All right, they are hiring! Consider this a top priority on your list! Put a gold star next to this one, because this one you need to follow up with more enthusiasm than the others. Just like any other position, there is going to be an application process. So… Now what? You may have to complete an online application directly on their website. As you can imagine, this can be a very time-consuming process. If you have to do this several times for many different schools, you may get a little frustrated. I want you to keep in mind that to the school, THEY are the only ones that matter. You need to ensure that you fill out their application completely and answer all the questions required. I want to be clear on this – make sure that you follow the directions on the job announcement completely and correctly. You should already have a resume with all the pertinent information. Ideally, have a copy of it on your computer so you can simply cut and paste past employment or educational information. Do not skimp on any part of the application. After completing 20 to 30 of these online, you may have the tendency to rush through it and not take it as seriously as you need to. But please don’t do that; you will regret it later.
Online applications may be an area where someone could help you apply. Maybe your spouse or even a friend could assist you. Have them fill out the basic information and you can fill out the professional part and double-check their work. Either way, I understand that this is a very time-consuming process, but as I said, it may be very well worth it. As with any job that you ever apply for, the application is your initial contact with them. You want to make sure that you have a positive first impression. Filling out the application incompletely is not the way to do that.
You may get lucky and only have to email your cover letter, curriculum vitae, resume or other requested documents. Of course, this is the simplest way! But as with the application that you complete online, you need to make sure that you are submitting all of the requested information. I have heard many hiring managers tell me that the INTERVIEW process begins in the hiring process. They look for individuals who complete their information in a professional and complete manner. They look for individuals who respond to emails in a timely fashion. Why would they care about that? Well, part of your job as an online educator is responding to emails from faculty, staff and, of course, students. If you cannot respond to an email regarding a job, who’s to say you will respond to one from a student that needs your help. Please keep this in mind when making contact with the schools.
Another area in which I see people make simple mistakes is the format they use to submit their paperwork via email. Make sure to read the description correctly and carefully. If they request that the documents be submitted in a specific format like .doc, make sure you do that. I have also heard hiring managers mention that they will DELETE emails from people who fail to submit the documents in the correct format. Someone submitting documents in an OpenOffice.org format or an Apple Pages (Apples word processing software) format that the hiring manager cannot open would be an example. Just be careful and make sure that you submit everything it in the correct format. The failsafe would be to submit in a .doc format or even possibly a PDF format, as these are commonly used formats.
Another important part of this process is ensuring that you have a professional email. You do not want to have an email address like surferdude@yahoo.com. You also want to make sure that your email is not coming from another school. If you are lucky enough to work for another school, it can be viewed as unprofessional to send the job inquiry from that school. I have seen people send emails from their professional work account. For example, a police officer that works for a local police department could use that email address. While I wouldn’t recommend that, it is acceptable. If you haven’t already, you should consider creating an email address with something simple, like your name, that you know you will monitor on a daily basis. You may also consider creating an email address that is solely for applying for jobs online. This would help you keep all your information in one area so that it does not mix with other personal or professional matters.
Whether you apply directly online to the school site or you submit the information via email, you need to make sure that you update your spreadsheet and follow up at the appropriate times. We’ll talk about the importance of following up in another chapter. But for now, make sure you follow the directions provided in the description. Next, we’ll take a look at how to handle the situation in which a school is not hiring.
