Getting Hired: 5 Tips to Being the Candidate of Choice

The article, "Getting Hired. 5 Tips to Being the Candidate of Choice," shared 5 quick tips to becoming the candidate of choice leading to the teacher you have so much passion to be. The tips within this article included: Be crisp, be confident, have vision, find separation, and leave it on the table. Out of these 5 qualities, I would consider my strength to be 'having vision.' I am 34 years old and it has taken me many years to get where I am at today, education wise. I have worked with a diverse age range of children in diverse settings, gaining much experience along the way. I believe exhibiting my passion and my vision when it comes to education is a strength of mine. I am always willing to learn and will always be learning. That is life, in and outside of a classroom. My heart and mind truly enjoy implementing what I do know and learning and meeting the needs of others' as we grow and learn together. 

Finding separation is the area/tip I feel I struggle with the most. We (the candidates) all have very similar educational backgrounds, academic scores, and similar work history. I wonder, how I can find separation from the other potential candidates. If there are 30 of us candidates, per se, seeking the same position, all graduating from the same college, all having similar grades, what can I do to make myself stand out? Ha, ha, I am the oldest out of the candidates around me. However, I am not sure that has a positive or negative influence. Well, at least I may stick out more! On a more serious note, I found the video in the article very impressive! The article stated that portfolios, transcripts, lesson plans, pictures, etc. 'do nothing for me,' according to the author. I need to bring a "WOW" factor to the table. I am not a technology savvy individual, but I am creative. Finding separation will take some thought and some work. I got this! This is the area I will need to do some reflection on and a little soul searching (and googling) to figure out my "WOW" to make myself shine like a diamond! Or a ruby! Or anything really that causes me to demonstrate separation and have others' thinking, wow she would be a great asset to our team! 

If I were to add one thing to the list, it would be professional etiquette. Yes, it has taken many steps to get to that interview and being crisp upon arrival is a thumbs up from me. However, before you walk in that room and shake hands with everyone, dress appropriately, be on-time (early), make eye-contact, and SMILE! Smiles are contagious and all it takes is one person, so why not let that person be YOU!