Resume and Interview Tips

The resume is your first impression for our recruitment team. We receive more than 5,000 applications a year and therefore cannot grant every applicant a phone interview. Help your resume stand out by reading the tips below.

  • Make your resume look professional. Your resume should be neatly organized and easy to read.
  • Keep it short and sweet. Your resume should be one to two pages in length.
  • Highlight your accomplishments. Be sure to list a few key accomplishments in your professional area. For educators, this can include standardized test results, leadership roles, awards received, extracurricular activities supported, or programs developed. Accomplishments are a much better way of getting noticed than listing job responsibilities (e.g. “Maintained classroom and attendance records; Taught six hours a day; Instructed and assessed students”)
  • Be specific. Make sure you list your dates of employment, your places of employment, and your actual roles. Just listing “Teacher” does not provide hiring managers with enough information. Instead, write out “6th grade Math Teacher” along with the school name.
  • Edit, edit, edit! Read and re-read your resume for formatting, spelling, and grammatical errors. Having others read over your resume is always a good idea as well.  
  • Ensure your contact information is up-to-date.
  • Double check your objective. If you choose to have an objective on your resume, make sure it is specific and addresses the job for which you are applying.
  • Do not include personal information. There is no need to include your date of birth, social security number, marital status, photo, or religious and political affiliations. These items are not considered during the selection process, and they use up precious space on your resume. 

Phone Interview Tips

While following the resume tips above does not guarantee you’ll receive a phone interview, it will certainly increase your chances. Those who are invited to phone interview will receive an e-mail invitation to schedule the interview. To better prepare for your phone interview, review the tips below:

  • Be familiar with KIPP Houston. Take some time to learn more about our organization at www.kipphouston.org and www.kipp.org. You can also check out our facebook page and read about us in, the book Work Hard. Be Nice. by Jay Mathews.
  • Schedule your interview at a convenient time. You know yourself best. If you are tired or stressed at the end of the day, you may want to consider scheduling a morning interview. Ensure that you can complete the entire interview in a quiet location without interruptions or spotty cell phone service.
  • Be specific, but brief. Phone interviews are scheduled to last no more than 25 minutes. There is so much to learn about a person that these conversations could easily last hours, but we want to honor everyone’s time and make sure we are not late for our next interview!
  • Think through questions you want to ask. Your interviewer will give you a few minutes at the end to ask any questions you may have about working at KIPP Houston. Feel free to use that time to get some of those questions answered. We also recommend you check out our FAQ page – the answer may already be there!