How to Create the Perfect Resume for Teaching Positions

Thursday, August 11, 2022

How do you make the perfect resume? Almost every job application requires it. They tell you that a resume will be the deciding factor in the hiring process. But they also tell you that hiring managers usually take only a few seconds to skim through them. How exactly are you supposed to highlight your exceptional skills for the position and convince them that you’re the candidate they are looking for, let alone a candidate for a teaching position?

Resumes can be designed differently depending on who’s hiring. There are a few things that are usually required for a standard resume, but for a teacher resume the requirements could be a little different.  It can be tricky to incorporate teaching experiences and accomplishments, so how do you make your teaching roles stand out? 

What are the Resume Essentials?

Your resume always has to prove that you are professional for whatever job position you are looking for. Even if the job is a more lenient role, professionalism will always be sought out after. Since resumes are important enough to land a job, but not important enough to thoroughly look over, you’re going to have to highlight the ideal qualities they’re specifically looking for. Here’s a list of things you can’t forget for any resume:


Name, Professional Title, & Contact Info
Objective Summary/Statement
Work/Professional Experience
Education History
Certificates/Credentials, Awards, & Skills

How Do You Tailor Your Resume for a Teaching Job?

Now that you know the basic elements of a resume, how can you cater it for a teaching position, and how do you showcase your work and experiences? All of the standard requirements are also great for a teacher resume, but you might have to structure it and incorporate your teacher portfolio differently. Here are how you can design your resume in a way that’s perfect for that teacher portfolio you have:

Professional Title & Contact Information

Contact information is a must on any application if you’re expecting to get a call back at all. You should always leave your name, phone number, full address, and email. Although it doesn’t have to be in big bold letters, it should always be on the front page of your resume and in convenient placement. 

Your professional title however should be taken with pride and stood out. Obviously if it’s for a teaching position, it isn’t super necessary, but it’s a great way for confirmation of your title. 

Objective Summary/Statement

The objective summary or statement may be a longer piece in the resume, so it’s likely that whoever is skimming through yours may not read it all and skip to other important aspects. BUT that doesn’t mean you should disregard it or put little effort towards it. You just need to be direct and clear about what you want to showcase for them in case they happen to read through.

Usually the information you should add would be things you are strongly passionate for and career goals. It’d be good if you add a brief idea of how you will want to achieve them. And since again, this is applying to a school, it should be along the lines of the education field.

Professional Experience

People make the mistake of creating some congestion in the work experience section. What we mean is that, they add all of their work experiences and neglect to organize it well. This part of the resume is the most crucial and vital part, so you have to make it count. 

Don’t feel the need to put every work experience you’ve had. Actually, you need to leave anything that does not have to do with education whatsoever because if they’re skimming through, they will probably end up skipping through a lot of the information you put down anyways. The only times it’s okay to do that, is if the job doesn’t have specific experience requirements or the candidate has little to no relatable experience and has to work with what they got.

Finally, keep the section organized. Make sure that the experiences are added by the most recent to least. Note that bullet points are straight to the point and are much easier to read than paragraphs when it comes to adding work responsibilities. Don’t forget to add your job title, company name, work location, and the dates you were employed by them. 

Education

By the time you’ve gotten your degree(s) and are a teacher, you don’t need to list high school history. Just like your work experience section, you should include the name of the school, location and add it by the most recent to least. Don’t forget to add what you majored in and what degree you obtained from it.

While the education section is something they quite often look over, you don’t need it to stand out. You just need to put it in a convenient location for them to know it’s there for them.

Certificates/Credentials, Awards, & Skills

If you have stellar credentials or awards, these can be highlighted at the top of your resume since they’re usually quick to skim anyways and could be the best way to make you as a candidate especially stand out from other teachers. Otherwise if they’re common certifications or awards, you can place them towards the end of your resume or right under your work experience or education. 

For your list of skills, it may seem unnecessary, but it’s a small yet impactful part of your resume. Your skills will set you apart as a teacher. So use strong skills to describe the kind of teacher you are and don’t be afraid to sound boastful about it. Confidence is also a huge trait they want to see in their teachers.

The most difficult part in building your resume is shaking off the uncomfortable feeling of showing off how amazing you are as a candidate teacher. Build confidence with your work experience and skills because they are accomplishments and things to be proud of. We hope our advice will help you create a stellar resume that exemplifies all your great qualities. 

Do you want our thoughts on being on LinkedIn as a teacher? Read our blogpost on 7 Reasons Every Teacher Should Have a LinkedIn Profile.

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