Top 10 Ways to Make It Through The Initial Screening for a Teaching Position

Here’s a question via Twitter from our EDU Edge friend Kimberly Forrester @Kimberly_AgEd, an aspiring teacher:

“What is the number one way to get ahead of the rest in the
initial screening stage of the teacher interview process?”

Kimberly –  The EDU Edge consortium of school administrators across the country has literally done hundreds of thousands of initial screenings for teaching candidates.  (For those out there who may not know what we are referring to by an “initial screening”- this is process where administrators or a stakeholder team reviews stacks of applications and determine which candidates to interview),  Simply put, there’s no silver bullet!  There is not just one thing that get’s your name selected to participate in an interview … It’s the whole package! 

Here’s our Top 10 list of factors most critical to making it through the initial screening for an interview as reported by principals and district level administrators that are a part of The EDU Edge consortium:

1. References – Quality and from whom?  i.e. a glowing reference from a principal or your supervising teacher goes much further than your manager at a summer job.

2. Quality of Resume/Vitae – See our Blog Posts on Cover Letters and Resumes for advice.

3. GPA – See our Blog Post on GPA for advice.

4. Quality of and Performance in Pedagogical Coursework.

5. Quality of and Performance in Content Related Coursework.

6. Past Teaching Experience.

7. Past Experience with Extracurricular Activities.

8. College or University attended.

9. Professional Development.

10. Resume/Vitae is error free and professional.

We talk about each of these in detail in The Insider’s Guide to the Teacher Interview ©2012.  Consider getting a copy, we know it will help you in your search for the teaching job of your dreams. 

Good luck to you Kimberly!  Good luck to all of you following The EDU Edge.  Please come back and let us know how you make out so we can all learn together. 

Yours in a Partnership in Learning,

The EDU Edge

(Please feel free to contact us with additional questions … we’re on Twitter, Facebook and you can email us at info@theEDUedge.com.  Tell us what interview obstacles you’re dealing with and trying to overcome.  We’ll do our best to respond and help you.)