Career Services and Job Search Information

Job Search Portfolio
A Job Search Portfolio is a document which you take with you to an interview to support your verbal answers and to demonstrate your skills in lesson plan writing.

Collect the following materials and put them in a good quality folder with your name on it. Give it to the interviewer either during the interview or at the end. During the interview, you can use it to offer a written answer to support your verbal answer. For example, if they ask you a question about your philosophy of teaching, you can offer your answer and then say, "I have written my philosophy for my portfolio, along with two of my lesson plans. Here is a copy I've made for you."

Items recommended for a teaching job search portfolio:

• Resume
• Letters of reference--copies
• Transcript(s)--copy
• Certificate(s)--copy
• Statement of your philosophy of education: one page
• Sample lesson/unit plans
• Photographs or tape recordings of students' work (especially in music, art, and languages). If you're seeking a coaching position, consider a one-page summary of your athletic team experiences, which could include well-known coaches you've had, accomplishments of teams you've played on or coached, any training you've had to be a coach, clinics in which you've participated, etc.
• Any other documents you think will sell you as a teacher.

Keep your portfolio online: DePaul School of Education has partnered with Interfolio. Interfolio provides secure storage online for your portfolio and/or credentials. For a moderate fee, you can store your file online and have paper copies mailed to schools/districts.

Learn more about:

• Job Search Tools:

  • Education Job Search Resources
  • The Job Search Process
  • Job Fairs
  • Locating Vacancies
  • Part-Time Jobs

• Online Tools for:

  • Writing a Teacher's Resume
  • Writing a Cover Letter
  • Preparing a Portfolio

• Researching Schools
• Salary Information
• Credentials
• Teaching in Other States
• Teaching Overseas
  

For More Information:

Lynn Bryan, Director
Education Career Services
DePaul School of Education
Schmitt Academic Center, Room 481
2320 N. Kenmore, Chicago IL 60614
phone: 773-325-1652
fax: 773-325-7713

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