Usually the second step in the interviewing process is the committee interview. Be prepared to encounter a 30-minute interview in which eight to ten interviewers are seated around the table. It’s important to grasp which stakeholder group each member is representing. Usually participants introduce themselves and will tell you: “Jane Smith, President of the PTA,” for example. If their roles are not evident and they seem friendly, it’s okay to ask, “And what is your role?”

Each step in the interviewing process has its own inherent challenges. You have to be prepared to make strategic adjustments. As any experienced football or basketball coach would tell you, don’t expect what works in the first quarter will necessarily work in the next quarter. Unlike the screening interview, the committee interview is longer and will consist of more and a wider variety of questions and topics. Consequently, your preparation must be much more comprehensive. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of having a good coach along the way to help you strategize and make those adjustments. 

I suggest that you quickly sketch the shape of the table on the pad that you carry in. As the panelists introduce themselves, jot down their stakeholder groups. As the panelists take their turn in asking their question, glance at your notes. Knowing their roles will give you a lot better context as to the implication of their question. However, be aware that your answer must satisfy all stakeholders. Your answer is not limited only to the questioner.

As an example: A parent who is serving on the panel asks, “Assume that a parent calls you and complains about how her child’s teacher is criticizing her child. Her child is very upset by this, and the parent wants his class changed. How would you deal with this situation?” As you look around the table, ask yourself how do the various stakeholders want you to respond. My guess is that the parents want you to be a good listener and take the request seriously. They expect that you will investigate the situation and get back to the parent promptly. The teachers, who are probably representatives of the teachers’ union, prefer that you’ll be reluctant to change the child’s class, that you will abide by contractual obligations, and that you will be supportive of teachers. The school administrators will be focused on your diplomacy as to how you will neither alienate the parent nor the teacher, and in the process you will use in investigating the situation. Finally, the central office leaders will be attentive to how you will avoid escalating the situation.

You must use caution and diplomacy in your answers so as not to sound hostile to one stakeholder group in deference to another group of stakeholders, which might have an opposing view on the same issue. The ability to do this balancing act requires the recognition that you are performing to all stakeholder groups, and that your response will be reasoned and acceptable to all. This requires coaching and practice. In a real sense, this balancing act is what successful leaders do every day.

“Should I even bother to apply for a job when I know that there are inside candidates? Can I ever beat out an insider? Are the cards already stacked against me?” The short answer is “yes”. You should apply. Like your mother would say, “There’s nothing to lose.” Be aware that the actual status of the insider or insiders is unknown. The “powers that be”, meaning the superintendent, board members, other administrators, may not favor the insider. The insider may be on the wrong side of some internal issue, some political alignment, or is just not highly respected. Oftentimes, the screening committee will reject the insider’s candidacy, which results in a wide-open process.

Even if there you wind up competing with an insider, it remains a possibility that you may prevail. You have no control over the status of other candidates, but you do have control over the quality of your own performance. All you can do is to do your very best and then hope for the best.

However, before you take a job be on the lookout for nepotism and xenophobia; these conditions flourish in too many of our schools. Just knowing someone on the inside to get a job may not even be enough. Sometimes you must be someone on the inside. Under some circumstances you must even grow up, live and work in the district.

Be aware that you might not even want to work in a place in which nepotism is the rule. Organizations that regularly practice nepotism are often resistant to any significant change and neither seek nor honor diverse perspectives which might come from outside sources.  Leaders in these schools might argue, “If it ain’t broken why fix it”. They assert the need for continuity and consistency. They preach that outsiders often don’t relate to their community. They take pride in being a “close knit community”. Conventional wisdom seems to be that the only way to land a job in some school districts is to be an inside candidate. If this is the case, then you might be better off not working in a place like this. Be careful what you wish for because you may get it.

Aside from being unfair, nepotism often results in mediocrity in that the best qualified candidates are passed up, and the same practices are perpetuated, as the torch is passed to yet another insider who was weaned in a closed system. The justification for rejecting outside candidates is often that “they’re not a good fit”—which ironically is often true! Unfortunately, sometimes “outsiders” are chosen and then not listened to, sometimes even shunned. Ideally, schools are organizations that should be open, and must continue to grow and learn.

For a moment, imagine that your resume is the living room of your home. As your guests enter the room, you want them to immediately focus on those special artifacts that are the centerpieces of your room. The placement of the furniture must be mindfully placed so that they are noticeable and maximize their impact. You want to remove the chachkas, those knickknacks and gaudy items that Aunt Sarah gave you as an engagement gift, that clutter the surfaces, and are distractions. The appearance of the room is a clear and powerful representation of your persona. The design of the room embodies who you are, what you are most proud of; how you define yourself. You want it to be inviting; to draw your guests into your home.

Likewise, your resume represents who you are. It should draw in prospective employers. Continuing the metaphor, sometimes an interior designer is employed to maximize the result you desire. It’s okay to have an educational career coach help you feng shui your resume.

Here are tips that you should find helpful while you feng shui your resume so that it provides the right impact:

1. Less Is More—do not overwhelm the reader with superfluous verbiage

2. Focus on Accomplishments; Not a Job Description

3. Lead with Your Strengths (list first—catch attention)

4. Ignore Most Rules (omit objective; determine your own sequence of categories and timeline; keep format simple)

5. Start Bullet Statements with Action Verb (past tense)

6. Emphasize Accomplishments that Match Job Posting (strengths)

7. Wherever possible, quantify your accomplishments and the magnitude of your duties

8. Omit Irrelevant Jobs, Activities and/or Accomplishments unrelated to the position

9. Interests & Activities Can Capture Attention– acting, fitness enthusiast, interesting hobbies (visits to Presidents’ birth sites), cultural travel experiences, speak foreign languages

10. Feng Shui Your Resume—the order and placement of the content counts

11. Adapt Resume for Different Positions (elementary, middle or high school; affluent or blue-collar community; urban, urban-suburban, small town, rural)

12. Set Maximum Number of Bullets—current position no more than 10 bullets; prior positions 7-8 bullets

13. Sweat the Mechanics– spelling, subject-verb agreement, capitalization and punctuation; grammar; word selection; consistent format; readable font size

14. Use a Format that is Logical and Enhances Clarity

15. Cover Letter– 3-4 paragraphs always required but seldom read

16. References upon Request

17. Get Constructive Feedback from school leaders who review resume

18. Never Confuse or Mislead the Reader– clear timeline; short and simple sentences

19. Never Lie

20. TELL YOUR STORY

Larry Aronstein is a career coach who assists educational leaders, aspiring leaders, and teachers in preparing their resumes and prepping for interviews. Visit www.larryaronstein.com to find out about Dr. Aronstein’s services and books. Contact at larryaronstein@yahoo.com National and International clients are encouraged to seek assistance.

Remember the adage, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. After a 46-year career in public education, 38 as a school and district leader who interviewed thousands of candidates, I believe I can speak with some authority about hiring educators. Be careful about following advice from well-intentioned friends, family and colleagues. Here are a few examples of advice you should not follow, why not, and what you should do.

Seek advice from people who are successful in other fields—NO. Be selective about who may be assisting you. The world of education is quite different than the business world. Private business and public education are culturally worlds apart. Also, be cautious about following the advice of educators who do not have experience in screening and interviewing.  Work with a coach who is an experienced school leader. People who give you advice are certainly well meaning, however acting on misguided advice can be a costly mistake.

Put together a standard resume—NO. Do not conform to standard formats. Go beyond what you learned in school. Highlight your special skills and accomplishments; your resume should not look like a job description. Do you have valuable life experiences? Are you fluent or proficient in foreign languages? Have you traveled extensively and developed a deep understanding of world cultures? Can you coach sports or have expertise to run extra-curricular activities?

Bring a Portfolio—NO. Your first screening interview usually will last 10 to 15 minutes. The interviewers are busy people. They will not have time to review your portfolio.

Apply and then wait patiently—NO. You need to be active; passivity doesn’t work. Networking is a key. Contact everyone you know who might have a connection into the school. You may get a courtesy interview—it’s a foot in the door.

Look for geographical regions that are hiring—YES. But be careful. There is a reason why some regions find it difficult to find good candidates. In addition, most of us are unable and unwilling to relocate. It’s difficult and lonely to go somewhere where you don’t know anyone. If you’re adventurous, or have friends or support systems in another region, then consider it. However, you may be in for culture shock.

Dr. Aronstein is a career coach who works with educators in preparing their resumes and preparing for interviews. For more information go to his website: www.larryaronstein.com

Are you sending out your resume but only getting few interviews? Are you getting interviews but are not being calledback? What is a fair share? What should you do to get your fair share of interviews? What are the factors that determine your success?

Factors to Consider:

1. Attractiveness of the District—stereotypically, highly attractive districts or schools are usually affluent, high paying, and high achieving. They are highly selective in choosing candidates. Unless you are well-qualified, that is looking for a parallel position, a graduate from a prestigious university, hold a doctorate, and/or have significant accomplishments, your chances of getting an interview are limited. That is not to say that you should not apply, but your expectations should be realistic.
2. Quality of Your Resume—if you’re a qualified candidate, you should be getting at least a 30% positive return (initial interview per resume submitted), then you probably have a resume problem. Your resume’s job is to tell your story in a compelling manner and get you an interview. You might have your resume evaluated and edited by a highly credible and reputable coach. Educational resumes are somewhat unique; so be wary of having a well-meaning friend from the business-world review it.
3. Effectiveness of Your Screening Interview—typically an average of about 15 screening interviews are scheduled for a leadership position. Often, they only last 15 minutes. Obviously, there are a limited number of questions that can be asked and answered. The interviewers are trying to get a sense of who you are by evaluating your narrative (your story), how you present yourself, your likeability, and how you would fit into their school-community. About 6 of the candidates will move on to the next round. If you get a screening interview, you should be moving on in the process at least 40% of the time. If not, then you need to evaluate your narrative and how you present yourself. You probably should be coached rather than wasting time by trying to adjust on a trial and error basis.
4. Quality of Your Answers—the next step is The Committee Interview composed of around 7 stakeholders (parents, teachers, administrators), which will run about 30 minutes. There is ample time for them to ask up to 10 questions encompassing many aspects of educational practices. The Committee will likely narrow the field down to about 3 finalists. The candidate needs to perform a precarious balancing act. She/he must satisfy the vested and oftentimes competing interests of parents who are demanding greater sensitivity to their child’s needs and accountability, administrators who are seeking sound decision-making, and teacher unions who are looking for teacher-friendly supportive leaders. At the same time, the candidate must maintain a positive, thoughtful, sensitive, knowledgeable and diplomatic demeanor. This demands extensive preparation which includes becoming familiar with the strengths, needs, nature and values of the school-community. A successful candidate must do his/her homework and be ready to present him/herself appropriately. A fair share of successfully interviewing at the committee-level is 50%.
5. Flexibility—the final interview, usually 2 or 3 finalists, involves a 30 to 45-minute session with Central Office Administrators. Again, there is a shift in strategy for this interview. These leaders are trying to determine who is the best equipped to fulfill their agenda, solve existing problems, and represent the proper image that will satisfy the community and particularly the Board of Education. I often use the metaphor of a tennis match. Up until this interview, the candidate’s job is to “return serve” to each questioner. However, this match requires the candidate to be flexible in switching the “game” by creating a “volley”—a back and forth, give and take conversation. This calls for asking clarification as to the district’s issues and priorities, offering your related experiences, and as a result building a professional rapport. A fair share of final interviews that result in a job offer is 50%.

These are the major factors you should be aware of and act upon if you are going to get your fair share of interviews and successfully move forward in the process. However, you can get even more than your fair share by being well prepared

With the coming of a new school year, many of you will be starting a new job. This is an opportunity to re-invent yourself. It can be a chance to leave whatever baggage you might have had behind you and get a fresh start. Aside from doing the obvious like making a good first impression by introducing yourself to the various stakeholder groups, coming up to speed on what is going on, and doing a “listening tour”, which all are certainly good things to do, you need to consider the following:

• Be visible and accessible – attend school-community events, but most importantly create opportunities to interact with small groups and one-on-one with community members. Don’t just be a speaker or an attendee.
•  “Pick low lying fruit”—this means find out what immediate non-controversial tasks must be accomplished, choose the fastest, most popular and easiest priority, and get it done. Word will spread quickly that you are a doer and not a “talker”.
• Be humble—don’t brag about you’ve done. Give credit to your team members. They will appreciate the recognition and in return speak well of you. No one likes a braggart.
• Keep your own counsel—Avoid sharing your personal opinions about anyone or anything. Keep your personal life private. Do not speak negatively about neither your prior work experiences nor work associates. School communities are rife with gossip. Never create opportunities for gossip to spread about yourself.
• Never over-promise or under-deliver—do not make promises that you might not be able to achieve. When you set a goal, make it measurable so that there is a standard that’s modest enough so that it will be readily achieved. It’s always better to exceed the standard so it’s perceived that you over-achieved.
• Do not criticize your predecessor— whoever your predecessor might have been or done, or whatever you’ve heard about him or her, be aware that he or she had admirers who would resent hearing that you are critical and will hold it against you.
• Don’t pick unnecessary fights—your early cheerleaders’ support is newborn and therefore tentative. It takes time to achieve solid support that you can depend upon should you run into a problem. If you do encounter a potentially divisive issue, then find middle ground and attempt a compromise. You can’t afford to go to war without strong allies.
• Seek out assistance and advice—most influencers are flattered when asked for their input. They feel respected, validated and appreciated. This is an effective way of building supportive constituencies.
• Build loyal relationships with your supervisors— effective leaders need to rely upon the loyalty of their direct reports. Leaking confidential information, criticizing and undermining decisions, and personality assassination are all examples of destructive actions that leaders can suffer from disloyal subordinates. Your boss needs your loyalty. Demonstrate your loyalty by never publicly contradicting them, speaking positively about them, and acting in concert with their priorities. Hopefully they will in return be loyal to you, however, too often loyalty is a one-way street.

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At this time, there are scores of leave replacement positions available in my area. Should you consider taking a leave replacement position? Like most other complex questions, the answer is, “It depends”. It depends on your set of circumstances. It depends on the conditions related to the leave.

What are your circumstances?

• Are you trying to start a new career as a teacher? If you have been unsuccessfully seeking a position in teaching thus far, then a leave replacement makes sense. A leave replacement is a far better alternative than substitute teaching or being a teaching assistant. You will be fulfilling all the responsibilities and getting all the experience of a teacher, and the pay is much better.
• Are you currently dissatisfied with your teaching job and have not been successful in your new job search? Or are you currently teaching and unsuccessfully seeking a leadership job? Resigning a secure position in order to take a leave replacement job is a high risk move. Getting your first leadership job can be a career breakthrough. Leaving a job in which you are unhappy, can appear attractive.
• Are you currently unemployed, working outside of education, in the process of being laid off, were denied tenure, or ready to quit your present job? If you find yourself in any of these circumstances, then you have a lot more to gain.

What are the conditions of the leave replacement position?

• Are you an internal candidate for the position ( teaching assistant, permanent sub) and will you be able to return to your present position if and when the incumbent returns or things don’t work out for you? As an internal person who can return to your job, there is little downside and lots of pluses. You will gain experience and acquire new skills, and positively position yourself should the incumbent not return, or a different position opens up.
• Are you an external candidate and is the incumbent who is taking the leave expected to return and, if so, when will he or she return? Most leave replacements are due to maternity or sick leaves. Most of these folks do return to their jobs. You need to find out the reason for and the expected duration of the leave if that information is even available before accepting the job. If the job does become open, you will have had an opportunity to prove yourself and forge relationships. You will be in a very strong position to get the job.
• Is the incumbent ambivalent about returning? In most cases incumbents do not announce their intention to return until the contractual deadline. This uncertainty leaves the replacement in a difficult and nerve-wracking situation. You will need to figure out if and when to initiate a new job search and if and when to inform your supervisor that you are seeking another job.

What are the consequences, positive and negative, of taking a leave replacement position? The most dire consequence is winding up on the unemployment line. Needless to say, it is extremely difficult to revitalize a career with a gap in your employment record. Any gap or step backward on your resume will be viewed as red flag and invite interviewers to closely question you about the circumstances of your employment timeline. On the positive side, if things work out, you can propel your career ahead. Taking a leave replacement position needs to be carefully considered before deciding. You should probably get sage advice from an experienced and knowledgeable mentor or coach.

Recently, a suburban school district posted an ad for an assistant principal. The district attracted more than 200 applicants, met with 18 for a screening interview, and then had a hiring committee interview 6 semi-finalists. At about the same time, the Kentucky Derby had 19 horses “Run for the Roses.” Those horses had the benefit of the best trainers in the world to prepare them. Trying to get a leadership job is very much like a horse race.

How much of an investment does a serious candidate make in getting certified as a leader? There are application fees, tuition, books, commuting costs and time. That can easily add up to more than $15,000. Does investing a tiny fraction of that for a book, a seminar or a coach make sense to you?

Being a well-prepared competitive candidate is the difference between playing a good game of checkers and being a fine chess player. A good coach will prepare you. A coach can help you hone your resume and cover letter; present yourself with self-confidence; tell a compelling story about why you are the right match for the job; anticipate and prepare impressive and unique responses to interviewers’ questions; strategize your narrative; and how to read body language. Yes, coaching does work. Those who receive coaching and mentoring do so confidentially.

Most universities provide some assistance for preparing your resume and letter and giving you interview tips. However, the right educational coach has walked the walk. He or she has a diverse and well-positioned network of former clients and colleagues; knows the schools and districts, and the inside stories of what they need and want. You will be guided on how to fashion your approach to the special needs and wants of the specific school and district. People who play horses get lots of tips—some good, some shaky. Practically everyone gets, and oftentimes uses, tips on how to invest, restaurants to dine, and places to shop. A tip, of course, is only an opinion. Most of us have been disappointed with tips. But good preparation goes far beyond informal “tips.” Good preparation often requires a good coach who teaches you actionable strategies based on thoughtful analysis of tried and tested practices in getting school leadership jobs.

A good coach or mentor gives you feedback on your interviews, and assists you in closing the deal and negotiating your contract. The difference between a coach and a mentor is that coaches are experienced professionals, while mentors are well-intentioned friends and colleagues whose experiences and insights may be limited. Like any good service, you should not expect coaching to come free of charge; however the cost of coaching is much more modest than you think. Getting a good leadership job is a lifetime gain that requires a modest short-term investment. But remember: the best investment you can ever make is in yourself. All of these “investments” increase your chances of winning that position. In some respects, it is a game of probability. All things being equal, my experience has taught me that the best prepared candidate has the best chance of landing that job.

         If you are serious about your future as a leader, then getting job coaching is a great investment. If you are not getting interviews, consider seeking feedback on your resume from someone who has done hiring. The purpose of your resume and cover letter is to get you an interview. If you happen to be getting interviews but are not moving along to the next step in the process, then you need help in interviewing strategies.

        You should feel comfortable in relating to a coach and sharing your life story, your strengths and self-perceived insecurities. A good coach will help you craft your message, teach you strategies, help build your self-confidence, give you model responses, role-play both sides of the table with you, and offer honest and constructive feedback. Coaching is, pure and simple, a vital critical investment you can make in yourself.