Yay for everyone who’s finding work, and double yay for those who are finding work that pays well in their fields! Let’s hope some of that luck rubs off on the rest of us.
Both of these are good advice. In fact, volunteering can lead to new skills. For example, some of my graduate school classmates ended up with great management experience that they might not have gotten otherwise, and a few were able to leverage that into jobs either with that organization or in private industry because they caught the eye of the organization’s president. (See, there’s that networking thing again!) Just make sure it’s with an organization whose cause you care about, and that the people there can help you. Volunteering at the local NPR/PBS station’s pledge drives, for example, isn’t going to work if you’re working around retirees or other unemployed people.
In terms of skills (and knowledge), you also need to make sure you’re current on whatever’s going on in your field. All the experience you may have in version 2.0 isn’t going to be helpful if your industry has moved onto version 4.0. It’s worth spending some time in the library doing some research on current developments, and if you can, find the relevant textbook/manual/whatever to learn something about it.
One final bit of advice. Keep in touch with former professors after you graduate. Faculty generally know about employment trends and jobs, and they may have review copies of new textbooks that may be helpful to you, or at least point you in various directions for information. It’s also in the university’s best interests to make sure as many of their alumni are employed in their fields as possible, so you can generally continue to use their career center, and many alumni offices have career assistance available.
Oh, yeah. I lied. When you ask for references from former co-workers or professors or management, give them reasons why you’re asking them. “I’m asking you for a letter of recommendation because you’ve known me for x years, and you’re familiar with my experience in a, b and c.” Being able to speak to specifics makes recommendations easier for the recommender to write, and those recommendations work much more in your favor than a generic “So-and-so is a good worker” letter. It’s also flattering to the recommender.
Well, I’m back to the ranks of the unemployed. Working for a small company means that if one big contract gets canceled, company finances can get dicey. And we did, and they did, and Friday I was told they just didn’t have the work/income to keep me. It sucks, because I really, really loved this job and the people I worked with.
Bah.
I had my interview today. It went rather well. I didn’t ace it, but I’ll just have to see how the others do.
That is some good news, I am happy to hear it! Good luck.
Didn’t get the job. Waited for a phone call ALL DAY. Didn’t leave the house. Received a fucking email at 4:00. RUDE.
Someone just shoot me, please.
ETA: I’m so sorry Morgyn.
Thanks, PeacePlease. I’m sorry you got bad news, too.
Tell you what we do, we find a meeting place halfway between where we both live, and then we can shoot each other. I have a multi-shot rubberband gun; what’s your weapon of choice?
Let’s do it!
How about we get a punching bag and just go to town? Or those old stand up blow up dolls with the sand at the bottom? Maybe beating the holy hell out of something would help my frustration.
If we actually want to get hurt, I suggest blow darts filled with THC, Percocet, Quaaludes. You get the idea.
I’m in Arizona. Where would halfway be?
The opening I mentioned earlier has been filled.
I’m about to apply for a really competitive teaching job that I really really reeaallyy want. It has the potential of a $10,000 or so raise for me. This would be huge for my family since my husband is currently laid off.
Would someone be willing to read over my cover letter and resume? I’ve worked on them both for so long that I’m no longer able to be impartial to them.
I posted both documents through google docs. They’re both viewable as standalone websites so there is no need to download anything.
I would really appreciate any constructive criticism.
I think both are outstanding.
If I were going to nitpick (and why not?), I would make the following changes, and some may be based on my ignorance of your field.
Resume:
Current job – consider switching to present tense, because you are doing it now. Don’t specify how many teachers you’ve mentored.
Last job – Take more credit, you developed curriculum with help of other staff. Modify the phrase,"…redesign … the curriculum to better suit students’ needs.
I’m not certain whether some items listed under “PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT” are certifications, formal training programs, or what. Eg., “Academic Rigor”, sounds to me like a self-descriptive and possibly meaningless phrase, but if it is indeed some formal program, you should maybe spell that, and others, out in some more detail.
The cover letter:
I would try to make it a little more personal and conversational. How did you learn of the job? How do you know about their district? Can you say anything about the particular school with the open position? And I always suggest they contact me if I can provide more information.
But they are very strong as they are. I’ve looked at a lot of similar docs posted by other dopers over the years, and I don’t think I’ve seen any better.
Wow, Boyo Jim, I think I just might be tearing up a bit. Those are very kind words. Your suggestions are right on point, even with you lack of knowledge of my job field.
I’m just made the following changes per your suggestions:
[ul]
[li]Past to present tense in my current job[/li][li]Eliminated Academic Rigor - this was an in-service training program at my current school. It has to do with raising standards within the school for both teachers and students.[/li][/ul]
The suggestions for the cover letter will take a bit more time, but this is a start!
Thanks so much!
I just updated the cover letter. The big changes are in the beginning where I added some relevant facts about the school and at the end where I added in a bit about contacting me for more info. I also made some minor changes in the middle.
It’s almost showtime for me. I have an interview in the Shetlands on Thursday and fly up tomorrow. But I leave the house this afternoon.
Good luck! And ace 'em this time!
Best to DoperChic and Quartz!!!
Knock 'em dead!
Good Luck to both of you, I’ve got my fingers crossed.
DoperChic- I think your resume is really good, but I LOVE your cover letter. I have the hardest time writing those, and yours is one of the best I’ve seen.
I’m pretty hesitant to offer advice, but one thing to consider is maybe changing “Skilled in the art of creating challenging, fun, and motivating activities that address the needs of a wide variety of students.” to “Skilled in the art of creating challenging, fun, and motivating activities that address the needs of a wide variety of students toward achieving academic success.”.
What I think that would do is more strongly say “hey I’m the teacher for good student performance”.
I love the contact information layout. It’s quick and easy to find information. One thing that looks cluttered to me is the layout for the rest of the page. some things are centered, some not, and the dates seem to be floating out there randomly. Consider formating your dates and experiance so they line up.
The resume is full of good keywords. The more of those the better.
I uploaded a tweaked version with the suggestions applied. google docs was weird and it’s formatted kinda weird still hopefully shows what I mean.