A cover letter is always required, however cover letters are seldom carefully read and there’s a good chance that it might never be read. Yet, you might as well develop the best one that you can.

General Guidelines:

1. Keep the letter to one page.
2. Carefully proofread for any mechanical errors—spelling, punctuation, grammar, word choice, capitalization, complete sentences. Have a colleague who has excellent writing skills…

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…

Here is a typical message I often get from newer school leaders:

“I wanted to touch base with you. I have a few questions and value your insight.  I had a successful year.  Being a leader is certainly a challenge, but I have learned a lot. Do you have any advice for year two or three?

(1) How, in your experiences, do years two, three and four differ from year one?  

(2) I've been receiving a lot of…

Have you considered being coached to improve your performance during an interview and wondered what it entailed? As a successful coach of 100’s of educators over the last nine years, let me give you an overview of my approach which includes: (1) a free preliminary review of your resume and cover letter; (2) a brief complimentary telephone in-take conversation; (3) several (between one and four) one-on-one, face-to-face or remote one-hour coaching sessions. The following is a summary…