Teacher Resume Example

Write your teacher resume with the following tips in mind.

Write Quantified Professional Experience

Your professional experience will be listed in bullet points. Each bullet point should be relevant to the job that you’re applying for. If you’re hoping to get another job as a teacher, choose the best skills, abilities, and knowledge that you’ve accumulated through your experience.

Make sure that your bullet points are accomplishment-oriented and quantified.

For instance, in our English teacher sample resume, here’s an example of an accomplishment-oriented bullet point that is quantified.

Pay attention to the bold text:

• Ensured that all students comprehended the curriculum, and supported students who required extra guidance, resulting in writing and reading comprehension test scores increasing 16% over three years on average

The candidate’s ability to raise test scores demonstrates that they are a skilled teacher and potentially valuable hire, especially given the current teaching climate in the US, which is increasingly test score oriented.

What if you lack accomplishments?

Many teachers face insurmountable obstacles including being underfunded, teaching in tough neighborhoods, and lacking support from administration. In other words, not everyone can increase test scores by 16% over three years on average, simply because reality won’t allow for it.

In that case, your resume can still be quantified by giving the hiring manager a concrete idea of the scope of your skills and abilities. For instance, you can quantify the number of students you work with per semester:

• Assess and look after 150+ students’ progress throughout the term and work closely with other staff to efficiently plan and coordinate work

Or you can quantify the size of the school you work in:

• …with curriculum objectives and assist students to prepare for examinations in a 2,500+ student school

Or you can quantify the number of people you trained, which indicates that you are knowledgeable, skilled, and trusted by management — excellent qualities to impress upon a hiring manager:

• Trained four new preschool teachers, emphasizing the importance of classroom control…

The important thing to remember is that your bullet points should not be bland duties and responsibilities.

Include your Certifications

Most teachers should list all of their certifications, or when they anticipate receiving them. This can either be done in a separate certifications section, or added to the additional skills section.

Certifications differ greatly between different states. You will need to be aware of how they are listed in your state. In our English teacher sample, the candidate is from Florida, where a middle school English teacher certification is called “Certification in Middle Grades English.”

To find out your state’s teaching requirement, stop by Teach.com’s “Where Can I Teach?” map for all the details you need to start your career.

Action Verbs for Teachers

Like the list above? Find more at the longest action verb list in the universe.

How to Convey Entry-Level Teacher Resume Experience

If you are an entry-level teacher, then you’ve recently been through extensive training, including earning classroom experience through interactive field experience.

This experience should also be included in your professional experience section, but under a different subheading called “Interactive Field Experience”.

Create a subheading for each school where you earned field experience, and write your bullet points in the same way described in the above section — make sure they are targeted, quantified, specific, and impactful.

The final section of your resume is the skills section, which is detailed below.

Write a Targeted Skills Section

Teachers in the 21st century are expected to be competent with technology, such as using laptops, projectors, tablets, and software to increase student performance and engagement. Be sure to include this information on your resume.

Classroom software:

• Pearson ECollege
• Moodle Sakai
• Lore
• MyEdu
• GoinGon
• Instructable Canvas

Other Software Skills:

• Microsoft Office
• GIMP/Photoshop
• Windows Movie Maker or iMovie

Research Skills:

• Web browsing and online search abilities
• JSTOR and other research tools
• Google Scholar

Other Potential Sections for your Teacher Resume

Other information you could include on your resume: study abroad, relevant coursework, or academic awards and honors

One of the oldest and most reliable resources on the web for educators is Gradebook. Gradebook has all sorts of resources for all levels of educators. Categories are divided amongst educators, parents, students and subjects. This is a great place to start if you’re looking to get an overview on a broad range of educational subjects.

Finally, don’t get down about writing your teacher resume. You didn’t decide to become a teacher because you wanted to become rich, you did it because you have passion for education. As professor of economics Larry Smith of Waterloo University explains, “Never forget to hold to that passion!”