Once you've got your resume polished up and sent out, hopefully you'll soon have some interviews lined up at schools. Competition for teaching and school leadership positions can be fierce, but with the right preparation you can ace your interviews and have schools lined up to hire you.

The key to a dazzling interview is simple: research the school you'll be interviewing with, prepare responses with a structure that makes your answers memorable, and create a "cheat sheet" to help remember your perfect answers. 

Here's exactly how to do it plus some handy downloads to help you prepare! 

Research

Once you find out you have an interview, start researching that school. You want to know its demographics, access to technology, testing data, percentage of ELL & IEPs, graduation rate, attendance, school improvement plan, any special initiatives, etc. 

Look at its website, school profile, state and district pages, as well as any school Twitter, Facebook, or...

Are you a teacher looking to move schools? Or move up to a department chair or assistant principal position? The first step in this process is having a resume that will stand out. 

Schools sometimes get hundreds of applications for leadership positions. You want them to remember yours. Chances are, you're doing lots of noteworthy things in the classroom. The key is to note these and then present them in the best way possible to show off how great a teacher you are. 

I've taught for 14+ years, been hired at a few schools for leadership positions, and sat in on interview panels where we talked about what we were looking for in a candidate.  

Here's how I format the front of my resume (if you prefer a video overview, check out my Instagram's features stories). My teaching resume is on the left and administrator one on the right: 

And then here's the reverse sides: 

I know those aren't the easiest to see, but I'll take you through everything...