. If you have a personal Web site, include the URL only if the site shows off your skills or applies to your career goals.

Objective: The objectives section gives administrators an immediate sense of who you are and what you're looking for, without forcing them to wade through the entire resume. If you decide to include an objective, stress what you'll add to the company, not what you're looking to take away.



Experience: List your experience chronologically, with your most recent job first. If your latest experience wasn't the most impressive, arrange your list by importance. Include the company name, location, your title and dates of employment. Also, give a brief description of your accomplishments these tips:

Emphasize your most important responsibilities even if they weren't your primary duties.


Use active voice. Strong sentences are those in which a subject performs an action (active voice) as opposed to an action being performed on the subject (passive voice). "I planned an event," creates a stronger impression than "An event was planned by me."


Impress employers with cause-effect relationships and tangible results. Quantify your achievements with percentages and numbers like "increased enrollment 20 percent" and "supervised three-person staff."

Use descriptions to highlight your sense of initiative. Paint yourself as a "go-getter" with strong verbs like "proposed," "launched" and "managed."


Skills/Interests: Today's workers are more tech-savvy than ever, so make sure you mention your technical and computer skills. List programming languages, software programs and operating systems you've used as well as certifications you have. Don't forget "soft skills" like foreign languages and public speaking.

Always include memberships in professional organizations, because it shows you're serious about your career. Mentioning your interests is optional. Listing activities and hobbies can portray you as a well- rounded person, but it can raise eyebrows, too. Be careful what you list. (You should probably keep your passion for professional wrestling to yourself.)


Education: List your most recent education first and work backward. State your degree, major, minor, dates of attendance and the school's name and location. You may also want to add your G.P.A. (if 3.0 or higher).

References: Don't waste valuable space on references. Employers assume you'll provide them upon request.


Finishing Touches

Create several versions of your resume, each tailored to the type of position you're applying for. Writing multiple resumes can be time-consuming, but it's a small price to pay for the job you want.

If you're applying for a specific job, research the position and school district. Pay attention to the job requirements and highlight your qualifications as they reflect the hiring of the school’s needs.

Be concise. Stick to one page. Make sure every word is meaningful.


Choose fonts that are easy-to-read, clean and consistent. Don't use non-traditional or overly creative fonts.

Read, edit and re-read your resume to make sure it's well written, clear and typo-free. Do it again. Then, ask your friends and family to do the same.


If you use an online resume, consider saving a text (".txt") version that will look good on any computer. Send your resume as an attached file and also paste the text into the body of the e-mail just to be safe. Online resumes should also include plenty of keywords, since they may be searched.


Those in favor say objectives are the simplest, quickest way to target a specific position. Those against, charge that objectives waste valuable space and limit you to just one position when you might be qualified for others.

Whether you are pro- or anti-objective, here are tips for writing a resume that will grab the administration’s attention from your objectives these work best for two types of job seekers:


Those who know exactly what job they want, and

Those whose career goal isn't obvious on their resumes.

If you include an objective, place it directly under your name and contact information. An objective typically begins with "to." For example, "Objective: To obtain a position ...”


Your objective should be simple, specific and brief -- no more than two or three lines. It should highlight what you have to offer the company, such as a specific skill or experience. A recruiter is more interested in what you can give the company than what you hope to get from it.


Here's an example of an effective job objective:

Example of an Objective: To obtain a coordinator’s position utilizing my experience and organizational skills.

Review your objective each time you send a resume and make sure it fits the job you're applying for. Just as you should have several versions of your resume, you should also have several versions of your job objective.


Summarizing Your Skills

Not 100 percent sure what job you want? Then you may find a summary statement more effective than an objective.


While an objective focuses on the job, a summary statement focuses on the job seeker.

A summary statement is a one- to two-sentence overview that captures the essence of your skills and experience. It highlights what makes you a qualified candidate as well as what makes you different (and better) than other applicants.


Tailor your summary statement to highlight the experience that is most relevant to the job.

You've found your dream job.

You spot the job posting, craft a winning resume and e-mail it to the person evaluating the resumes. Then the waiting game begins.


After you've sent a resume, it's tempting to sit back and hope the recruiter will call. But -- make no mistake -- you SHOULD follow up. You just need to figure out when and how to do it.


Wait a Week, Recruiters Say

The majority of recruiters (53 percent) say candidates should wait one week before following up, according to a Hot Jobs survey.


Some recruiters prefer you act sooner: Twenty-one percent said candidates should wait less than one week. And others prefer you wait longer: Eight percent said candidates should wait two weeks.

Some even prefer you wait for them to call you. Nineteen percent of administrators surveyed said they preferred to contact candidates, rather than for candidates to contact them.

Your best bet? Go with the majority opinion and wait a week.


Send a Short E-Mail Message

E-mail is a great follow-up tool because it not only lets you remind the recruiter that you've applied for a job, but it also lets you submit a resume again without seeming too pushy.

A week after you've submitted a resume, send the proper contact an e-mail to follow up.

Use these tips to write your follow-up e-mail:


Put your full name and the title of the position you've applied for in the subject line.

Write a professional note that reiterates your qualifications and interest in the job.

Attached your resume again. (Don't make the recruiter have to dig though old e-mails to look for it.)

Include your full name in the file name of your resume.

Don't forget to proofread carefully before you hit "Send"!


Phone with a Friendly Reminder

If you decide to follow up on a resume over the phone, be sure to rehearse what you want to say to the recruiter.


Keep it short and sweet. Introduce yourself and remind the recruiter that you submitted a resume recently. Make sure you state exactly what job you're interested in. You can also ask if they received your resume and if they're still considering candidates for the position.


If you get a recorded message, you may want to call again later. Call a few times in hopes of speaking with a real, live recruiter before resorting to leaving a message.


You also need to know even to put down the phone. Calling recruiters repeatedly isn't going to make them more likely to call you back. It's probably just going to irritate them.

Almost half (47 percent) of recruiters claim that their biggest pet peeve is candidates who keep calling them, according to a Hot Jobs survey.


Should You Just Resend Your Resume?

Have a few weeks passed since you sent a resume, and you still haven't heard from the recruiter? Are you considering simply reapplying for the position?


Don't.

Recruiters usually keep resumes on file, and they'll likely discover that you've already sent one. Worse, they may think that you didn't even realize that you'd already applied for a position.

Only resend your resume to a recruiter when you want to apply for a different position at a company. Otherwise, you should e-mail or call to follow up.


Your Resume Should Address the Following Four Questions

Make Sure You Have The Answers.



Answering the following four questions in a fully persuasive way will greatly increase your odds of developing a winning resume. The questions are the crucial elements of the resume formula. Answering them will not only give you the material you need for building a strong resume, but will also prepare you for networking and interviewing.



What do you want? That is your job target. (Offensive coordinator, etc.) The resume should be built around your job target (whether you include an objective or not) so that prospective employers can immediately see what position you are aiming for.



Why are you qualified to do it? That’s the summary or “Professional Profile” section. This is where you outline the skills and credentials that qualify you for the job. You can break your skills into functional sections or use bullet points to highlight key points. If this section is done properly, it will convince prospective employers that the rest of your resume is worth reading, bringing them to the next question.



Where have you done it? That’s the “Experience” section. The reader needs to know who you worked for, the city and state where they are located, and what you did. Ideally, your job descriptions should include lots of active verbs and focus on keywords and functional skills that are most relevant to your target job or position.



How well have you done it? Listing accomplishments and special projects shows by example that you have contributed to previous schools or employer’s bottom line (educational, athletic and community service accomplishments!).