Career Corner

As most everyone knows, a resume is a document that highlights your experiences and qualifications to potential employers. Unfortunately, what some people don't know is they are held accountable for the information they put on the resume. If you post something on your resume, make sure it is truthful. In an interview, an employer can tell if you are skirting around the question or issue being talked about. If it's not true, don't post it. Also, you must know your resume very well and be ready to answer questions about everything on it.

I have the fortune of conducting mock interviews for students before they head out for their real interview, and in many cases, they aren't able to respond to some of the questions related to information they posted on their resume. It's like they need their resume in front of them to answer the questions. This is not acceptable in an interview. When you describe your experiences or list your accomplishments on your resume, know how to translate that in an interview.

Typical items posted on a resume include, but are not limited to, the following: educational background (this can include special certifications and training); relevant experience (student teaching, substitute teaching, tutoring, field experiences, coaching, teacher's aid, etc); computer skills; summary of qualifications (spell out your skills and what you have to offer an employer); other experience (jobs unrelated to working with students); honors and awards; and campus and/or community involvement. Having a mix of skills and experiences on a resume will make you stand out among your competitors, but if you can't talk about them in the interview, you lose your shot at that particular teaching job. The other aspect of this is knowing how to talk about your experiences and skills in a way that is more than just repeating what's on the resume. Embellish your response in the interview (but keep it to the truth) so it doesn't sound like you are reading from your own document. Even though there is a teaching shortage, getting a teaching job is a competitive process. You MUST know yourself and your resume to sell yourself in the interview.

Diane Sledden Reed
Assistant Director, Career Center
University of North Carolina Wilmington

Posted by AAEE at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is the concept of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. It is progress toward a sustainable economy, society and environment (environment, equity and economy).

Sustainability can be described as each of us doing our part to build the kind of world—economically, environmentally and socially—that we want to live in, and one that we want our children and grandchildren to inherit. It means becoming aware of all interconnections—visible and invisible—in which our day-to-day choices affect the intricate balance of social, economic and ecological systems.

The United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission) introduced the far-reaching implications of the term, “sustainable,” in their widely cited report, Our Common Future (1987):

"Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable--to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
World Commission on Environment and Development, Brundtland Commission, "Our Common Future"

Why Sustainability in the classrooms?
Students have a chance to make a huge difference in this world. Teach them why change is necessary so their future sustainability behaviors will become the norm. Change is hard for most adults, but if students learn what they need to do to help create a healthy environment, economy and community, then it will be more natural as they mature. Yes, critical thinking skills are important, but change agent skills are necessary right now.

Teachers have the perfect opportunity to bring sustainability into the classroom and make it a school-wide vision and mission. No matter what subject you teach, there is a way to bring sustainability into your lessons. There are so many resources out there, and some are listed below.

RESOURCES:
Greening Schools
Teaching Sustainability in the Classroom
Sustainability Education Handbook: Resource Guide for K-12 Teachers
The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
K-12 Education Sustainability Links
Kids for Saving Earth
All Academic: Strategic Planning to Support K-12 Sustainability Education
The US Partnership: K-12 Sustainability Resources
The International Schools Association - Education for Sustainability: A Curriculum Framework K-12
Walking the Talk: K-12 School Curriculum-Sustainability Education
Vermont Education for Sustainability
Citizenship: Workforce Readiness for K-12

Posted by AAEE at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Tell me about yourself. These were very common questions in an interview, but times are changing, and so are interviews. You need to be ready for behavioral interview questions. In a behavioral interview you will have to demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and abilities, collectively known as competencies, by giving specific examples from your past experiences. The principal or human resources recruiter wants to know, not that you can do something, but that you have done it. He or she, prior to the interview, determines what competencies are required for the position. Then the interviewer develops a series of questions that will allow him or her to find out if you, the teacher candidate, possess the necessary competencies to perform the job and are a good fit for that particular school. The basic premise of the behavioral interview is that past performance is a good predictor of future performance.

While many teacher candidates are intimidated by this method, a behavioral interview gives you the opportunity to demonstrate to a prospective principal why you are well suited for the job and that school. Rather then merely telling the interviewer what you would do in a situation, as in a regular interview, in a behavioral interview you must describe, in detail, how you handled a situation in the past. What better way to "strut your stuff?"

S.T.A.R.
This is an acronym to use to help you with behavioral interview questions. Think of answering the questions like a short story. ST = situation or task; A = action you took; R = result of that action. If you are just graduating from college, think about situations from your student teaching experience, field experiences, and class work. If you get asked a behavioral question and you have never had an experience to fit that question, do NOT answer what you think you would do in that situation, because you truly don't know. If you cannot answer the behavioral question, then let the principal or HR recruiter know that you have never experienced what they are looking for but you believe it would take skills in _______. Never make up a story.

Sample Behavioral Interview Questions:
Tell me about a time when a lesson plan didn't go well and how you handled the situation.
Describe a conflict you had with a student/parent and how you handled the situation.
Tell me about a typical homework assignment in your class.
Describe an experience where you identified a student's special needs and modified the lesson.
Share an example of communication with a parent that helped you better understand a student in your classroom.
Tell me about a specific instance when you collaborated with other colleagues and tell me the result of that collaboration.
Describe a lesson plan that went very well and why you think it worked.
Give an example of a time when you had to make a quick decision and the result that decision.

As with any interview, you need to prepare before the interview. Assess yourself - know your skills, style, and what you have to offer the employer. Do your research - know about the school and school system and know what they are looking for in a teacher candidate. Also, prepare questions to ask the principal - always have a list of questions to pull out at the end of the interview.

Behavioral interviews are used to select the best candidate. You should put much thought into the future of behavioral interviews...when you do something at work, or in school, that will demonstrate a competency to a prospective employer, that's the time to write it down. Time has a funny way of clouding our memories. If you write down the details of an event right after it happens you'll be able to be more specific. You might even consider keeping a journal.

Diane Sledden Reed
Assistant Director, Career Center
University of North Carolina Wilmington
www.edweek.org

Posted by AAEE at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)