Not sure how many resumes I have reviewed in my 38+ years of work, but it might be in the neighborhood of 65,000. Based on my reading of resumes and my work with search committees I wanted to offer a few thoughts relative to ensuring that your resume covers the important parts of your career and your work but also doesn’t get too granular or too distracting. And that it demonstrates your value. 

The old adage is that your resume gets about seven seconds of attention by the reader. Not exactly sure if that holds true in our independent school education segment of the market, but the point does stand that you need to convey the key things about your work and experience in as succinct a manner as possible. It’s also true that the resume, generally combined with a cover letter and perhaps other documents, is the principal vehicle to help you get an interview – and you can’t get a job without that. So, it does need to convey enough helpful information to the reader to facilitate an invitation to do so. 

For me the most helpful resumes in independent school education (and I include international, Catholic/parochial/charter in that) begin with the personal information, and then a person’s education in reverse chronological order. Depending on where you are in your career, it can be useful to also display at that time a semester or year spent abroad, a certificate in a certain professional capacity, an ABD, etc. 

Then, one follows with the experience gained in working in a school, beginning with administrative/leadership experience (as the next header), followed by teaching experience.  After that, other professional experience can come into play, for example time you may have spent as an attorney, in finance or some other corporate role, business (consulting, retail, marketing, etc.), at a nonprofit organization or at some other for-profit or governmental organization.  Don’t leave out any work experience thinking it’s irrelevant as you never know what someone might pick up on or relate to.  

After that, generally skills come into play such as languages spoken in the degree of fluency (don’t include English as we assume that), tech skills and knowledge, travel, or specific skills and/or certifications such as SCUBA, WOFR, CPR, EMT, etc.  after that, you could list some personal or family information, as well as hobbies, activities, or other pastimes that might be distinctive. 

And here’s my take which is different (and I think better) from how most resumes emerge: the most important thing is not just to show the extent to which you have had certain responsibilities in a role, but also to demonstrate the positive effects, and the degree to which, those responsibilities resulted in some positive change in your school or organization. Consider the comparison between the following pairs of bullets: 

1. Managed all faculty hiring for the middle school.
2. Managed middle school faculty hiring which over four years resulted in an increase in the quality of teaching and a decrease in faculty turnover.

1. Redesigned and rebranded all admissions marketing materials. 
2. Redesigned and rebranded admissions marketing materials resulting in a 27% increase in inquiries over three years through the school’s website. 

1. Led the development of the school’s first five-year strategic plan. 
2. Working with trustees, parents, faculty, and students, led the development of the school’s first five-year strategic plan, incorporating strategy, branding, fundraising, finance, and physical planning. 

1. Managed $11M budget. 
2. Managed $11 million budget while reducing expenses and creating a cash reserve. 

My point essentially is that if you are going to present yourself as an appealing candidate, part of what makes you so will be that you were given responsibilities – and you did something positive with them. Not everything we take on in life ends in brilliant success or even modest success. But in looking for a job, you are going to be your own best advocate, and you must help people see the good and positive work you have done – what it was and what it resulted in. That’s part of your professional story.  A well-constructed, and thorough resume is the first step in helping you convey that you bring not only experience of doing things as part of your package, but experience that added value, made a positive change, helped move your organization forward. 

Another thing happens when you take the time to create your resume: career self-assessment and inventory.  You discover things that you’ve done that you then may want to address in your personal statement, elevator speech, cover letters, or your interviews with schools – or all of the above.  In addition, reflecting on your experience may demonstrate to you the areas where you have excelled as a teacher, leader, or in some other function. Also, it may display to you where your experience is lacking and suggest to you that as you progress in your career you may want to try to branch into new initiatives, learn some new skills or serve in a new capacity. 

The remarkable and late Pearl Kane, former  longtime director of the Klingenstein program was fond of saying, “Leadership is a behavior, not a position.”  Following that, I think resume is not a series of titles and bullets, it’s a narrative outline demonstrating the range of your experience, roles, and responsibilities that made an impact on the people and places where you have served.  It therefore also has a higher likelihood of producing more meaningful conversations during an interview. 

Getting a job is more complex than the creation of a compelling resume but a job search without an effective resume can be less successful.  Avoid placing an objective at the top of the resume because it is limiting. Avoid distracting layouts, multiple font sizes and styles, and too much clutter or too much density. If you are an administrator or head of school seeking another role, break the one-page rule and go to two or three or 3 ½ pages. After all, it’s an entire career you are trying to capture. If you are coming from academia, avoid a long list of publications and presentations – a few well-placed ones that are relevant to the job you seek, is fine. 

Remember that a resume must capture and hold the reader’s attention. Strong verbs and no extraneous details.  Also, don’t assume that a resume professional who helps people in marketing, technology, law, and manufacturing, is going to understand what you need to present as an educator to be compelling.