How To Write A Teacher's Resume

Resume Tips For Teachers

Writing a Teaching Resume is an art, not a science. There is no one correct way to formulate your resume, but there are some best practices recommended. Stand out from the crowd with high quality content and a clearly written, error-free document. Teaching Resumes need to be aesthetically pleasing, dense with relevant content and properly edited.

• Aesthetics: Write a classic professional resume. That includes the font choice, consistency, an appropriate amount of white space, length, and overall appearance of the resume. Teaching is a creative and an innovative profession hence a teaching resume should be strictly professional.
• Content: While aesthetic mistakes can take you out of the running for a position, the content of the resume is what will make you stand out from the crowd. Experiences you choose to include in your teaching resume should be the most relevant to your target audience. Accomplishment statements are intended to expand on your relevant experience and highlight your expertise.
• Editing - editing is a necessary component of resume writing that is often underutilized. Editing is where you and others assure that content is accurate and aesthetics are pinpoint.
• Reverse Chronological Order: Within each section on the resume, your experience must go in reverse chronological order, meaning from new to old.
• Accomplishment Statements (Bullet Points): Eliminate the pronoun "I” at the beginning of each bullet point as this is assumed. Describe accomplishments, rather than listing duties, quantify outcomes whenever possible, and be sure to highlight your proficiency in teaching and transferable skills.
• Length: With rare exceptions, student teachers and new teachers should keep their resume to one page. If you have difficulty narrowing down your resume, consider removing elements that are not closely related to teaching; ask yourself, "Will this experience enhance and support my future in education and teaching?”
• Margins: Make your resume visually attractive by using an appropriate amount of whitespace to allow the reader’s eye to rest. Using .8 inch to 1.5-inch margins is standard practice.
• Font: Use a professional font that is easy to read. Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New are good choices. A 10-12 point font size is recommended.
• Consistency: The formatting of a resume needs to be consistent. For example, if you choose to bold a job title, make sure you bold every job title. Also, make sure that everything lines up neatly on the page.
• Accuracy: Your resume, and all other job search materials, must be 100% error free. Be sure to read your resume, checking grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Editing a resume can always use another set of eyes; have as many people proofread it as possible.
• Paper Quality: Use a high quality paper stock (24-32 lb, 25% cotton fiber, 8-1/2 x 11) when mailing your resume or bringing one to an interview. Use the same paper for cover letters and thank you letters. White, ivory, or light grey are good choices
• Digital Resumes: Always convert your resume to PDF (Portable Document Format) when send as an email attachment or uploading to a web site. This will preserve your formatting.