Teacher Cover Letter Example

When applying for teaching jobs, it can be challenging to know how to convey your teaching skills in a cover letter.

Principals are looking for candidates who can demonstrate excellent classroom management skills and dedication to their students. You need a strong teacher cover letter to convince them that you have what it takes, especially if you have limited teaching experience on your resume.

Whether you’re an aspiring teacher or an experienced professional, here’s a video walk-through that breaks down the best practices when writing a teacher cover letter:

To build on the advice outlined in our video guide, read through our tips to learn how to write the best possible teacher cover letter.

1. Showcase your key teaching skills

Highlighting key hard and soft skills on your cover letter is crucial to landing the teaching role you want. Just like listing teacher skills on a resume allows the hiring manager to quickly see whether you’ve developed the abilities needed to teach and mentor your students effectively, your cover letter should demonstrate how you applied those skills.

If you’re not sure what kind of skills to highlight in your teaching cover letter, here are 40 soft skills that are highly relevant for a teacher:

Teacher Cover Letter Soft Skills

Additionally, here’s a list of common teaching hard skills:

Teacher Cover Letter Hard Skills

Use your cover letter to showcase two or three of your core skills as a teacher, giving an example of how you used these skills in your previous work experience. For example, if you specialize in working with students with special needs, you can mention those skills in your cover letter for a special education teacher.

2. Quantify your achievements

Adding hard numbers to your cover letter is an effective way to make your application stand out to administrators. Quantifying your accomplishments gives the hiring manager more context about your successes and what you’ll be able to achieve if they hire you.

In our teacher cover letter example, the candidate writes that they increased test scores “by 16% over three years.” Using numbers like this demonstrates to a hiring manager not just that you have past experience teaching, but that you were an effective educator.

If you’re struggling to come up with numbers to add to your bullet points, you can think about:

• how many students you taught in your classes
• student grades and assessments: percentage of students receiving top scores or average percentage improvement
• percentage of curriculum goals achieved
• feedback from students and/or management
• student retention rates
• how many colleagues you’ve helped train
• any extra-curricular activities you facilitate: duration, frequency, how many students participate, growth in participation

3. Tailor your cover letter to the job posting

Your cover letter should directly address the needs of the school, so it’s important to read through the job posting closely to tailor your application to the role.

There are several ways to tailor your teacher cover letter:

Emphasize your passion for the role: Not sure how to start your cover letter? Explain why you’re passionate about the role. For example, your target school may prioritize a teaching method that you think is effective, or you might have personal links to the school.

Research the school: Impress the hiring manager by including some facts you’ve learned about the school. If you’ve noticed that a particularly high percentage of students from the school go on to attend Ivy League colleges, mention that fact. Then, explain how your experience and skills help improve students’ chances of winning places at top colleges.

Use the job posting to find keywords: Job listings will include lots of keywords (the skills and specific responsibilities related to the role) that you can target in your application. Use these keywords in your cover letter to help your application stand out and show school administrators you have exactly the abilities they’re looking for.