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3 Tips for an Effective ²ÝÁñÉçÇø School Job Search

Let’s face it, finding the perfect private school job can be a wild ride. You’ve got tons of amazing schools to choose from, but that means you’ve got to be strategic about your job search.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, you want to make sure you’re prepared to showcase your skills and passion for teaching.

Tip 1: Boost Your Marketability Quotient

This job market is competitive. Employers want the best, and with dozens, or even hundreds, of applicants for the same role, you need to stand out.

How do you do it? By showcasing three or more of these in-demand skills or credentials, you’ll be well on your way to private school success.

Skills That Set You Apart

• Speak and teach a second language: Fluency in French, Spanish, or Mandarin makes you a highly sought-after candidate. Add a degree and certifications, and you’ll be unstoppable.
• Hold specialist certifications: An ESL certificate or reading specialist certification can open doors at many schools, especially in diverse communities.
• Be an AP exam reader: A little prestige goes a long way. If you’ve been an AP reader in subjects like Art History or Environmental Science, schools will take notice.
• Be willing to relocate: Flexibility matters. If you are open to moving, your marketability will skyrocket.
• Offer subjects in demand: Math and physics teachers are often in short supply. If you can teach to the AP level

These are tough times for teachers. It doesn't matter whether you teach in a public or private school setting. You expose yourself to legal risks every single day on the job. Some people think that teachers have a soft job. Public school teachers only have to work ten months of the year. Most private school teachers have it even better as they usually work a nine-month year. Of course, that's a distorted view of the profession. Many teachers teach summer sessions or run summer camps. They might have a month of vacation if they are lucky. Lurking on the sidelines is the question of liability. Yes, teachers can be held liable for all sorts of things which make no sense. The problem is that American society is very litigious. Folks will sue in a nanosecond. Lawsuits, as you well know, are time-consuming, expensive, and, in the worst cases can be career-limiting events.

So, let's look at liability from our point of view as teachers. Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, so read my layperson's comments and observations, then run questions by and seek advice from your attorney. The mnemonic DIRE lays out some of the issues we need to watch for. Protecting yourself is very important. Nobody else will look out for your interests as well as you will.

Everyday risks

Your chances of getting sued are probably on a par with having an accident while driving. When you drive carefully, observe the rules of the road, stay

Is Your Job Search Stuck in the Past? Here’s How to Fix It

It’s late fall, early winter. The air is crisp, the holidays are approaching, and suddenly, it hits you.

The promotion you’ve been counting on? Not happening. Your colleague is getting the nod, and you're left wondering why. After playing out the scenarios in your head, it’s clear: it’s time for something new. A fresh start, new challenges, a change of scenery, just what you need, right?

Absolutely. But now comes the big question: How do you make it happen?

You start by facing a hard truth: your resume is outdated. You haven’t touched it in years, and as you scroll through the document, you realize: your job search approach is so… 2020.

Microsoft Copilot generated this image.

Sound familiar? Don’t panic. The job market has evolved, and so should your strategy. Here’s how to modernize your approach and stand out in today’s competitive landscape.

Get Involved. Stay Involved. Expand Your Reach.

By now, you’ve been at St. Swithin’s for five years. You know the school, the students, the routine. But let’s talk about something bigger, your presence beyond the classroom.

Sure, involvement at school is a given, it’s expected, maybe even required. But what about the world outside those walls?

• Have you joined a local service club or choral society to connect with people?
• Have you attended workshops from your state’s independent school association, or better yet, helped

At some point in your job search process, you created a résumé. Your résumé is a critical part of the documentation which you furnish an employer when you apply for a job. Any job. Your future employer wants to know that you possess the qualifications necessary to be able to do the job for which they are hiring you. Your future employer also needs to verify your qualifications and credentials. What we are going to do in this article is to examine your résumé with an objective, clinical eye in order to present you and your qualifications in the best possible light. Many job applications are done online. That means that you will have to be very careful as you copy and paste information from your résumé to the online job application fields. More about that later.

This short video offers some helpful advice on how to fill out a job application.

In the meantime here are some items which have no place in your job résumé. You either need to omit them entirely or include them in your curriculum vitae.

Meaningless awards and affiliations

Some awards, medals, and affiliations might be relevant when you apply for certain positions. For example, if you are applying for a job with the Boy Scouts of America, your Eagle Scout status is relevant. On other job applications, the badges you earned while you were a Boy Scout which

Most of us like to start a project and see it through from start to finish. Signing on to run a going concern is a pretty safe bet. But what about tackling something that will make enormous demands on your abilities, energy, and experience but which has a lot of risk? Such as taking over a struggling private school?

Taking over a struggling business entails a lot of risk. However, you have talent and experience. So, let's examine what's involved in investigating a head of school position at a struggling school before you sign on. Here are eight keys to a successful business turnaround.

First, let's agree to define a struggling school as an institution with financial difficulties. Once you understand that you will have to do some hefty lifting raising money, that will help you focus on what has to be done. The truth is that most struggling schools didn't arrive in their present condition overnight. This is a train wreck that the previous head of school and the board saw coming for several years before now. Things have unfortunately gotten to the point that either the school gets turned around or it closes its doors for good.

Reasons why the school is struggling

Let's look at some of the reasons why a school finds itself facing difficult times.

Its business model is flawed.

A flawed business model usually results from the trustees and administration implementing programs and structures that do not meet the needs of potential