1. Building a resume & cover letter

2. What Makes A Good Resume?  A resume should be thought of as a personal advertisement in which you and your skills are the products being sold. It is essentially, the first impression a prospective employer has of you.  A good resume should be a one or two page summary of your skills, accomplishments, experiences, and education designed to capture a prospective employer's interest.  The purpose of a resume is to secure an interview. It is the primary tool of your job search and may take several drafts to prepare effectively.

3. Tips for resume writing: Keep it short and sweet. TWO pages MAX!!! Keep it current. It should be considered an evolving document. Use proper grammar and double-check the spelling. Even small errors will get your application eliminated from the resume pool. Keep your descriptions brief and precise. You can elaborate at the interview. Keep your resume meaningful. Make sure it is not a compilation of unrelated events of your life. Make your resume visually appealing; not too disordered or wordy. It should be neat and orderly. Be professional. Print your final copy using a laser-jet printer on a good to high-quality bond paper. Stay with white, off-white, or ivory.

4. Do I Need A Cover Letter? *Whenever a resume is submitted to the human resource center of a school district it must be accompanied by a cover letter. *Cover letters give you the opportunity to personalize your resume and target your skills to that specific teaching position. *Candace Davies of resumes-for-teachers explains using a cover letter will dramatically increase your chance of securing an interview.

5. What Should I Put In My Cover Letter? A cover letter should not be more than one page. While what you say is important, school districts are more likely to be interested in what your cover letter says about you, your communication skills, professionalism, and ability to write..

6. Introductory Paragraph: State the reason for writing. Name the specific teaching position which you are applying. You should include any mention of how you learned of the position. Second Paragraph : Explain why you are interested in teaching for this school district and specify what you bring to this teaching position. Do not repeat the information on your resume. Include anything special or unique about yourself that will "benefit" the students, the school, of the district. Remember, whoever evaluates this will consider this an example of your writing skills.

7. Wrapping it Up Final Paragraph : Mention your resume is enclosed and indicate your desire to meet with the principal. You may want to suggest alternate dates and times or simply advise them of your flexibility to the time and place. Include day and evening contact information. Include a statement or question that will encourage the reader to respond. Be sure to communicate your plan to follow-up. You might state that you will be in the area on a certain date and would like to set up a meeting, or you will call on a certain date to set up a meeting. Never leave it up to the school district to get in touch with you. Finally, thank the involved persons for their time.