How to Get Your Teacher Application Noticed by School Districts.

I love a love and hate relationship with this process. It is very impersonal and forces you into mold that they have designed for teachers. I love that once I have completed one application in it's entirety than I can import into other applications and it only take me about 10 minutes to apply for each new job. I have applied for at least 200 jobs and I only wish I was kidding.

When it asks for any additional information, say something, anything that will get you noticed. Do not leave this area blank, it is your last chance to sell yourself on paper.

The copy/paste questions - I have a word document that I record all of my answers and questions on. Very few districts ask questions that are different. It is a form and 90% of the teacher application in the state of Illinois will have the exact same 2 questions. Since I have been applying for both teaching and administrative job I have about 5 questions that I copy and paste a great deal.

You will need the following things

• Transcripts
• Certifications
• Letter of Introduction
• Resume
• Letter of Reference
• A List of References

First thing is to find a scanner and take the non digital items such as transcripts and certifications and create two pdf files for them. All of your transcripts can be one file. Just remember to use a low resolution so that the file is not too big. You might also want your letter of reference done this way, that way they can be signed and look more official

Your should have word documents for your resume, letter of introduction, and list of references. Your resume should be one page - unless you have a doctorate you don't have that much to say. Your letter of introduction should be simple and to the point. I honestly have used the same one for all the jobs I applied for but in theory you should slightly tweak it for each application. Your list of references should include the names, addresses, emails, and phones numbers of the people you have asked. Make sure if you use school numbers, emails, or addresses that these are being checked over the summer. You don't want to lose a job because they couldn't contact your references.

This is my fabulous marketing strategy, it was not my idea and I really don't take credit for it. Another teacher friend said he used this to sell himself. I modified mine slightly from his original idea mostly because I was a little bit lazier than him.

I went onto one of those awesome online printers, I used vistaprint. I created a postcard that has my name, credentials, phone number, and email address. When I apply for jobs I really want (remember I have applied to over 200) then I jot a short note to the principal tell them my application is online and send it off. Right now postcard stamps are only 32 cents. I also use these to send thank you notes to the people that interview me.

Now my super cool friend actually created a teacher website about himself and put that on the postcard. Through this he was able to track what schools actually looked at his website. It is a very cool concept but I wasn't sure at the time I wanted to go in that direction.

One thing we talked about it how this isn't intrusive as emailing, calling, or stopping by. A postcard can easily be tossed into the recycle bin without a thought if the administrator is not interested.

Don't apply to jobs that you are not qualified for and be ready to sound like an expert in the ones that you are. If you are close to another certification or endorsement, get it or state that you can easily get it and be prepared to do the work to get it. I have all my credits for my technology specialist but had been slacking on taking the test. I need to just pay for the test and take it and it would make me more marketable. You can never go wrong adding math, science, technology, ESL, or reading specialist.