Resume & Cover Letter Workshop

As fellows, we have a wide variety of resources at our disposal. Those resources are centralized on the myNYCTF website. One of the events recently offered was a workshop on developing an appropriate resume and cover letter for submitting to principals during the job search. I attended the event last night.

To be frank, a lot of the material covered in the workshop felt pedantic. Anyone who has written and revised a resume that has helped acquire a job would have known most of the content that was covered.

Conversely, a fellow's resume should abide by a few conventions, specific to education. An example would include putting teaching experiences or experiences with children near the top of the document (it may seem intuitive, but all might not see it the same). For the most part, most things presented in the workshop would apply to any general resume.

I have never written a cover letter, proper. Often resumes are sent out as email attachments in response to a craiglist posting accompanied by a short paragraph in the body of the email. When applying for teaching position, a cover letter is essential. It should introduce you, express interest and expand (not repeat) upon the content of the resume.

As tedious as it may be to hold a current job, matriculate full time and conduct a full-fledged job search, it is a necessary step to succeed in the teaching fellowship. While I feel somewhat overwhlemed, I am sure that with a few keen revisions and additions to my resume and an articulate cover letter, I will acquire a position at a school where I will be a happy and effective educator.