Careers for Teachers

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of requests from educators who are either looking to break into the teaching field or who are on the opposite end of the spectrum and are looking to leave teaching.  Ironically, teaching seems to be both a fluid and stable career.  It is fluid in that it has a high turnover rate, particularly for new teachers prior to their fifth year of service.  A Lot of educators get disillusioned at this point and then choose to embark on different career paths.  Yet, it is stable because as long as you are teaching and and already working within a school system then typically, there is a job for you.  Even if you are accessed, you are still protected by your union and your school is still required to pay you until you find a new job. So unless there is a huge amount of actual lay-offs, teaching is one of the most stable careers you can choose to go into.

With that said, a lot of job seekers have come to me looking for advice on how to conduct job searches, where to look if they have been excessed, and how to break into education if you are a new graduate. The answer is pretty simple.  Just like with any other career, my number one answer is to get your career documents professionally crafted and then conduct a guerrilla job search in which you hunt for jobs aggressively instead of passively waiting for an on-line posting to guide you towards your career.  The passive job seeker may find a job – but the aggressive job seeker will not only find a job more quickly, but will more likely get more respect from her employer because the employer knows that this job seeker is a go-getter and has the know-how to find new employment if this job fails to satisfy her.

Yet, if you are looking for a little more guidance, particularly if you are a new teacher, you may want to check out Eric Hougan’s blog www.roadtoteaching.com.  Eric is the author of the book Road to Teaching: A Guide to Teacher Training, Student Teaching, and Finding Employment, which offers advice to preservice teachers and gives them the inside scoop on how to find employment prior to ending their Student Teaching.  I was impressed with how simple and easy to follow Eric’s advice is for new teachers entering into the market.  If you are serious about finding employment, particularly those of you who are graduating next year and are about to embark on your Student Teaching journey, be sure to pick up this book before the school year begins.  He has some great hints on how to make a good first impression when entering the classroom.

If you are not a teacher, but are a job seeker and are looking for specific information on your career, you can make a comment on the blog or e-mail me at Resumes@AyeshaWrites4u.com.

As always, good luck on your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!

The Missing Component to Your Successful Resume

If you have ever written a resume before, you already know the basic elements needed for most resumes.  A resume typically has the following:

• Your name and address
• Summary of Qualifications
• Professional Experience or Work History
• Educational Experience
• Additional Criteria, such as extracurricular activities, volunteer experience, or skill sets

While this is the typical criteria used in creating a resume, a successful resume takes it one step further.  A successful resume always has keywords.

KEYWORDS

Keywords are listed as the last section on the resume or are integrated throughout the skill section of the resume.  They are words that describe the most common attributes an employer would use to find an employee when using big career sites such as Monster or Careerbuilder.  They are also useful when employers use technological software to scan resumes.  Even more importantly, when an employer stops to scan your resume, these words jump out at the employer and saves him time to have to go on a scavenger hunt to determine if you are qualified.

If you are a serious candidate and you want an employer to know you are a serious candidate, you should not only have keywords in the Keyword and Skills sections, but they should also be used throughout your resume.  For example, if you are a physical therapist and you know that typically a physical therapist must use whirlpool baths, infrared lights, and ultrasonic machines, these are all words that should be used throughout your resume – in the summary of qualifications, professional experience sections, and also in the educational section if you are a recent graduate and do not have much work experience.

Most employees assume an employer knows their job description.  So instead of outlining their duties using keywords, they give general job descriptions and leave off the most important and specific attributes to an employer.  You will not do this.  You will find out what attributes are most important to your employer and distribute these attributes throughout all of your personal branding materials.

While people in your position should do the same things, often times they don’t.  If you have ever made a lateral move in which you had the same job title but moved to a different company, you would experience this first hand.  In some companies, there is more support, so you may perform the duties necessary to only fulfill your role.  If , however, you work for a smaller company or a start-up, you will perform not only the duties typically performed for your title, but will also be responsible for several other jobs as well.  Therefore, it is always important to be specific when giving your job description.  It will let the employer know that you are perfectly capable of handling the tasks  he expects for you to take on in your new role as compared to the less specific person in which he has to guess their capabilities.

So what keywords to use?

Most people when researching keywords will quickly become overwhelmed.  It is hard to decipher which words are most important to use on your resume.  Typically, the best keywords are those that you have not already used on your resume.  For example, if you are a teacher and you already put that you “effectively planned and implemented cooperative lessons integrating the arts and technology”, then it is unnecessary to put “art and technology integration” in your keywords.  If however, you did not put a description that uses the most basic elements of your job in your professional experience, then you can use keywords to fill in the blanks.

It is also good to use keywords to provide alternate labels to your job description.  For example, many administrative assistants work under different job titles and also perform different duties according to these titles.  However, most Hiring Managers fail to make these distinctions and may only put secretary in his search engine.  If an employee fails to use the alternate title secretary, she may be overlooked for the job simply because she didn’t use the right keyword.

How do You know you used the right keywords?

As an employee, you have the advantage of knowing what duties were considered most important for your job description.  You should lead with that knowledge and then research the rest.  If you are unsure, then you should hire a professional.  Professional resume writers should have access to job profiles, have a list of keywords according to profession, and also have alliances with employment agencies that can assist them in ensuring your resume will fit the needs of the average employer in your field.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!

Why Hiring You Should Be Like Found Money

Okay, we have another post from our guest blogger, Kevin Donlin, co-creator of The Guerrilla Job Search System DVD.  On his posts, he explains how to use guerrilla warfare tactics to expand your job search.  So instead of passively sending out your professional resumes, you should actively seek out work, while still maintaining your professionalism.

Today, he follows up on yesterday’s post “Who DoYou Know,” and explains why hiring you should be like finding money.  In essence, the key to getting hired is to make an employer feel like you are the answer to all of his employment problems.  Be sure to read Kevin’s articles and if you want to catch the Guerrilla Job Search  tactics captured on video, click here .

As always, good luck with your job search.

Ayesha Long
www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services

*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!

Why Hiring You Should Be Like Finding Money

By Guest Blogger Kevin Donlin

If you found a wallet, full of money and credit cards, with a driver’s license that said: “Warren Buffett, Omaha, Nebraska,” do you think you might be able to meet the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway?

All you’d have to do is call Mr. Buffett and say, “I found your wallet. Can I deliver it in person?”

You would enjoy making that call, having that conversation, and meeting Mr. Buffett.

Well, you can do the same thing with employers — meet them by offering to return “lost” money.

Here’s how: Research a company until you can call a hiring manager and say something like this: “Mr. Smith, I found some lost money that belongs to you. You see, I called your office twice posing as a potential client, and your staff didn’t ask me a simple question that my last employer used to increase revenues 35%. Can I meet you for 15 minutes this week and give you that information?”

You would enjoy making that call, having that conversation, and meeting Mr. Smith. Bring your resume, along with more tips that could help him run his business, and a job interview would be the likely result.

Feeling diffident? Mail a letter with the “found money” information, say you’ll call to discuss, and then call at the appointed time.

Heck, if you really want to stand out and be a Guerrilla, fold up your letter and mail it in a wallet to the employer (buy them at any flea market or dollar store). The headline of your letter can read, “Is this money yours?” No resume needed.

The point is this: When you call to offer someone money, they may be suspicious. When you call to offer to return money they’ve lost, they will hang on your every word.

All you need do is research an employer’s business, industry, clients, and competitors until you find one or two ideas that can make or save a significant amount of money.

Best part: You don’t need to create the money-making/saving ideas, just as you don’t need to create gold nuggets; you need only dig them up. Nobody cares where you found the gold (except the I.R.S.).

If you can’t do this — if you can’t think of ways for someone in your field of work to make or save money — it means you have no idea why an employer should put you on the payroll. Instead of thinking of ways to earn a job, you are waiting for someone to give you one.

And you will have a long wait.

You’ll find many more ideas like this on the new Guerrilla Job Search System DVD.

Lacking Skills? Become an Intern.

One of the biggest problems when securing a job for graduating students, career changers, or even professionals with upward mobility is lack of actual work experience in the position of choice. Prospects often rely on their educations as the only way to substantiate them as better employees against their competition. However, this has often proved a fatal mistake.

When employees choose to wait for employment until AFTER graduation or attempting to make their career move, they are often faced with rejection. Why? Employers understand the difference between street smarts and book smarts. If you do not have enough real world experience, an employer will not be interested in training you in the actual day to day activities of the job, only to find out that the straight-A student has proven to be incompetent in the actual field.

In order to avoid being in this group of the “intelligent unemployed”, a lot of employees are now turning to internships to help secure their professions. So should you. But be forewarned, this year, more and more employees are seeking internships to help secure employment and therefore are finding it ever more difficult to find placement or even find tasks to complete once they become interns. In fact, in today’s New York Times the article, Internship is secured, but a seat? That’s tricky., focused on interns interested in Law receiving internships, but then remaining unassigned throughout the course of their internship.  This problem will probably remain prevalent until our economy is more stable.

To avoid wasting your internship, there are three things you should continuously do to help you secure employment after your internship:

1. Network. Remember the key to any business is never “what you know, it’s who you know.”  So if you have the opportunity to intern with the company of your choice, you should not waste your time doing crossword puzzles or choosing to create a fraternity of interns.  Instead, all of your time should be used in getting yourself noticed by the higher ups.  Staying late to help with assignments, arriving early before the other interns to talk one-on-one with the actual employees, offering to get lunch or have lunch with the decision- makers – are all ways to stand out amongst the crowd and get you noticed.  At the same time, you should also go to networking events within the field, so you can meet others who are in your industry who may be able to advance your career if your internship fails to land you a position your interning company.
2. Present the professional in you. Not being an employee does not give you permission to come to your assignments looking sloppy, being late, or otherwise being unprofessional.  Give off the impression that you are a qualified candidate and you BELONG at this company.
3. Apply early. Typically, before the last two weeks of an internship is when interns begin asking for employment.  Be ahead of the pack.  Submit your resume after getting a feel for the environment and determining what qualifications are most important to the hiring manager.  You will be amazed how this one step can get you results without any extra work.  The employer will be happy to know that you are already eager to work for the company and if there are qualifications that you seem to be missing, he may be able to tell you what holes need to be filled in.  This gives you the remainder of the internship to work on those skills and then apply again. If your internship does not have a noncompetitive clause, banning you from contacting companies within the same industry, you should be applying to these companies as well.

Remember the key to securing employment is to always be consistent. If you start off strong and keep up the same pace throughout your entire internship, you will have gained valuable work experience that can now be placed on your resume, landed some great references that can help you land employment anywhere, and a resource of contacts that can help propel and guide you as you journey throughout your career.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!

Explaining Your Unemployment Status

One of my first posts on Stepping Up to a Better Career was “Does Unemployment Belong on Your Resume?“.  This post focused on people who chose to leave their jobs and do life-altering things such as taking a year hiatus to travel across the country or volunteering in a third-world country for six months.  But what if your unemployment experience is not as enlightened?

What if one day you showed up for work and was just fired?  Or laid off?

When unemployment is forced on you through an employer’s analysis, whether budgetary or personal, it can still have an effect on your self-esteem and thus have an effect on your job search. One of the biggest problems many people face is blaming themselves.  Unless you have done something deserving of being fired, such as excessive tardiness, lewd behavior, or mismanagement of company resources, it is not your fault!  And even if you were fired due to one of the aforementioned reasons, there is no reason to feel as if you cannot find new employment.  Of course if you were fired due to negative circumstances, you will need to do some self-reflection prior to taking on a new job so that you do not repeat the same mistakes twice.  The point is, that regardless of circumstances, you can still find a new job!

How?

Well, here’s the thing.   Your unemployment and the reasons for your unemployment do NOT belong on your resume or cover letter!  Therefore, if you are honest about your dates of employment, your career accomplishments, and highlight all of your qualifications, you will be seen as a viable candidate just like any other employee.

You do not need to explain the circumstances for leaving any job, unless it is voluntary and you have used that time to build your professional skills.  Then this is interesting information you can choose to put in the cover letter if the skills gained are applicable to the position at hand.  Otherwise, unemployment DOES NOT belong on any of your career documents.

The time to explain your unemployment is when you are standing in front of an employer and having your interview.  Then when the employer asks why you left your previous job, you can answer as honestly and professionally as possible.  The best response is brief, honest, and avoids criticizing the company, coworkers, or anyone else.

If you were laid-off, simply explain the company’s choices, such as budgetary cuts or departmental closings and then explain what you accomplished prior to being laid-off.  If you were fired, make sure you emphasize that the event leading up to your firing was an isolated event, you have evaluated your choices, and you will ensure that it will not happen again.

Being unemployed is not the end of your world.  You can always bounce back from setbacks such as being laid-off or fired, just be sure to be honest and professional as you go out on your career search.

As always, good luck with your job search.

Ayesha Long

www.AyeshaWrites4u.com

Step Up to a Better Career with Professional Resume Services
*** Also be sure to go to Ayesha Writes 4 You’s website and schedule your Free Resume Consultation. From now until August 15th, you can take advantage of our Summer Discount and get 15% off any resume package. So go to www.AyeshaWrites4u.com to get started now!