Promoting pre-service teachers' development of professional dispositions through purposefully designed learning experiences may be middle level teacher education's most important contribution to a novice's development from student to teacher. The 2022 Revised Middle Level Teacher Preparation Standards explicitly address this expectation in…

This activity offers students a way to engage in cover letter writing, familiarizing themselves with the style and content of these documents in a creative, fictional scenario. Students will both prepare letters and evaluate them, with options to vary the gamification of the activity included. During the debrief, students assess their experience…

Veteran professors synthesize their combined 60+ years of expertise at primarily undergraduate, teaching-focused universities into easy-to-follow advice for graduate students and current faculty seeking to build thriving careers at similar institutions. Writing in a friendly tone that includes their personal reflections, the authors guide readers…

This piece outlines the process generally used for hiring faculty at community colleges and offers advice for individuals seeking positions at two-year institutions.

This teaching case describes the functionality of an applicant processing system designed for a fictitious hotel chain. The system detailed in the case includes a webform where applicants complete and submit job applications. The system also includes a desktop application used by hotel managers and Human Resources to track applications and process…

In this article, the author describes the process she used when job-searching for the first time as a new teacher. The application process is presented in three parts: (1) Copy, paste, and SAVE, Save anything and everything you write; (2) Study and align, study what they want so you can align your experiences to match; and (3) Go to job fairs, Put…

The academic job market is overcrowded, but departments are hiring, and each year thousands of graduate students and other candidates will get phone calls offering them tenure-track positions. It is typically a moment of mutual giddiness. The department heads are excited at the prospect of a terrific new colleague; the job applicants now know that…

Beginning a new career as an academic is a daunting task. Carol Mutch's latest book aims to demystify the process by providing new and intending academics with an insight in what to expect. The book is based around the real-life concerns and questions that were raised by the early career academics she worked with in her innovative Emerging…

The teacher job market has become very competitive, but the good news is that there are jobs in schools. Candidates who do their homework and work at getting a job with the same dedication they put into earning their teaching licensure will be employable. In this article, the author discusses the the dos and don'ts of the job search--including…

IT professionals in higher education spend much of their time focusing on demand, resources, and constant change. This article suggests that they need to be investing more time in assessing, advancing, and defining their own careers. The article dispels the myth among IT professionals that the CIO is not a great position and worthy career goal.…

While it is clear that better teachers get better results with students, school leaders often put themselves at a disadvantage by not hiring the best teachers available. In this groundbreaking book, three human resource experts show how even small adjustments can help school districts' leaders, principals, and other human resource professionals…

This paper sets up a scenario about Rebecca, a jobseeker, who is a fictitious composite, a "typical" candidate who wants a position at a college/university. A job description is provided. She interviews for the advertised position, and while doing so, she also interviews the university, school/department, and working environment to see if there is…

For many people, the only thing harder than being out of a job is searching for one. Applying for dozens of jobs each week and getting few or no replies can slowly erode jobseekers' self-esteem. And this loss of confidence can prove detrimental to those trying to market their skills to would-be employers. Jobseekers can avoid many of the mistakes…

Nearly every student will go through the selection interview process to obtain a job in his or her future vocation. Regardless of the major of the student or the profession which they will pursue, the selection interview remains a constant. There has been some attention paid to the validity of the selection interview, and personality constructs…

As a cooperating teacher and university supervisor (respectively), the authors have mentored many general music student teachers and helped them prepare for the job application and interview process. Today, merely having an updated resume, good recommendations, portfolio, and notes from mock interviews is average and minimum. One way to take a…