When a North Carolina school cuts teaching assistants, those who cannot drive buses were the first to be let go. Upgrading your driver’s license may not be the answer to finding a teaching job but the story does underline the importance of giving careful consideration to the skills and special interests you include on your resume. These interests can help you to:

Demonstrate your ability to fill extracurricular and volunteer positions
Extracurricular activities and volunteer work are often the first sections on the chopping block when job candidates want to pare down their resumes. Unfortunately, job seekers often remove special skills, interests and hobbies that are relevant to their targeted job position. Notably, sports and extracurricular activities are also the first on the chopping block of budget constrained schools these days. To keep the programs running, more part-time volunteer positions are opening up for teachers and community members with related experience – ranging from assistant soccer coaching to teen parenting seminars.

Differentiate yourself from other candidates
At A+ Resumes, we often find that 50% of the resume is still in the candidate’s head. I always enjoy sharing the experience of Sue, an A+ Resumes’ client. Sue had spent 10 enjoyable years teaching a grade 3 class at the same school but wanted to make a leap to a senior high school Math position to satisfy her passion for mathematics. A Math and Science genius, she yearned to be involved in teaching our future economists and scientists. On the second resume draft, Sue came forth with her high school and college Math awards (all five of them), and she remembered Math tutoring she did for two years while in college. By the third resume draft, she offered up two prestigious Science awards. It is important that you put all the relevant information onto paper – principals won’t know what other information is still in your head.

Make connections through common interests/backgrounds
In the competitive high school teaching market, candidates cannot afford to leave these impressive credentials off of the resume. But there is more. Sue spent 10 years in the Girl Scouts as a guide, and five of those years involved in a pioneering math and science program for girls. As it turns out, the principal of the school that ultimately hired her also spent years volunteering with a similar program for Girl Scouts in a neighboring state. As Sue describes it, she and the principal immediately ‘clicked.’

It is important to make those connections on your resume. Depending on which study you read, making connections based on things you have in common with the hiring manager may influence anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of hiring decisions. A few examples of the power of commonality I have experienced include a personal assistant being singled out, and eventually hired, by a major entertainment industry executive because the exec and candidate had attended the same high school. One principal called his soon-to-be-hired Grade 5 teacher in for an interview and a chat about his new hobby, falconry, in which the grade 5 teacher was an expert. More than who you know and what you know, what you have in common can produce interviews.

In general, you want to emphasize several key messages on your resume and not appear too scattered. Choose to highlight life experiences and interests that are meaningful to you. They are likely to also be very meaningful to a principal you will be sitting across from in an interview one day.

Candace Davies is the owner of A+ Resumes for Teachers and is a Certified Resume Writer and Interview Coach Strategist who is dedicated to assisting teachers, administrators and other professionals within the education sector. She has helped countless teaching professionals land their dream teaching jobs. Let her help you land your dream teaching job by visiting: resumes-for-teachers.com. Also, you won’t want to miss out on getting a free preview of her best-selling e-book, Teachers’ Interview Edge, when you sign-up for Candace’s FREE A+ Career Curriculum e-newsletter: resumes-for-teachers.com/signup-details.php