WIN THE INTERVIEW SERIES - PART 2 - YOUR RESUME
In part 1, we discussed making sure the position is the right fit for you and your family. Once you feel comfortable moving forward now, it is time to put together a resume and interview packet that will be impactful.
A. Your resume packet
Create an interview packet that jumps out at the committee. In some places, they are getting 100+ resumes. You don't have to make this a massive document, but let them know what you have accomplished and about your personal and professional core values.
*Use pictures! I have seen quite a few resumes in my 21-years as a head coach. Ninety-nine percent of the resumes I have looked at do not have enough pictures. Photos tell stories!
Here is a basic format for an application-type resume packet:
have a cover page with a photo of you and your family
resume (w/ references)
pictorial collage page with several pics of you coaching. If you have pics of you hugging, high-fiving, etc. players use every one of them.
pictorial collage page with several pics of you and your family
Personal and professional philosophies/core values. Here you tell them 'what you are about.' The principles that guide your daily life and what you will do to help 'raise up' students in their school. For example: 'We will win on and off the field because....' 'We will be a leadership academy that happens to play football.'
B. After you send your resume
Should you have references call on your behalf to help get an interview? This is dicey, in my opinion. My advice is only to have people call who know the superintendent, principal, or athletic director. I don't want to receive a call from someone I don't know about a resume I have received from a candidate I don't know.
*When you apply online, your references will usually get an automated reference check to fill out about you. Make sure your current supervisors aren't caught off-guard on this. If you want to keep this under wraps until you get an interview, do not use them as a reference. Every year, I remind my assistant coaches to let me in the loop in they are applying for a job. My feelings are not hurt when one of our guys want to up in the profession.
The bottom line is you have to get your resume moved from the big stack to the small pile of potential interviews. Tell them things they can't legally ask: church affiliation, health, family, etc. Use pictures to tell your story. 'Action photos' are golden. Almost every resume they receive will be from coaches who can draw up schemes. Make sure they know you are about relationships. You will be a father-figure who is not only coaching for success on the field, but you will be another adult they know cares about them.
