A teacher resume is a document that teachers use to highlight their skills and experience when applying for teaching jobs. It includes a teacher’s relevant education, certification, and work experience, as well as awards, accolades, or notable accomplishments. Some resumes may include a teaching philosophy, which can communicate a teachers’ attitude about education to potential employers. Despite slight variations between resumes, all templates highlight the teacher’s accomplishments and demonstrate their fitness for a job opening.
Writing a teacher resume is much like creating a resume for any other job, such as an accountant, marketer, or engineer. The most crucial sections are the opening statement and experience, emphasizing the teacher’s work ethic and overall educator goals. Employers look for ambitious teachers who have a strong desire to impact the world through education.
Follow the steps below to create a resume highlighting your best achievements and teaching qualities.
Include the most recent teaching positions, earned degree(s), and certifications. Consider how you can use this information to impress the person reading the resume. For example, if you had a 4.0 GPA, you might want to include those details, so the employer knows that you worked hard in college. Be sure to include each piece of information, even if it is a minor detail. Often, these points make your resume stand out from other candidates.
If an applicant has little-to-no teaching experience, consider including related work, such as tutoring, training, or coaching. Use precise wording that conveys what you did, learned, or achieved during that time. It may even be helpful to include anecdotes from students that you helped to show the employer that you make a difference in the lives of others through your work.
There are different ways to organize a teacher resume. A reverse-chronological format lists the most recent teaching jobs and completed degrees first, followed by the next most recent. This format is the standard and works well for teachers with several years of experience or if they’ve worked for a few different schools. A functional design spotlighting a teacher’s related skills and qualities may work best when beginning their career.
Using a template or an original design, draft the resume. While keeping a resume to one or two pages is recommended, do not fixate too much on the word count. However, if your resume becomes three or four pages, consider ways to format it to make it as short as possible. For example, changing the margins, using single spacing, and smaller text can adjust the length of the resume.
Once it’s finished, go over it again to ensure it is free of errors, typos, or inconsistencies. Use spell check or software that gives you the best suggestions to make your resume sound professional and concise. Furthermore, making sure that the information is clear and organized shows that you care about the application and have a deep interest in taking on the role.
