Your 5-Stage Path to Success in the Admin Job Search
When you understand the nature of the hiring process, you can prepare yourself to succeed, no matter what obstacles you face. Your journey as a competitor has five main stages:
1. Discover your leadership superpowers, so you can articulate how you'll meet the organization's needs.
You are more than your degrees—you have unique strengths that need to shine through in the hiring process.
2. Recruit your references, so they'll start drafting recommendation letters and putting in a good word for you.
Don't let a surprise reference check be the first they're hearing of your job search.
3. Craft your application argument, so you're not just sending in paperwork, but making a strong case that you're the best candidate for the role—even before your interview.
Your résumé and cover letter aren't just cold facts on paper—they're an argument for your candidacy.
4. Train for interview day, so you're ready for any question—cool, collected, and ready to use the stories you've prepared to illustrate why you're the right person for the job.
If you prepare the right way, you'll be at ease—and your interviewers will hang on every word you say.
5. Race to the finish line, so you get two or more job offers, and don't have to settle for waiting another year or taking a position you don't feel great about.
This is marathon, not a sprint. Success requires training and preparation for every stage of the hiring process.
However, you won't always move linearly through these stages—as your job search unfolds, your situation can change rapidly.
New positions open all the time, and you'll suddenly get called to interview for jobs you'd already forgotten about.
That's why it's essential to prepare—and be ready to adapt the moment you see a new position or get called in for an interview.
What's Included in the Ascend Masterclass
10 Experience Matrix™ Résumé Templates with Matching "Perfect Fit" Cover Letter Templates
Stand out with these ten sets of fully customizable Microsoft Word .docx templates for your résumé & cover letter—built with precisely the right sections, in the right order, to make your experience shine through.
Rapid Interview Prep Toolkit
Get our 1-Sheet Interview Prep Storyboard, high-priority question Video Interview Practice tool, plus interview strategies and video practice questions to help you prepare for upcoming interviews so you rise above the competition.
Ascend Trail Map Tracker
Use this drag-and-drop organizer to keep track of the jobs you're applying for at every stage of the hiring process—plus keep your documents, answers to application questions, and other key information handy so you can apply for more jobs, faster.
Ascend Job Search Diagnostic
Feeling stuck? Wondering where to focus your efforts right now? Our interactive assessment helps you focus on the most important actions at every stage of your job search, with instant recommendations.
Deep-Dive Bonus Trainings
Interview Prep Game Plan
The Interview Prep Game Plan training will help you prepare for your next job interview—whether it's tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year.
How To Write Accomplishment Bullets For Your Résumé
The How To Write Accomplishment Bullets For Your Résumé training will help you rise above other candidates who merely list their duties.
How To Craft Your "Perfect Fit" Cover Letter To Get More Interviews
How To Craft Your "Perfect Fit" Cover Letter To Get More Interviews—training + 150-slide PDF to give you specific language to use to construct your cover letter, line by line.
Ascend Leadership Journal
What should you talk about in interviews and application materials? It's often difficult to recall the specifics of work you did months or years ago. The Ascend Leadership Journal is loaded with prompts to help you identify the most compelling experience, accomplishments, and stories.
Experience Matrix™ Résumé Blueprint
The Experience Matrix™ Résumé Blueprint is our 16-Page PDF guide to the perfect résumé—so you know exactly what information to include...and what to leave out. Too many résumés are cluttered with unsupported claims and unnecessary detail. Give the reader just the right facts in the right order, so you land in the "Yes" pile and get more interviews.
Exclusive Job Search Tools
The Ascend Masterclass includes our premium job search tools tools:
Ascend VIP
The interactive Video Interview Practice tool, with more than 50 questions you can practice on-camera so you ace your next interview. Each question is accompanied by detailed tips to help you construct your response.
Cover Letter Generator
The Cover Letter Generator is our drag-and-drop, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank app for writing a powerful cover letter that gets you more interviews. In less than an hour, you can have a brand-new cover letter.
Ascend Live
Our Ascend Live library, with in-depth trainings on dozens of specific job search topics and interview questions, covering every stage of the Ascend Trail Map.
About The Author
JUSTIN BAEDER, Ph.D.
Director, The principal center
Justin Baeder, PhD is Director of The Principal Center, and has been a full-time author and consultant since 2012.
His trainings and resources on the admin job search have helped thousands of leaders land their current roles—from dean of students to superintendent.
Dr. Baeder is the host of Principal Center Radio, a weekly podcast featuring interviews with leading authors and thinkers such as John Hattie, Charlotte Danielson, Robyn Jackson, Douglas Reeves, Ken Williams, and more than 300 other distinguished guests
Justin served his entire career in public education as a principal and teacher in Seattle Public Schools. He holds an M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from Seattle University and a PhD in Educational Leadership & Policy from the University of Washington.
Dr. Baeder is the author of Now We're Talking! 21 Days to High-Performance Instructional Leadership (Solution Tree), the leading book on classroom walkthroughs, and Mapping Professional Practice: How to Develop Instructional Frameworks to Support Teacher Growth (with Heather Bell-Williams).
About The Principal Center
At The Principal Center, it's our mission to help instructional leaders:
Founded in 2012, The Principal Center has over 15,000 participants in our free and paid programs, representing more than 50 countries around the world.
