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.