I WANT TO BE PRINCIPAL

Steps to become a principal

1. Two or more years as teacher.

2. Master’s Degree and certification.

3. Develop resume 4. Complete application 5. Letter to HR 6. Letter of interest

Steps to become a principal

Develop a resumeHeading needs to grab readerEducationCertificationExperience

All current to earliest

Steps to become a principal

ApplicationMost are on lineWatch spellingWatch grammarProfessional email addressDependable contacts—good

phone numbers

Steps to become principal

Letter to Human Resources or Personnel Department

Statement of completion

Special items of interest

Steps to become a principal

Letter of Interest Letter of Intent

Narrative of your resume. Keep it brief. Follow district instructions. If they request page—you will write page.

Steps to become a principal

Prepare a CD to leave with the committee.

You Have the Interview

Don’t Flub It

You Have The Interview

Internet—April 13, 2005 Adapted by Dr. Harold L. Smith

A weak handshake

Your handshake means a lot about you.

Strong, firm handshake. Limp, weak, hesitant—tells

interviewer that you are unsure of yourself.

No Eye Contact

Look your interviewer in the eyes

No eye contact=lack of confidence, uninterested

Look your interviewer in the third eye if more comfortable

Third Eye? Space between the eyes.

Answer Overkill

Important points will be lost if you talk too much.

Keep your answers focused and on topic.

Limit your responses to a couple of minutes.

You don’t want to bore the interviewer

One-Word Answers

Too much talking will turn your interviewer off. One word answers will do the same.

An interview is a conversation Be able to elaborate and answer

questions intelligently. One word responses indicate

lack of confidence, lack of interest or conceded.

Interrupting the Interviewer

Nobody wants to be interrupted Interrupting the interviewer what

you have to say is more important than what they are saying.

Candidate Misrepresentation

No padded resumes Be able to back up your resume Be able to back up your comments

about experience Don’t claim to be a perfectionist if

there are typos or spelling errors on your resume

Demonstrate that you have enough credibility to get the job done.

Arriving Late

What can be said? Late=I am not interested in the

position. Late=My time is more important than

your time. Arrange to arrive early Have a phone contact if you run into

trouble. Call if you will be late.

Knowing Nothing about the School

Study the AEIS, AYP reports Study the Campus Improvement

Plan Be able to discuss the desired

areas of growth for the campus If you know nothing about the

school, it will appear you are not really interested.

Ultra-Causal Conversation

Interview is a professional situation

Leave slang at home—”you know, um, like, sucks”

Answer questions in an acceptable language

Don’t be sucked in by the interviewers slang

Watch for Word Ticks

Monitor and ask friends to point out any annoying habits. Pay attention to how many times you tend to overused phrases such as ‘you know” ‘kind of” and “like”

Use Simple Declarative Sentences

Avoid starting with “I think” or following up

with question remarks such as ‘right’ or

‘see.’

Soften blunt yes/no answers by adding clarification

“Yes, I know Marshall” or “No, I haven’t had that

opportunity.”

Take Your Time

Speak just a bit slower than you usually do and

concentrate on your words. You will seem more

thoughtful, and you may avoid some of the pitfalls listed earlier.

Be Prepared

If you’re preparing for a specific presentation, speech or interview, take time to rehearse what you want to say. Tape record your practice sessions so that you can hear any problems.

Do Your Homework

1. Know what the job will entail?2. What are the school’s

strengths?3. What are the school’s desired

areas of growth?4. What will you bring to that

position that will cause you to be the correct person for the job?

Follow up

1. After the interview, send a card of thanks for the opportunity to interview.

2. Few days later send a card stating you are available if they need additional information.

Words That Can Hurt Your Resume

Adapted by Dr. Harold L. SmithMay 2006

Sourcehttp://jobs.aol.com

These words may be useful as you develop your resume and/or during an interview. Be aware the individuals that look at your resume and/or interview you may look at these words differently than you intended.

Aggressive

Try a brief statement that shows you can take a responsibly and ‘run with it.’

“I successfully led our team to use the collected data to adjust our instructional program for our science students.”

Ambitious

Ambition can get in the way of seeing the big picture. A weak administrator may view this as saying, “I expect to have your job in two years.”

Competent

Competent does not say anything. You may be competent in your mind but how can you demonstrate that competency?

Give a brief example of how you approached a task and was successful.

Logical

Is being logical what is needed? Being logical can get in the way of completing a task. The task needs to be completed—not analyzed.

Do you waste time being logical instead of being a doer?

Motivated

Again a word that is over used. “I can motivate my students.”

How, what do you do?

Meticulous

Another way of saying detail-oriented. How much time can you waste being meticulous?

People person

Do you spend all of your time talking?

Kids are people Are you a listener or a talker?

Professional

Define professional

Creative

Some may see creative as meaning you are a performer and not a producer.

“I have developed my beginning class activities so that students do not want to be late for my classes.”

Detail-oriented Your principal may be detail-

oriented and needs a person that can develop the big picture—someone that can think out of the box.

“AP, give me a picture of the finished project and I will provide the details.”

Two detail-oriented administrators may never see the big picture.

Determined

Determined what?To have your jobTo run the schoolTo be liked by everyoneTo ………………

Efficient

Efficient at what?Wasting timeDeveloping reports that are not

needed

Experienced

Are your experiences in the field that is needed?

An experienced roofer may not be what the campus needs.

Excellent written communication skills

I wrote a jargon-free User Guide for ARD members.

Flexible

I can touch my toes I once did the splits I can accept both sides of an

issue

Goal-oriented

Today this is the most over worked statement.

Discuss how you set goals—how you measure goals

Hard-working

You have seen those you would consider hard working but they never completed a task. Is that what the interviewer is thinking?

Independent

“No one tells me what to do. I am my own person.”

“I will take a task you give me and begin working on the task. I know you will want me to tell you in 2-3 days the progress I am making.”

Knowledgeable

How are you going to demonstrate this fact?

All of us have areas where our knowledge is great than it is in other areas.

Reliable

Give examples of how you meet responsibilities placed on you. I know individuals that are reliable. They are reliable to grip, to complain, to be late.

Self-motivated

Do you mean you work in isolation?

Are you afraid of people? Do not take instructions well?

Successful

Define successful

Team Player

This is also a term used too often. Sometimes we do not need a team player. We need someone that will take a step away from the team to challenge them.

Well-organized

You may be so well-organized that nothing is every accomplished.