How can you get a good job if you take resume writing for granted?
If you don’t know the ABCs of resume writing, how would you be able to prove to your prospective employers that you are what they are looking for: Imagine, you can’t even present or advertise yourself through a resume?

Believe it or not, but learning the intricacies or resume writing can make a big difference in your career path. The resume that you make not only tells who you are in a nutshell—it has also the power to magnetize job interviews or totally ruin your chances of having a brighter future!

Remember that resumes determine who among the hundreds of applicants that are applying for a particular position would get a job interview.

If you don’t want a human resource staff to either screen you out or throw your resume over the paper shredder again, then now is the right time to become skilled at resume writing.

The first rule in resume writing: What you think, you shouldn’t only speak it out eloquently, but be able to write it down clearly as well. Use nothing but effective and understandable words possible.

Follow the KISS principle, which could either stand for Keep It Short but Striking or Keep It Short Stupid! Make your resume very readable as possible: Pack it with aplenty of white spaces to comfort the eyes of the recruiter who would read it. When it comes to resume writing, remember that “less is more.”
Get rid of highfalutin words. Resume isn’t a venue to be humble, but it’s also not the proper place to inform an HR staff that your intelligence quotient is superior or above superior. Do not use terms or jargons that even a high school student won’t understand.

Avoid the “I disease” One of the important protocols in resume writing is never include “I” from your sentences. Removing this pronoun prevents wordiness and saves space. But write from the first-person point of view, as if you are giving a direct report towards your target employer.

Be precise in describing work experiences and/or achievements. Stand out from the hundreds of candidates—do not just be one of them! In resume writing, you can include facts and figures. Why say “supervised proofreaders when the supervisor isn’t around,” when you can tell “supervised 10 proofreaders in the absence of the supervisor?” The hiring staff must get to visualize your feats. Using words like “few,” “many,” “a couple of,” “very,” “much,” “some,” and so on is also a big no-no.

Use the active voice form of verb instead of passive voice. The former is shorter and more direct than the latter. What more, the active voice is more effective and forceful and tends to keep all the sentences clear and concise. Deleting helping verbs such as has, have, had, may and might as well as articles a, an and will also strengthen your resume writing skills.

Be watchful of your verb tenses. It’s common sense to say that all your previous duties and responsibilities should be in the past tense, and your current tasks and feats in the present tense or form. Wrong verb tenses are eyesores on resumes.

Proofread, proofread and proofread! Detect and correct all kinds of mistakes—grammatical, misspelled words and typographical errors. If you aren’t sure of your final output, you could ask a friend to proof read your resume for you.

Application Forms For Hotel Admission

Applications are invited from eligible school and college students belonging to Backward Class (BC) and Most Backward Class (MBC) categories for staying in government hostels in the city.

A press release here said there were seven hostels for college students and one hostel for girl students belonging to the BC category at Thiruvanmiyur, Saidapet, Otteri, Mylapore, Thirunagar in Vadapalani and on Lady Wellingdon School campus. For those belonging to the MBC category, there were two hostels for male students at Otteri and Saidapet.

Students studying from standard IV to XII, UG, PG students, polytechnic and teacher training institutes can stay in these hostels and pursue their education.

Accommodation and food will be provided free of cost at the hostels.

Students studying up to Standard X would be provided two sets of uniforms and for students of X and XII free career guidance programmes would be arranged, the release added.

Eligibility

Students whose family income is below Rs.50,000 and whose residences are at a distance of 5 km are eligible to apply. However, distance will not be taken into count in case of girl students.

Students can get application forms from the hostel wardens or from the District Backward Class and Minorities Welfare Office at the Chennai Collectorate. Completed forms in the case of school students should be submitted at the same offices before June 30, 2008 and in case of college students before July 15, 2008.

View Of Emotions

Dictionary.com defines frustration as a feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.

Frustration, like any emotion we view as negative has a positive side to it. We can look at frustration the same way we might look at a toothache. It’s a sign that we need to take some sort of action. In this way, frustration is a tool for self-discovery and growth.

Frustration is a wake-up call. I am not referring to the kind of frustration we experience when we are tired after a long day of work and the traffic is bad, but the kind of frustration that we experience chronically when we find ourselves in an on-going bad situation like a lousy job or a bad relationship, and we need to make a change. Or, frustration can signal that we are due for a change in attitude and perspective about how we view our life. Let’s look at both ways.

Circumstances/Environment - An example would be feeling frustrated day after day with a job that is not challenging. Going to this job seems like drudgery and the days drag on forever. Maybe the pay is OK, but spending 40 hours a week like this is torture. This is indeed a frustrating situation. And what is this frustration trying to tell you? It’s telling you that you need to make a change.

Attitude - An example of this type of frustration would be something like when you try to control another person’s actions, or “way of being”, and the other person isn’t complying. This type of frustration requires a change in your attitude or perspective because what you are trying to do is simply impossible, at least for any length of time.

Being frustrated tells us that it’s time to look at what we’re doing and thinking and ask ourselves if this is working well for us. Fear of change or the consequences of taking action can sometimes keep us trapped in our frustrating situation, but again, like a toothache, if action isn’t taken, we remain trapped. This can lead to unhealthy stress in our minds and bodies.

So what can you do when you find your self chronically frustrated? Ask yourself these questions:

What is it that I find so frustrating about this situation/person?

What outcome am I looking for?

Am I expecting something to change outside of me, or do I need to look inside for guidance on what needs to change and how to change it?

What can I learn from this (there’s a lesson in there somewhere)?

Is this something that is under my control, and if so, in what ways is it under my control?

What steps must I take to initiate change and follow through?

If my frustration is with a situation that is not under my control, what can I change about my perspective that will help?

Should I speak up about the situation to a person who is causing me frustration? How should I phrase my “complaint”? What would the consequences be?

How might I change my perception and how would that ease my frustration?

How would my life improve if I was free of this particular frustration?

I would caution each of us to remember that being able to blame another person for our frustration may answer some questions as to why this is happening, but you still have to look within yourself to find the right answers on how you should proceed. No one is going to do it for you. Sometimes it is very helpful to have a coach or other professional help you sort it all out to get past the bumpy part.

Sometimes you will have to push to change things. What do you wish to gain? What will it take? What are your resources? What are the consequences of not changing and what are the consequences of making a change? Sometimes changes must be made because the situation is simply unbearable. Change takes courage, even if it’s for the better. If you’re feeling frustration, you have been given a gift to look inside yourself and find a way to change your life productively, positively and in a healthy way.

One of the biggest misconceptions about the teaching profession is that teaching jobs are easy to find. For some reason the general public thinks that teaching is something people fall back on when all else fails…nothing can be farther from the truth.

The truth is teaching jobs are NOT a dime a dozen.

There are so many people applying for teaching positions that it is extremely difficult to even get an interview for a teaching position.

Unfortunately, getting the teacher interview may actually seem like a job in itself.

If you think the traditional method of simply sending in your teacher résumé and cover letter will do the trick you are sorely mistaken.

While your resume and cover letter are important, you still need to do more if you want to make absolutely certain you get the teacher interview.

Without a doubt the number one secret to landing the teacher interview is…contacts and connections.

While this may seem obvious, most potential teachers don’t exactly understand what is meant by a connection/contact or how to effectively use them.

Of course, if you are the daughter of the superintendent of schools you probably won’t have a difficult time getting a teacher interview.

However, your connection does not have to be all that great. Nearly any connection will help you land a teacher interview. Do you know a teacher in the school you are applying to? Do you know a parent whose child goes to the school? Do you know a school board member? A secretary? Support staff? Do you know anyone who is in any way connected with the school you want to interview with? If so, have that person specifically ask the administrator to give you an interview.

Remember, your connection is not trying to get you the job, your connection is trying to get you the interview…it is up to you to get the job!

However, you don’t necessarily have to have a contact with direct connections to the school. Any contact will do. In fact, your contact and the administrator may have never even met before. For example, a college professor, your cooperating teacher/supervisor, another teacher or administrator can most certainly get you that teacher interview.

The key is to get that contact to make a phone call for you. A phone call from one administrator to another (even if they have never met) will definitely get your resume “flagged” and most certainly get you an interview for a teaching position. Again, this just gets you the interview…it is up to you to get the job.

How do I know?

Simple, this is precisely how I got a teacher interview for the school I am currently teaching at. I was moving from New York to Florida and I had my New York principal make a phone call to a principal in Florida and the very next day I got the interview. Keep in mind, these two administrators never met and I was applying for a social studies teaching position and competing against 150 other applicants.

Just to prove my point, when the interview started I was told by the administrators conducting the interview that the only reason they decided to interview me was because my principal made that phone call.

Again, don’t underestimate the power that a phone call can make from even a weak connection…this may be the single biggest factor in helping you land that teacher interview

A teacher interview discussion panel is held at the end of each semester as part of the teacher Alternative Certification Program at Manatee Community College.

The panel is made up of myself and four administrators (1 elementary, 2 middle school, and 1 high school).

We each spend about 15-20 minutes talking and answering questions about how to land a teacher interview, what we think the most likely teacher interview questions will be, and how to answer each interview question.

I can’t help, but think what an advantage these student-teachers have…they actually get to pick the brains of administrators in their own county prior to going on their first teacher interview!

Below are ten teacher interview tips that the administrators shared at the teacher interview discussion panel: 

1. Definitely hand-deliver your resume. An administrator MAY very well interview you on the spot. Two of the administrators admitted that for certain teaching positions they have their secretaries contact them immediately if someone comes in to drop off a resume.
2. If you are substitute teaching to get your foot in the door remember…everyday is a job interview…dress the part, become part of the school community, and make contacts!
3. Make as many contacts as you can. This is a teacher’s greatest resource when trying to land a teacher interview. A phone call from a teacher or another administrator…even if they don’t know the each other…will often get you the interview.
4. Research the school and the district!! The administrators want to know that you have done your homework. You should know everything you possibly can about that school/district. Know the mission statement and any major current initiatives that are underway in the school district.
5. Research the people conducting the interview. Just as much as they want a quality teacher they want someone that they can work well with…they are looking for a relationship…a good fit!
6. They will Google you! Therefore make sure to Google yourself and see what comes up.
7. Get rid of your MySpace account.
8. Have a professional email address…Don’t make silly mistakes like having an email such as sexylove69@aol.
9. Even the high school administrators want to know how teachers get parents involved. Yes, the high school administrator expects teachers to call parents too!
10. Be prepared to explain how you cover something that you are NOT interested in. Many teachers prepare for the question, “Take me through one of your favorite lessons”, but these administrators always ask, “How would you teach something that you do not want to cover but must.” This is a great question, because the reality is you will not enjoy teaching every part of your curriculum.

The teacher interview discussion panel really clearly gave everyone involved a huge advantage over the competition I hope you can take something away from my brief overview of the day and use it successfully at your next teacher interview.