
By Teachers, For Teachers
Whether you are a new teacher fresh off the boat of student teaching, or have been teaching for years and are searching for how to get a teaching job, your resume is an important component of how to get a teaching job. Think of your resume as a marketing tool -- you need this tool to help advertise and further yourself. Here is a guide to help you craft an amazing teaching resume to help you get a teaching job.
These four elements are essential and must be on every teaching resume.
This is where you include your first and last name, contact information such as your phone number, address (if you have a permanent and a current address, then list both of them), and e-mail.
Tip: Your name should be printed using a font size of 12 or 14, this will help your name stand out. The best fonts to use are Arial or New Times Roman.
This is where you list all of your certifications and endorsements that you have, each one should be on a separate line. If you are not certificated yet, then list the certification and the date that you are expected to receive it. Here is an example.
New York State Initial Certification, Expected May 2016
Middle Grade Endorsement expected in Mathematics
This section of the resume should include the following:
Listing your experience is the most important aspect of your teaching resume. This section is the heart of your resume and is mandatory. Include only experience that is relevant and that demonstrates your specific skill sets and achievements. There are a few headers that you can use in this section. Make sure that you choose the option(s) that you have the most experience working with students in. If you have a lot of experience working with children, then you can add more than one section. Remember that everything that you list in each section must be in reverse chronological order. Also note that after each position that you state on your resume you should list bulleted accomplishments that explain what you did in the position.
If you are directly out of college, then student teaching is your most relevant teaching experience. This section will directly follow the education section and will take up a significant amount of space. Make sure that you include lesson plans, classroom management skills, and teaching styles and strategies used.
If you have had a teaching job after student teaching, then that would be your most relevant teaching experience. This would be listed first, before anything else.
Student Teacher: Fricano Elementary School; Grades 1-2, Pendleton NY, Spring 2016.
For this section of your resume you can include paid or unpaid experiences working with children. This can be when you worked as a tutor, camp counselor, or sports coach.
Tutor, Huntington Learning Center, Williamsville, New York, Summer 2015.
Teacher's Aid, 123 Preschool, Sanborn, New York, Fall, 2010.
This section is where you add your student teaching experience if you have not previously. You can also use this section to select a few experiences in which you have played an active role in the classroom.
Fourth Grade, Heim Elementary School, Williamsville, New York -- September 2012-October 2012
The most important aspects of your teaching resume is your experience related to education, you can however include skills obtained from other jobs that are transferable to the classroom. For Example, training, mentoring, collaboration with others, etc.
Other options that you may wish to include on your resume are as follows:
If you want to stand out among the crowd, then you will want an eye-catching resume. Here are a few suggestions.
There is no correct way to format your resume. You have the choice of how you want to represent yourself. However, the elements that are listed above are the suggested ways that many career centers follow. Teaching resumes should be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, so it is recommended to follow the tips suggested.
How do you format your teaching resume? Do you have any tips for teachers? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below, we would love to hear your thoughts.
Janelle Cox is an education writer who uses her experience and knowledge to provide creative and original writing in the field of education. Janelle holds a Master's of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Buffalo. She is also the Elementary Education Expert for About.com, as well as a contributing writer to TeachHUB.com and TeachHUB Magazine. You can follow her at Twitter @Empoweringk6ed, or on Facebook at Empowering K6 Educators.