1 Welcome to Ascend! If youre looking for a new ed leadership role - PDF document

The truth is, EVERYONE initially gets the job without ever having experience at that level. No one was born with experience. You can go head to head with people who DO have that experience and get that job. Most of the time you will be going up against someone that DOES have experience at that level, and that’s OK. 32

You have the experience you need from your current role to move to the next level. It can be frustrating when you keep getting passed over, and you might think you’ll never get to that next level. But let me tell you, everybody does. Being good at your job is not enough to truly compete in the hiring process. People tend to forget that there are intermediate roles that can be a good foot in the door. You don’t always go straight from teacher to principal. You might also look into different systems. For example, some rural areas might have a principal/ superintendent role due to the fact that superintendent is only a part-time position. 33

Obviously if you are fresh out of college, you are not prepared to be a school principal. You do need experience in the classroom before you’re ready to move up to the next level. But I think there is a steeply declining curve of diminishing returns in the 4-8 year period. If you have been in a job for 8 years, you are eminently qualified to move on to the next level. Don’t let anyone tell you that 8 years is not enough and that you need to stay 20. That is ridiculous—it’s kind a holdover from when superintendent was basically just a fast track to retirement. 34

You don’t need more experience in most cases. You just have to master the three games that determine whether you are moving up— The Mental Game, The Relationships Game, and The Numbers Game. So far everything we have been talking about is The Mental Game, believing that you have the experience you need. Understand that this is a competition, and being willing to put yourself out there and do the work that it takes to win that competition. We’ve talked a little about The Relationships Game with being an internal candidate. We’ll cover more of that in a bit. If you’re the internal candidate and you’re a shoo-in, good, go for it! But most people are going to have to put themselves out their competitively and apply for multiple jobs. A lot of people don’t realize that this is playing at a new level, and you’re just not going to win every game. 35

Let me tell you, the reason you are stuck is very likely something very silly that you can easily overcome. It is not a vote of confidence against your abilities. If you’re in a job and you hate the job, then that’s a sign that it’s not the right fit for you. But if you are not getting the job, it is probably something very simple. 36

Here are a few examples I hear all the time. “I’m not getting interviews.” This is not a lack of experience, but a case of mediocre application materials. Unless you are trying to skip levels or you’re applying for something you are just wildly unqualified for, your lack of interviews comes down to the quality of your application materials. 37

The second common situation: “They never call me back. They didn’t even give me the courtesy of letting me know I didn’t get the job. I thought it went well, but I never heard back.” This could be one of two things. The most likely is competition. You aren’t going to get every job you interview for—that’s just a fact of life. The second possibility is that your interview was not as good as it could be. And we’re kind of in a black box when it comes to interviewing, because we never can see anyone else interviewing for the kind of job that we’re looking for. So the more you can serve on hiring committees or interview people for other jobs if you have that opportunity in you school, the better. If you will volunteer to sit through the long hours of interviewing for other positions, you will learn a ton. 38

Another situation is “I keep making it to the final round.” That is a good sign—you’re on the right track. Don’t give up now. At this point you just have to win the numbers game. Now if things looked like they were just about to extend a job offer and then they pull back at the last minute, what could be happening is that someone you’ve listed as a reference has given you a bad reference. They only call references for finalists, so if they seemed to have changed their mind about you overnight, an unsupportive reference could be why. 39

There are a few other things that might have you stuck. It could just be the competition. It is totally normal for there to be a 1 to 100 ratio between positions and applicants. So you have to think, ”Am I competing at a level where I can beat 99 out of 100 people?” It could also be that there is a defined pathway that you have to go through and maybe you’re trying to skip a step. Maybe there is a specific role that your HAVE TO HAVE before you can move on to the next role. And maybe the issue is that there are no fish in the pond, especially in rural areas. Sometimes positions stay filled in smaller districts for decades, so you may have to branch out to find an open position. 40

Now we’re going to talk about some specific tactics to help you improve your application materials. First, your cover letter. Your cover letter is the first and most tactical area to focus on in your application materials. People often ignore the cover letter and that is a big mistake. 41

The cover letter is NOT a formality— it is your single biggest opportunity to earn an interview. Let me tell you, if you are 1 out of 100 candidates, if your cover letter is too basic and doesn’t stand out in any way, it is going in the trash. You are not going to get called back over a mediocre cover letter. Your cover letter is your foot in the door. 42

Your resume won’t determine whether or not you make it through the paper screening process. Your cover letter will. 43

You must customize your cover letter. The cover letter you write for your first application should NOT be the same as the cover letter you write for other applications. You’ve got to customize it for every single job you are trying to get. You can’t just write it once and copy and paste for each application 44

Do the work of revision. You have got to put effort into revisions. Your first two drafts won’t be good enough. Get feedback, revise, get more feedback, revise again. Your cover letter can’t just be your name, credentials, and address. You cover letter has to be a detailed argument that you are the right person for the job. 45

As you go through the process of applying for different jobs, you want to be improving your cover letter more than just changing the recipient. You want your cover letter to be one page. Often the screener looks at the résumé first, so you want to surprise them with your cover letter. The screeners skip to the résumé because most people’s cover letters are all the same. You have to be the one to give them a reason to look at your cover letter. You want your cover letter to look professional and tailored to each individual school. Your cover letter can both share your background and show your vision to prospective employers. 46

Now let’s talk about your résumé. 47

The Résumé’s Role Your résumé's job is to clearly highlight your professional accomplishments and qualifications . 48

Start with your most recent experience at the top, and go in reverse chronological order, job by job. But don’t itemize your duties in each job. If you are an assistant principal, don’t just list off what all an assistant principal does. All that does is tell employers what they already know. Don’t list your duties—list your achievements and accomplishments. 49

You will want to use a combination of sentences and bullets. Make your résumé skimmable. At the beginning of the hiring process, your résumé won’t be carefully read. Screeners will skim through a huge stack and they will wind up with a short list and a full trash can. You want to format you résumé so the reader can go through them very easily. 50

Let’s say you’re talking about your current role, maybe your current position is principal of a middle school. What you’re going to say in that section is, first, a very short paragraph (1 or 2 sentences) saying what you have accomplished in that role. If you turned around the culture, or test scores, or implemented a great new program, say that in a paragraph. Say what kind of leader you are in a short paragraph. And then use BULLETS. You’ll want 5 to 7 bullets per section. You want those bullets to be detailed or at least sentences. Don’t must put one word answers—those are not bullets. Your bullets should have verbs that describe your accomplishments. You want this to be skimmable and to paint a clear picture of what you did in each position that you held. 51

Organization-wise, at the top is typically where you find contact information. You’ll put a personal objective, which you will customize per position you apply for. You’ll put what you want to accomplish for students in that role. Then you will list your professional experience job by job. You’ll list your key accomplishments and responsibilities. Below your experience you’ll want to put your education and certifications, followed by any additional training. And at the end, you’ll put your references. As for length, I have rarely seen someone who is applying for a senior position be able to make their full résumé fit on 1 page. That being said, if you’re going over 3 pages you’re probably going on too long. You want to have less information for your older jobs than your more current jobs. 52

One thing I want to encourage you to be careful about in your résumé is to omit red-flag interests. Don’t put your “weird” hobbies. Screeners dislike anything that might seem like you aren’t 100% focused on the job. I had a good friend who was a DJ and that was well known in his district, and it worked against him. So anything like that that might suggest you are anything other a fully mature professional—leave that out. Also leave out anything that might suggest you do any sort of side business, as this too can suggest you are not all-in and you might be distracted. If you are a teacher trying to move up to a principal level, feel free to include the activities you’ve supervised, such as marching band or color guard. But if you are an assistant principal looking to move up, you might not want to list your activities you did as a teacher. 53

I would never use the phrase “references available upon request.” All that says is “I hope you don’t contact my references because nobody is going to say nice things about me.” Nobody is going to contact your references unless they are about to hire you. Here is how those references can help at the screening stage: having your references listed is a credibility booster, even at the paper screening stage. Even though they won’t call them until after they have interviewed you, having them on your résumé helps cement your credibility. 54

Self-Assessment How strong is your résumé right now? 1………………………………………………..10 ß Not started yet Rock Solid à 55

Now let’s talk about recommendation letters. What you say about yourself in your résumé is important, but it is bolstered incredibly by what other people say about you. 56

This is where you can gain a huge advantage, because most people don’t submit a recommendation letter unless they are required to. Either that or they resubmit old ones. And the reason for that is that getting a good recommendation letter is tough. And often you’re applying for jobs before you really want to let people know, so it feels kind of awkward to ask current employers for recommendation letters. 57

So here is a hack that you can use anytime of year, even if you have no intention of leaving your current position: you can ask your boss or colleagues to write a draft recommendation letter. This draft would be just for your own personal portfolio, so that you could know more about your strengths and weaknesses. Now, they might be surprised that you asked, but if they are going to give you a good recommendation, they’ll say yes. 58

And you’re making their job easier. If you say, “I need a perfect recommendation letter by Friday and I won’t get the job unless you give me one,” that’s going to put a lot of pressure on your boss or colleague. If you just ask them for a draft recommendation letter, you’re giving them permission to not try to be perfect, and this means they won’t be mad when you ask for revisions later. It also helps you to get information on what you do well and what you need to improve on. 59

Now, once you get the letter, don’t feel like you HAVE to use it. I’ve read hundreds of recommendation letters and I will tell you, not every recommendation letter is a GOOD recommendation letter. Just because someone said yes to writing you a recommendation letter, that doesn’t mean that they are actually helping you. Some recommendation letters do much more harm than good because they have these little red flags. 60

There are a couple of things you can look out for. One is a lukewarm endorsement, someone just saying, “This person is nice—they do what they are supposed to” and that’s it. Not a great recommendation letter. If someone says, “Please contact me if you are considering hiring this person,” that’s a red flag. 61

You have got to catch those red flags so they don’t torpedo your chances of getting the job you deserve. If the person writing your recommendation is not a good writer, this could reflect on you. You can use track changes and reword a few things and run them back by whomever wrote the letter. You don’t want to ever put words in their mouth; you just want a clear, well written letter. 62

One last thing to think about recommendation letters: You don’t want potential employers to position you in the junior role that you are already in. If you are looking to move to the next level, you want your recommendation letters to speak to your potential at the next level. 63

Feel free to ask people for revisions if, in their first draft they spoke more towards your current position. If they accidentally put in a red flag, such as “punctual,” feel free to point that out to the person writing the letter. 64

Ideally you want to end up with a letter that is in Microsoft Word format that is easily modifiable, with a scanned signature. If you get another format, ask permission to scan the signature, retype the letter, and share a copy with the author. 65

Shoot for 10 recommendation letters, because if you get 10 and 4 of them are terrible, then you still have 6 good ones. Most people might not be able to get 10, but it’ll be worth it to shoot for it in the long run. 66

Now let’s talk about some specific district application tips, so that you can win the numbers game. 67

This can be a pain. It is a grind to have to go through the online application process for every single job that you’re applying for. Sometimes it’s all the same software system, but you have to reapply with a separate login and you have to have a password. I know, I hate that stuff. BUT that is what you have got to do. You can’t just write one application, photocopy it and send it to 70 employers and boom, the job offers come rolling in. That’s not the world we live in. This is a competition. But the good news about that grind is that everybody else has to go through it too, and you can give yourself a competitive advantage by making yourself more efficient at the process. 68

Tip number 1: Everything that you are going to paste into a website, save it in a document. Do your actual typing in a document on your computer. And I say Word document, but you may want to do it in a plain text document to remind you that formatting is going to get lost. But do paste it into Word to do spellcheck and grammar check, because you can’t do that sort of thing in a plain text document. 69

Word will also tell you how many words or characters are in a document, so you might want to check for word or character limits. Whatever you do, save all of your application writing offline. Don’t trust the website to save your work. 70

And then, when you have a great résumé and cover letter in Word, do the online application, because you have to. But also send it in hardcopy, so that your name stands out a little bit. Let them know that you applied for the online, but you are sending them a hard copy to reach out even further. It is totally fine to send people paper. They might not ask you to, but as long as you have applied online it never hurts to get your name out there ahead of your competition. 71

And don’t be afraid to look at the district website. Look into their strategic plan, look at what their values are, because those may be things that come up in a potential interview or writing exercise. 72

Time for some interview tips. How can you make the team love you, even if you don’t have all the answers? There is no international clearing house for interview question quality, so that could mean you get some off-the-wall questions from time to time. That’s just normal. 73

Luckily, it turns out that you don’t have to know all the right answers. You simply have to develop the skill of interviewing well. You want to be yourself, but you also want to put yourself out there. You want to demonstrate that they are looking for. 74

You can, and should, practice and prepare for the interview. There is no way to predict the exact questions you’ll be asked. But the more you practice and prep for the interview, the better prepared you will be for facing the real deal. 75

One question that I’ve had from my clients that I wanted to address, “Is it ok for me to refer to my notes in an interview?” For an admin position, I would say no. The interviewer might say it’s fine, but that is really going to reduce your credibility. I would definitely be ready to talk off the cuff and not have to refer to anything in writing. You can use those written materials, even bring them with you to the interview. Just avoid looking at them in the actual interview. It will send a message of unpreparedness that you don’t want to give. 76

So, just as athletes begin training months and months before their official season begins, you must begin preparing for interviews immediately. Whether or not you have an interview lined up, now is still the time to begin preparing. 77

I highly recommend that you practice with the 52 practice interview questions. I also recommend that you practice on video. And what I’d encourage you to do is, go to principalcenter.com/52q, and you can write those answers out in bullet-point format. Leave space for 4 or 5 bullet- points per questions. And you have GOT to practice ON VIDEO. 78

I say that, but no one will actually do it. No one practices on video because nobody likes to see themselves on video. But you can either be one of the weird people who is prepared for their interview, because they practiced on video, or you can be like everyone else and not practice because it was uncomfortable. That is one of my biggest pieces of advice. 79

So practice on video, the watch the video. If you can, practice with a trusted colleague. Get video coaching if you can. 80

I have a couple of other interview tips. One reason practice helps so much is, when you know what story you want to tell in your interview, you can look through the questions that they are asking you to figure out where you can share what you need to to send your message. 81

You can also approximate how much time you have by practicing on video. Often interviews are scored, and when you run out of time you get 0 on those points. 82

And I recommend you don’t budget that time equally. I suggest you spend more time on questions where you really have a chance to tell them about yourself. If the first question in the interview is, “Please describe your qualifications for this position,” some of your competition is going to say something like, “I’ve been a teacher for 7 years and I have a Master’s degree,” and they’ll leave it at that. You are going to give them a 5 minute answer about who you are and what you would do for their school. Don’t be afraid to spend some time on those sort of questions and don’t hesitate to go above and beyond what they are asking. 83

But what happens when you have the opposite problem? If there is a tough question you aren't sure how to. For example, if they ask you a question about dealing with a Union when you come from a non-Union state, I’ll give you a 4 part framework. First, you affirm the question. Let the interviewer know that you are on their side. Second, if you can’t say specifically what your experience is in that area, you should start off with your beliefs and your values. Let them know that you are ultimately here for the students. Third, you can describe what you’ve done that is consistent with those beliefs and values. And lastly, you can state what you would do in that precise situation in the future. And if you do these 4 things, the interviewer won’t even notice that you didn’t directly answer their question. If you do these things you’ll be in great shape. 84

What interview practice have you done? It could be that your Master’s program had you do some practice interviews with some classmates. Maybe you’ve practiced with a friend or mentor. 85

Now let’s talk about the final phase. Win, your moral imperative to become the leader that you are called to be. 86

I know you might not want this to be a competition, but it is. And to win that competition, you’ve got to compete. No one is going to crown you the winner unless you enter the competition and win. You’ve got to prove you are the best. Do NOT be our profession’s best kept secret. A lot of people know that they are their district’s best kept secret, and that is great. That means you have a gift. But that gift will not make a difference at the next level if you hide it under a bushel. You are the one who has got to put yourself out there. 87

You’ve also got to play to win. Now I’m no fan of the lottery, but much like the lottery, this is a numbers game. When it comes to the admin job search, the more you play, the better your chances of winning. The more you apply, the better your chance of winning. Don’t hesitate to apply for the admin jobs you want. 88

I’ve heard from a number of music teachers who have heard things like this. I absolutely agree with these music teachers. I’ve had many non-core subject teachers come to me with this sort of issue. I think some of the best administrators come from the “non-core” subjects. Music teachers, counselors, band directors, and PE teachers can make GREAT administrators. I believe you can definitely be an excellent leader without having taught a core subject. The question is, how do you prove to others that you have what it takes? It can be a challenge. One of the things you can do is try and get on some sort of leadership committee. You need to get into a position where you can demonstrate your potential for leadership. 89

To ascend you have to master the Mental, Relationship, and Numbers games. 90

Remember the admin job search is a competition. The job goes to the best competitor, not necessarily the best leader. You have got to be both the best competitor and the best leader. 91

As it is right now, I do not currently do private coaching. But over the past couple of years, I have worked 1 on 1 with clients who have gone from private school leader to public school leader. I’ve worked with a central office director who wanted to be a superintendent, and got the job that they dreamed of. I’ve worked with a classroom teacher who got her first AP job. I’ve worked with a principal who moved up after many years as a successful principal and had multiple job offers for director positions. So I can tell you with full confidence that if you will do what we’ve talked about today, these strategies will get results—so please take action . 92

Like I said, I am currently not working with anyone 1 on 1. I would love to, I really enjoy it. But it tends to be kind of an open ended commitment because this is kind of a long process. I just have a lot on my plate these days, and I really need to focus on the research that I’m doing right now. 93

But I will say this, if I can give you the instructional leadership perspective, vocabulary, and strategy I want to know if that would be helpful to you. If you are interested in more I will tell you what you can do to move on to the next level. 94

So, here’s the deal. Like I said, I don’t have the time to work 1 on 1 with clients right now, but I do want to give you a competitive advantage. I want to give you a leg up especially if you’re thinking, “ How can I improve as an instructional leader if I don’t already have the kind of job that I’m applying for? How can I prove that I’m ready for the next level? ” 95

https://www.principalcenter.com/get-certified Not too long ago, we launched a program called the High- Performance Instructional Leadership Certification program. This program is like nothing else in our profession. It was something I designed and put out there in response to a need in our profession. You may have heard of the pilot for the National Board of Certification for Educational Leaders. I was part of the pilot and in that pilot program, we learned what the process was going to be like. We had to do a portfolio and demonstrate our abilities as an instructional leader, but then the program was scrapped. The National Board said they weren’t going to certify principals and that they would only focus on classroom teachers. And I found that kind of heart breaking that the certification option wasn’t there for educational leaders. 96

So, over the past 5 years at The Principal Center, we have been doing what I think is the most in depth instructional leadership development anywhere to help administrators get into classrooms. We’ve helped administrators develop instructional frameworks specific to their school, to develop the shared vocabulary with leveled rubrics they are using with their teachers to develop a habit of classroom walkthroughs to do evidence based teacher evaluations. 96

So I feel absolutely confidant now that we have the best program out there to train instructional leaders beyond the initial certification. You should still go get your Master’s degree and your principal certification. But to take it to an advanced level, we have this enhanced certification. It is called the High-Performance Instructional Leadership Certification. We have a rigorous process—you go through an 8-week course, and then you do a portfolio, just like you would for national boards. 97

And that 8 week program goes into a great deal of depth. I’ve put hundreds of hours into creating this program including video clips from real classrooms and modelling how I give feedback and do formal evaluations. 98

After you go through the course, you go through the certification. It is not an “everybody passes on the first try” kind of thing. It is a rigorous process that involves an assessment portfolio, a collection of evidence that is submitted and scored with rubrics. And to my knowledge, this is the only thing out there like this. I really wish the National Board had done it, but they decided not to. To my knowledge this is the only international certification for instructional leaders. This is above and beyond the Master’s degree and your initial licensure you get in your state. It is not meant to replace those—it’s meant to be something in addition to those things that can make you stand out from the crowd. You can put in on your résumé; it can give you experiences that you can talk about in your interviews and in your cover letters. You will get a physical plaque that you can put on your wall. 99