Sharing Good Practice
DO YOU WANT TO GET PROMOTED?
BUILD YOUR PERSONAL BRAND
BY DR JOSEPH WILLIAMS III
I
f you are currently seeking to move
up in your education career, have
you found yourself saying one (or
more) of these statements?
• I don’t like how school H.R.
departments
work
today
–
everything has changed, and not for
the better
• Social media is so stupid
• When I looked for a job 10 years
ago, things were different…better…
easier
• I have never had to look for a job; I
have always been sought out – until
now
• Back in the day, my resume’ and
experience spoke for itself
• Are you really serious about this build
your personal brand nonsense? Just
hire me!
• I have sent out at least 30 resumes
and have not gotten one response
or interview
• Look, I have assistant principal
or principal experience, and I am
not interested in learning about
‘building my personal brand’ – I
just need you to give me some
connections
• Networking is a big waste of time.
Been there, done that…it didn’t
work
• What’s the big deal about LinkedIn,
and why do I need to even be on it?
• I don’t understand K-12 recruiters – I
thought they were supposed to find
me a job
• I don’t know why I keep applying for
these school leadership positions.
They already know who they want to
hire anyway
• I'm not politically connected. So I will
never get hired as a school leader
• If I was (insert excuse…white, black,
bilingual, male, female, tall, skinny,
etc.), I would already be an assistant
principal or principal!
I'm sure if we're being transparent,
many of us have made statements
similar to these in the past. But the
reality is, having a negative mindset
will not help you get hired. And you
don't want your negative self-talk to
become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Listen, no one is going to give you
your next school leadership position
served up on a silver platter. You must
have a growth mindset. You must be;
productive in your current position,
positive, proactive, and persistent!
You must be willing to use some new
strategies and tools to advance your
international education career. If you
are willing to grow, learn and take
action, here are five specific ideas to
help you move forward:
1. Be willing to listen and learn from
a mentor or career coach who has
current or previous experience
as an assistant principal or school
principal. It will save you time, money
and frustration. Don’t expect to get
hired tomorrow. It may take some
time, effort and patience to earn
your first or next school leadership
position.
2. Redo your resume’ with updated
experiences, references and maybe
even a whole new resume’ format,
with a professional photo.
3. Optimize your LinkedIn and Twitter
accounts (if you have one). Build
and maintain your own personal
website. (www.yourname.com)
4. Continue to do an exemplary job in
your current position and Network,
Network, Network!
5. Know that looking for a school
leadership job in today’s job
market is tough; so invest in your
own professional development,
constantly evaluate and refine your
job search strategy…and never
give up!
Your Turn:
Does your personal website showcase
your education, experience, skills and
abilities?
Do you even have a personal website?
Is your LinkedIn profile fully optimised?
Do you have a Twitter account?
When is the last time YOU (not
your school) invested in your own
professional growth and development?
Joseph is currently the elementary principal of Al Bayan Bilingual School in
Kuwait. Joseph is married and has two amazing children. Joseph believes that
school educators should build their personal brand to move ahead in their
K12 career. He created myk12careerabroad.com to inform and empower K12
educators around the world to work abroad, travel the world, and live their
dreams! Joseph can be reached at [email protected].
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Nov - Dec 2018
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