New resume for re-applying? Use a professional service?

[DomeVet]

I've been using the same resume for some years now when applying to the same schools. I think a fresh look might be in order as the same eyes are seeing it again and again. But I wonder if I might also benefit from a professional service to help my approach and advise me on: resume, introduction letter, etc. Are there any recommended services? Is it at all necessary? I've been told my resume and intro letter are good. Maybe I shouldn't make any changes?

[Heliotrope]

Unless your resume stands out a lot, I don't think those 'same eyes' will remember how your resume looked a few years ago.

If you've been told it's already good, why change it?
Getting honest feedback is difficult though, and just because you've been told it's good doesn't mean it is actually good. Make sure to show it to people you know would tell you the truth and not just tell you want they think you want to hear.

Maybe someone is a leadership position can comment on what type of resumes stand out positively, and which ones do so negatively, and say something about the importance of it. My guess is that the information on your resume is a whole lot more important than the way it looks, as long as it doesn't look terrible.

Pro-tip: use Comic Sans and neon colors only. It shows you have a playful side, and are not another grey mouse.

[DomeVet]

Thanks Heliotrope. I always appreciate your positive and friendly posts to my and others queries.
Not sure about the comic sans font or neon colours but might give it a go.

[PsyGuy]

I didnt see anything you need to change if its been working for you. As long as your going through it an pruning it to keep its length reasonable (its a resume not a CV).

I would advise strongly against a professional service, they are almost entirely devoted to corporate resumes and they usually dont fit well with the resume of an IT. The main issue is you dont waste space on your resume for tasks that are standard parts of the IT job description.

While someone in leadership might be able to show you what stands out to them its by no means universal. For the most part it doesnt really matter, ITs are very indistinguishable from one another. W degree, X credential, Y years of experience, Z special skills. What tier of ISs you came from before, do you have IB (or whatever curriculum), if your at SLL what were your scores. There isnt a whole lot that anything beyond those criterion add value.

[Illiane_Blues]

Few years ago, me and some IT friends of mine once compared resumes and the cover letters we used for applying at our school, and we then gave each other advice. Got some good feedback that made it better, and it was good to see what others send out.

[DomeVet]

Illiane_Blues wrote:
> Few years ago, me and some IT friends of mine once compared resumes and the
> cover letters we used for applying at our school, and we then gave each
> other advice. Got some good feedback that made it better, and it was good
> to see what others send out.

I've had two associates at SA check my resume and they said it was fine, and my cover letter too. I'd love to have more feedback but I guess here it's not possible.

[Thames Pirate]

I would not recommend a form cover letter. Instead, for each school look at what they have as a mission and vision. Then browse the website, figure out what the actual values are (sometimes they are not in line with the mission), and tailor your cover letter to that school and what you can offer them. Some schools won't spend much time on it, but some will. Some schools will want to know if you really want that school or if you just want a job. If it's the latter, they are more likely to bin you. Obviously you can use some key phrases/sentences or make small tweaks by school, but the cover letter should still be unique to the school.

Also, while your associate says it's fine, bear in mind that fine and great are different things and that your associate is not always willing to take much time on you. Get feedback from other professionals who are actually willing to offer constructive criticism, preferably people in education. But pay for a service? That takes your voice out of it and costs money you don't need to spend. A bit of legwork (looking at resumes online, talking to colleagues) and a bit of common sense does the trick.

[PsyGuy]

@DomeVet

I wouldnt recommend a tailored cover letter. Cover letters dont get read until if at all right before the interview, and you already have the interview at that point. The vast majority of cover letters are all self promotion praising.

I agree with @Thames Pirate, good and great are not the same things, and your associate doesnt gain anything by providing you superior or better attention or services. If you get your dram job or some bottom tier IS, its all the same fee to them.

[wrldtrvlr123]

PsyGuy wrote:
> @DomeVet
>
> I wouldnt recommend a tailored cover letter. Cover letters dont get read until if
> at all right before the interview, and you already have the interview at that point.
> The vast majority of cover letters are all self promotion praising.
>
> I agree with @Thames Pirate, good and great are not the same things, and your associate
> doesnt gain anything by providing you superior or better attention or services.
> If you get your dram job or some bottom tier IS, its all the same fee to them.
====================
Obviously you will have to judge for yourself but the vast majority of experienced teachers and recruiters (to be conservative) will advise you to write a cover letter that shows the potential employer that you took the time to learn something about their school and highlights your skills and experience in the best possible light, given the specific position, within that specific school/program. All it takes is a little of your time and energy to give you the best possible chance to land a good position in a good to great school/location.

Of course, if you accept that cover letters are never read until the short list is already done, if at all, then don't waste your time.

[Thames Pirate]

A good cover letter won't get you from the bin to an interview most of the time, but it might get you from the short list to the interview. The cursory checklist method is the bin vs. short list. The cover letter may or may not get you an interview and may or may not be read, but if it's generic and they DO read it, you end up in the bin. If it's good, it gets you one step further and gives you talking points in your interview. You can reread what you wrote right before you go in (if they do read it, that would be another time they would look) to remind yourself what you learned about this school.

[DomeVet]

Thames Pirate wrote:
> A good cover letter won't get you from the bin to an interview most of the
> time, but it might get you from the short list to the interview. The
> cursory checklist method is the bin vs. short list. The cover letter may
> or may not get you an interview and may or may not be read, but if it's
> generic and they DO read it, you end up in the bin. If it's good, it gets
> you one step further and gives you talking points in your interview. You
> can reread what you wrote right before you go in (if they do read it, that
> would be another time they would look) to remind yourself what you learned
> about this school.

Thames Pirate,
Is there anything you can tell me about the 'cursory checklist' you mention? Are there must-haves that people often overlook for their cover letter and/or resume you can share?

[Thames Pirate]

Mainly things like IB experience, how many schools and how long at each, etc.

They may have individual things (generally listed in the job description), but those are the biggies.

[shadowjack]

DomeVet - tailor your cover letter AND your CV (if applying for more than one teaching area). My last round of searching I had 3 CVs tailored for 3 specific positions PLUS I tailored the cover letter for each school. Then again, I was being very choosy this time and only applied to 7. Still, if you don't look at searching for your next position (once you've made the decision) as a full time job, and treat it that way, you might not get to where you really want to go.

Just my two halalas - but I have had interviewers tell me that I was interviewed because of my cover letter...

[PsyGuy]

The whole tailoring your cover letter just doesnt work that way in the general recruiting process.
Scenario 1: Your standing in line at a fair, your turn comes up, you shake hands and hand your application, and if you have a cover letter it just gets flipped, its a waste of 2 or 3 seconds because you have 30 seconds and your resume matters not your cover letter, waste of paper and time, doesnt get read. Its hard to have a tailored resume at a fair, you should know what vacancies your applying for, and what your strengths are.
Scenario 2: You read a vacancy post, you follow the instructions and send in an application. Someone on staff or in junior leadership gives it a quick glance over to see if it matches the minimum requirements, this is screening, your building the applicant pool, no one is reading the cover letter. If your resume doesnt show you meet the minimum requirements its just getting binned. Then once the deadline passes someone in leadership will be tasked with reducing the applicant pool down to a long list, and a short list and then a short short list. This is selection. At this point the vast majority of applicants are very indistinguishable from each other, its groups of experience ranges, degree groups, credential groups, curriculum experience groups, and subject/year groups. The only factor anyone is scanning cover letters for is an indication of family size to group by logistical factors. No ones 'reading' cover letters because those groups are hard enough to break down. Then you get the long list and the short list, at that point leadership is going to set up interviews, and they are looking at resumes not cover letters because all over letters are self praising testimonies of awesomeness, at this point they are looking for indications of special skills that werent put in the resume. They arent looking for personalization or tailoring, because its another factor that you cant quantify meaningfully. This candidate added a direct 'to' block with the name of the HOS, this candidate mentioned something about our accreditation strategy is one worth more than the other and ho much, and why. It doesnt mean anything. At this point your on the short list anyway, and individual scheduling isnt going to have a meaningful impact even if you give candidates a priority of interviewing.
Scenario 3: Your applying to an IS but something about the posting is indicative that its early recruiting, an urgent vacancy or an out of cycle vacancy or something else, and your application isnt going to HR or some other office your applying directly with the executive leadership thats going to interview you, then adding a bit of personalization may be worth something given the time it takes to do some basic tailoring.

I can see @WT123s position, whats the investment in time and resources to add a name, go to their web page read the HOSs welcome message, and pull something from that, a couple minutes at most. Might not amount to very much time to do that, I cant disagree with that if thats your thing. Whereas I strongly disagree and discourage @Thames Pirates position, the scenario of a cover letter made a difference, while its true most candidates are eventually selected based on trivial qualities, cover letter is an exceptionally rare one of those, its not a real factor of any value.

@DomeVet

IB experience isnt on an ISs checklist if its not an IB IS. The majority of the checklist is pretty small it comes down to (in order of priority); what an IT has done (experience, exam scores, etc), what an IT can do (degrees, credentials, etc.) and special skills (ASPs, niche experiences, etc).

Even in IB ISs a recruiter is more likely to prefer a candidate with that year and subject experience, with strong exam scores than they are one with IB experience that isnt relevant and untested.

[Thames Pirate]

Scenario 1: They don't expect a cover letter at a fair, but if you have a tailored one, it shows keen interest and initiative. They may not read it, but the effect is there. If they do read it, all the better. But that isn't the scenario we are mostly talking about.

Scenario 2: Sure, a screener might be part of the process, depending on the size of the school. If so, they may or may not be reading the cover letter. If you get past the screener or if none is used, it may or may not be read--however, it is more likely that it will at least get a cursory read. At that point, a tailored letter is better and will generally attract enough attention to get a more thorough read. Again, having it may or may not be helpful, but not having it means you can't get that leg up. If you really want a job, you should do everything you can to get any edge you can. And no, they aren't just looking for groupings. The truth is that you don't know how they are using your cover letter since there is no hard and fast rule. Everyone uses it at different points in the process and for different things. That's why it's worth the effort; it may be wasted, sure, but it may very well not be.

Scenario 3: Sure, but that's probably the time you are going to get an interview either way and it is least effective! But you should still do it.

PsyGuy is right, though--it doesn't take long to tailor a letter to a position and a school. So there is very little cost in doing it.

He is also right that IB experience won't be a big selling point to a non-IB school, but it was an example of things that a CV scan would show that would put a person in one pile or another. Just an example.