The Education Pioneers Fellowship is competitive. Period.
Every year, we get thousands of applications for hundreds of opportunities to work with our Partner organizations. Fellowship admissions are selective because we seek the very best talent, with the right combination of experience, expertise, drive, and passion. The high-stakes work our Pioneers lead and contribute to demands extraordinary people.
We also want our applicants to succeed. We see your passion to help do right by young people, and we want to connect you with the right opportunity for you to advance your own high-impact career in education.
To ensure that you can showcase successfully what you bring to the table as a potential Education Pioneers Fellow, here are four ways, and multiple resources, to help you ace your application:
1 | Know what this work needs.
Candidates with experience and expertise in four priority areas — (1) data and analysis; (2) strategy and planning; (3) operations; and (4) program and project management — are in top demand from our partner organizations. We also see demand for candidates with backgrounds in human capital/human resources; marketing and communications; and finance or budgeting.
Read more about our four priority areas to see where you can make an impact:
View a selection of sample project opportunities across priority areas.
2 | Rock your resume.
Bottom line: resumes matter. Your resume not only gives us a snapshot of the leader you are, it’s an important resource for our partner organizations to assess whether you’re the right fit for them. During the application process we’ll get to know you far more in-depth that just what’s on your resume, but don’t underestimate the importance of a strong resume to move your candidacy forward.
Here are some resources to help you:
- Resume template. What should your resume look like? Follow our suggested resume template to make sure your impact is easy for our admissions team to see.
- Tips to create a “rockstar” resume. How long should your resume be? How do you best highlight what you can do? Read our “rockstar” resume tips to make sure your resume is ready for the limelight.
- Hear it straight from a talent director on what recruiters look for — and what makes them cringe — when they read resumes.
- And make sure you’re keeping track of your accomplishments on an ongoing basis to make resumes, applications, and even job promotions that much easier.
3 | Highlight your skills and experience beyond your resume.
As part of the Education Pioneers Fellowship application, we ask candidates to complete project descriptions of the work you have done across various job functions.
Important tip: this section of the application is not just a restatement of what’s on your resume. (Spoiler alert: we’re going to read all elements of your application very carefully, so use all the real estate you have to make the strongest case you can for your candidacy.)
Here, we’re looking for more than just a short sentence of what you did, or a simple rehash of your resume. Instead, write a short paragraph with key details of the work you led and the results you achieved. This is your opportunity to show us the outcomes you’ve achieved — and how you achieved them — to give us a more robust understanding of your skills and experience, and help us see how and where you’ll succeed in your Fellowship in a project in one of our priority areas. Take advantage of it!
To help you complete the Professional Skills section of the Education Pioneers application, we offer candidates a sample job function resource:
4 | Know who we look for.
Candidates often ask us what we look for in Fellows. While there is no magic formula, in addition to meeting our eligibility requirements and having professional experience in one of our priority areas, successful applicants demonstrate:
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Alignment with Education Pioneers’ core values;
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Prior leadership experience with a strong desire to build upon and grow that experience;
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A deep interest in and passion for education and improving the lives of kids;
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An understanding that the work is hard, with a focus on positive solutions;
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An understanding of their own potential to help others overcome challenges;
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An openness to learning, feedback, and growth.
Thank you for your interest in launching or advancing a high-impact career in education. Good luck with your Fellowship application!
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Emily Cochran is the Director, Placement for Education Pioneers. Emily joined Education Pioneers because of her passion for increasing academic excellence in public education. She believes that every child deserves a quality education and is excited to work with an organization that is making it a reality. |
