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Free Teacher Resume Template and Tips, Plus 21 Teacher Resume Examples

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Whether you’re searching for your first teaching job or you’re ready for a change, you’ll need a solid resume. There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there on how to write a resume that will land you an interview, so it’s worth taking some time to review teacher resume examples first. We’ve rounded up examples for pretty much any kind of educator and assembled tips for how to write a strong modern teacher resume.

Best of all, we’ve got a free, fully customizable teacher resume template to get you started quickly and easily. Fill out the form on this page to grab your template, then use our tips to start building your resume today.

Teacher Resume Tips

Teacher resume examples.

Resumes have changed a lot in recent years, so do your research to find out what the latest trends are. For instance, while an “objectives” section used to be a resume standard, people often drop this section today in favor of more space to highlight their accomplishments. Start with these general resume tips, then get more advice for completing our free teacher resume template, section by section.

General Tips

• Keep it to one or two pages. Hiring managers don’t have time to read overly long resumes. Put the most important information up front, and remove anything that doesn’t truly strengthen your application.
• Be honest. While you want to highlight your strengths and achievements, don’t go overboard. If you exaggerate your experience but are unable to perform certain tasks, you may put your future job at risk before you even get started.
• Skip the gimmicks. Some people will tell you the way to make your resume stand out is to use fun fonts or a “creative” design. The fact is, people who are hiring want an easy-to-read, clear presentation that highlights your achievements and credentials. That’s what will land you an interview.
• Tailor your resume. Keep a standard resume document that you can customize for the specific job you’re applying for. That might mean moving sections around, highlighting specific skills or experiences, or deciding which parts of your career deserve to be placed up front. Take a close look at the job description, and tailor your resume accordingly.
• Don’t try to circumvent the system. Years ago, people would tell you to ignore requests to send your resume and instead show up in person. Our advice: Don’t do it! Application systems are nearly all online these days, and for good reason. This helps hiring committees by organizing information efficiently and ensuring they meet all anti-discrimination laws. So just send your resume and application using the method requested.
• Don’t forget a cover letter. A great cover letter really can help your resume stand out. Learn how to make your teacher cover letter special here.

Contact Information

On today’s resumes, your mailing address is optional. In fact, if you’re looking for a job outside of your current geographical area, it can sometimes be helpful to leave it off. This way, employers won’t worry about whether you’re willing to relocate for the job.

Email addresses are not optional. This is the way most schools will contact you today, so be sure to provide yours. You might want to take a look at your address to make sure it sounds relatively professional too. Ideally, it simply contains a version of your name (e.g., “[email protected]”); don’t forget you can grab a free email address from sites like Gmail if you need to. But other addresses are fine too, as long as there’s nothing questionable. “[email protected]” is fine. “[email protected]” is not.

Professional Objective/Summary

As mentioned earlier, resume objectives are used less and less today. Recent college grads or those transitioning to teaching careers might still decide to include a professional objective statement. Those with more experience have replaced objectives with a summary statement that provides an overview of their career. It’s also OK to delete this section altogether if you’d like more space in the Relevant Work Experience section.

Education and Certifications

Include your undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as any certifications or licensures you hold. Note: It’s up to you whether you include your graduation date. Some people worry it can open them up to age discrimination. You’ll likely be asked for this information if you continue in the hiring process, so they can verify your degrees.

Related Experience

This is the real meat of your teacher resume. You can list jobs chronologically starting with the most recent, or choose to place your most relevant experience first. Either way, include your employer’s name, dates of employment, and the position/s you held. Then, highlight your experience and achievements. Strive to make your statements measurable and quantifiable rather than just a listing of your job duties.

Weak statements:

• Taught fifth grade science and math
• Prepared students for standardized math tests
• Oversaw annual school science fair

Strong statements:

• Instructed 100+ students each year in fifth grade science fundamentals, including human anatomy, electricity and magnetism, and earth and space science
• Improved standardized testing math scores by an average of 8% over a period of five years
• Organized seven annual school science fairs by coordinating 200+ participants, finding qualified judges, and arranging for prizes donated by the community

New college grad? You should definitely include your student teaching or internship experience in this section!

Additional Experience

You can use this section to include jobs you’ve held that aren’t quite as relevant to the one you’re applying for. If you’re new to the working world, it’s OK to include non-teaching jobs here. For those with longer careers, it’s probably not necessary to list every job you’ve ever had. Just highlight any experience that helps support your application or fills any employment gaps.

Professional Honors and Leadership

If you’ve received awards or honors related to teaching, share them here. The same goes for any leadership roles you’ve held in educational professional orgs.

Professional Affiliations

If space allows, you might want to include a short list of respected professional organizations you belong to. You should definitely include them if you play a very active role, have been invited to speak as an education expert at a conference, etc. Otherwise, this section is optional.

Other Teacher Resume Sections

Here are some sections you might consider adding if you have space, and a few to skip altogether.

• Professional skills: Don’t include this section if your skills are simply those expected of any teacher. But if you’ve built up any unusual and relevant teaching skills through experience or professional development, you could include them here. (Fluency in multiple languages, for example.)
• Community involvement or volunteer work: If you’ve been heavily involved in community organizations that work with children or education, consider highlighting those achievements on your resume.
• Publications: Have you published articles in an educational or professional journal, or had your work featured on a trusted, well-known website? Include any relevant articles and links.

Here’s what you don’t need on your resume:

• Hobbies or “unique” unrelated skills (like “juggling” or “Cordon Bleu chef”).
• Any information about religious or political affiliations, or your marital status, gender, race, or age. These could lead to potential bias or discrimination in the hiring process.
• References: Most people leave this section off their resume these days, as job applications or hiring committees will ask you for them separately. Line up your references and gather their contact information, but hang onto them until you’re asked to provide the info. You don’t even need to put “References available upon request,” since hiring managers already assume that.

As you complete your teacher resume template, use these examples for ideas about what to include and how to word it.

1. First-time teacher

This is a great resume for teachers with little to no experience.

2. Another first-time teacher example

Here’s one more example of a great teacher resume for those with limited experience.

3. Experienced elementary teacher

This one allows you to showcase your skills in a compact, visually appealing design.

4. Another experienced elementary teacher

This is one of those teacher resume examples that work best for those with some experience but who are still early in their career. (Note: Click the link above and scroll down to find it.)

5. Summer school teacher

Use this resume to highlight the unique skills of summer school teachers who work with students who are either repeating a course or trying to get ahead for the following school year.

6. Assistant teacher

Applying for an assistant teacher job will be much easier using one of the five fantastic teacher resume examples through this resource.

7. Special education teacher

As a special educator, your responsibilities may change from minute to minute and your skills need to adapt. This template helps you simplify your experience in a one-page resume.

8. School counselor

This resume will help you showcase your excellent mentoring, counseling, and leadership skills.

9. School guidance counselor

As a guidance counselor, your role is to guide students through academic development as well as personal growth. Use this template to show you how to highlight your unique talents.

10. Library media specialist

Showcase your ability to collect and maintain the valuable resources needed to foster a strong learning environment for students.

11. High school English teacher

Use this guide to create a great English teacher resume that will highlight your communication, interpersonal, and planning skills to edge out the competition.

12. Technology teacher

Emphasize your commitment to the ongoing professional development necessary to continue integrating the latest technology into the existing curriculum, and coming up with new lesson plans for today’s classrooms.

13. Music teacher

Share and showcase your love of introducing music to students with this straightforward teacher resume.

14. Drama teacher

This resume example is simple but perfect for drama teachers who want to emphasize their experience as well as their knowledge of acting techniques and production.

15. World language teacher

Establish yourself as the ideal candidate by demonstrating teaching skills, language proficiency, communication, and organizational skills.

16. Sports coach

As a coach, this template will help you demonstrate your ability to manage teams and sports programs as well as encourage academic performance.

17. ESL teacher

This teacher resume example allows you to highlight your classroom management skills, as well as your commitment to empathy, patience, and cultural awareness. (Note: Click the link above and scroll down to find it.)

18. Math teacher

This clean resume template showcases a math teacher’s ability to break down complex math concepts through patient, meaningful engagement with students.

19. Pre-K teacher

It takes a special person to be a great pre-K teacher. Working with young children while creating lesson and activity plans, monitoring progress, and providing quality supervision takes patience and kindness.

20. Business teacher

Put your best foot forward with this business teacher resume that emphasizes teaching methods and a commitment to ongoing professional development.

21. International school teacher

Use this resume to let hiring managers know that you’re not only motivated to help students learn but uniquely qualified. Be sure to highlight any experience living or traveling abroad as well as foreign language skills.

Get Your Free Teacher Resume Template

Just fill out the form on this landing page for instant access to a free Google Doc featuring a fully customizable teacher resume template.

Plus, check out tips for teacher job fairs and the most common teacher interview questions.

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25 Teacher Cover Letters Examples To Help You Get Hired

Your guide to a killer cover letter that will get you that interview. Continue Reading

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Teacher Resume Examples For 2024 (20+ Skills & Templates)

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Looking to land more job offers as a teacher?

A solid resume is going to be your starting point. This comprehensive guide provides proven strategies, skills, templates, and examples for writing a job-winning Teacher resume based on data from coaching thousands of successful job seekers.

From top to bottom, this guide will give you the tools you need to create an excellent Teacher resume and increase the chances of you landing your dream job.

Here's what we're going to cover:

• What To Know About Writing A Job-Winning Teacher Resume
• The Best Skills To Include On An Teacher Resume

How To Write A Job-Winning Teacher Resume Summary

How to write offer-winning teacher resume bullets.

• 3 Teacher Resume Examples

The 8 Best Teacher Resume Templates

Here's the step-by-step breakdown:

Teacher Resume Overview: What To Know To Write A Resume That Wins More Job Offers

Wondering what school districts are looking for when they're hiring a teacher?

Districts want knowledgeable, skilled, and dedicated teachers that are highly qualified. That means they have the proper education, certifications, and experience along with mastery of their subject, strong classroom management, communication, flexibility, and commitment to student learning.  Professionalism, reliability, and punctuality are also key qualities.

Your resume should show the district that the your experience and personality combined encompass all of these things.

Additionally, there are a few best practices you want to follow to write a job-winning Teacher resume:

• Highlight your education and certifications:  emphasizing any relevant coursework or specialized training.
• Emphasize your teaching experience:  providing specific examples of your accomplishments and contributions to student learning.
• Include keywords from the job description: ensure your resume is optimized for applicant tracking systems (ATS).
• Showcase your skills and achievements: including examples of your ability to manage a classroom, communicate effectively, and use technology.
• Quantify your work: Use numbers to showcase the results of your teaching efforts. Some examples include increases in student assessment results, increasing student engagement and decreasing classroom management issues.
• Proofread: Carefully proofread your resume for errors and typos, as these can give a negative impression to potential employers (I recommend using the Hemingway App ).

Let's dive deeper into each of these so you have the exact blueprint you need to see success.

The Best Teacher Skills To Include On Your Resume

Keywords are one of the most important factors in your resume. They show employers that your skills align with the role and they also help format your resume for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

If you're not familiar with ATS systems, they are pieces of software used by employers to manage job applications. They scan resumes for keywords and qualifications and make it easier for the employers to filter and search for candidates whose qualifications match the role.

If you want to win more interviews and job offers, you need to have a keyword-optimized resume. There are two ways to find the right keywords:

1. Leverage The 20 Best Teacher Keywords

The first is to leverage our list of the best keywords and skills for an Teacher resume.

These keywords were selected from an analysis of real Teacher job descriptions sourced from actual job boards. Here they are:

• Communication
• Collaborative
• Development
• Flexibility
• Performance
• Instruction
• Regulations

2. Use ResyMatch.io To Find The Best Keywords That Are Specific To Your Resume And Target Role

The second method is the one I recommend because it's personalized to your specific resume and target job.

This process lets you find the exact keywords that your resume is missing when compared to the individual role you're applying for

• Open a copy of your updated teacher resume
• Open a copy of your target teacher job description
• In the widget below, paste your resume on the left, paste the job description on the right, and hit scan!

Copy/paste or upload your resume here:

Click here to paste text

Upload a PDF, Word Doc, or TXT File

Paste the job post's details here:

Scan to compare and score your resume vs the job's description.

Scanning...

And if you're a visual learner, here's a video walking through the entire process so you can follow along:

You have a very short window of time to capture an employer's attention–an average of six seconds, to be exact.

To land more interviews an offers, you have to make each one of those seconds count. Start by putting the exact information the reader is looking for at the very top of your resume.

A quick Google search will tell you that a Summary or an Objective should hold this top spot but, unfortunately, that traditional advice simply won't capture your reader's attention. Winning in today's job market means using a more modern approach, what I like to call a “Highlight Reel.”

Here's how it works:

Highlight Reels: A Proven Way To Start Your Resume And Win More Jobs

The Highlight Reel is exactly what it sounds like.

It's a section at the top of your resume that allows you to pick and choose the best and most relevant experience to feature right at the top of your resume.

It's essentially a highlight reel of your career as it relates to this specific role! I like to think about it as the SportsCenter Top 10 of your resume.

The Highlight Reel resume summary consists of 4 parts:

• A relevant section title that ties your experience to the role
• An introductory bullet that summarizes your experience and high level value
• A few supporting “Case Study” bullets that illustrate specific results, projects, and relevant experience
• A closing “Extracurricular” bullet to round out your candidacy

For example, if we were writing a Highlight Reel for a Teacher role, it might look like this:

You can see how the first bullet includes the Teacher job title, the years of experience this candidate has, and it wraps up with a value-driven pitch for how they've helped students in the past.

The next two bullets are “Case Studies” of specific results they drove at their district. Finally, their last bullet focuses on their proficiency with classroom technology.

This candidate has provided all of the info any employer would want to see right at the very top of their resume! The best part is, they can customize this section for each and every role they apply for to maximize the relevance of their experience.

Here's one more example of a Teacher Highlight Reel:

While the content in this example is focused on this candidate's previous industry experience, you can see all of the elements of a great Highlight Reel (especially the emphasis on measurable outcomes and results!).

If you want more details on writing a killer Highlight Reel, check out my full guide on Highlight Reels here.

Bullets make up the majority of the content in your resume. If you want to win, you need to know how to write bullets that are compelling and value-driven.

Unfortunately, way too many job seekers aren't good at this. They use fluffy, buzzword-fill language and they only talk about the actions that they took rather than the results and outcomes those actions created.

If you apply this framework to each of the bullets on your resume, you're going to make them more compelling and your value is going to be crystal clear to the reader. For example, take a look at these resume bullets:

❌ Responsible for creating a safe learning environment.  

✅ Fostered an encouraging learning environment through communication, collaboration, and compassion that increased student participation by 30% over one academic year.

The second bullet makes the candidate's value  so much more clear, and it's a lot more fun to read! That's what we're going for here.

That said, it's one thing to look at the graphic above and try to apply the abstract concept of “35% hard skills” to your bullet. We wanted to make things easy, so we created a tool called ResyBullet.io that will actually give your resume bullet a score and show you how to improve it.

Using ResyBullet To Write Crazy Effective, Job-Winning Teacher Resume Bullets

ResyBullet takes our proprietary “resume bullet formula” and layers it into a tool that's super simple to use. Here's how it works:

• Head over to ResyBullet.io
• Copy a bullet from your teacher resume and paste it into the tool, then hit “Analyze”
• ResyBullet will score your teacher resume bullet and show you exactly what you need to improve
• You edit your bullet with the recommended changes and scan it again
• Rinse and repeat until you get a score of 60+
• Move on to the next bullet in your teacher resume

Let's take a look at how this works for the two resume bullet examples I shared above:

First, we had, “Responsible for creating a safe learning environment.” 

ResyBullet gave that a score of 25/100.  While it includes an action word, it's too short and is missing relevant skills, compelling language, and measurable outcomes:

Now, let's take a look at our second bullet,  “Fostered an encouraging learning environment through communication, collaboration, and compassion that increased student participation by 30% over one academic year.” 

ResyBullet gave that a 75 / 100. Much better! This bullet had more content focused on the specific criteria the hiring team is looking for. We can see by exactly how much they increased student participation, the skill and method they applied, and that it all resulted in an overall increase in student success.

Now all you have to do is run each of your bullets through ResyBullet, make the suggested updates, and your resume is going to be jam packed with eye-popping, value-driven content!

And if you want to learn more about the underlying strategies behind writing great resume bullets, check out this guide.

If you're ready, grab a bullet from your resume, paste it into the widget below, and hit scan to get your first resume bullet score and analysis:

Free Resume Bullet Analyzer

Learn to write crazy effective resume bullets that grab attention, illustrate value, and actually get results., copy and paste your resume bullet to begin analysis:, 3 teacher resume examples for 2023.

Now let's take a look at all of these best practices in action. Here are three resume examples for different situations from people with different backgrounds:

Teacher Resume Example #1: A Traditional Background

Teacher Resume Example #2: A Non-Traditional Background

For our second Teacher Resume Example, we have a candidate who has a non-traditional background. In this case, they are coming from the financial services industry but have experience helping customers learn more about financial literacy. Here's an example of what their resume might look like when applying for Teacher roles:

Teacher Resume Example #3: Experienced Teacher With Masters Degree

For our third Teacher Resume Example, we have a candidate who has 14+ years of experience and a Masters degree. Here's an example of what their resume might look like when applying for Teacher roles:

At this point, you know all of the basics you'll need to write a Teacher resume that wins you more interviews and offers. The only thing left is to take all of that information and apply it to a template that's going to help you get results.

We made that easy with our ResyBuild tool . It has 8 proven templates that were created with the help of recruiters and hiring managers at the world's best companies. These templates also bake in thousands of data points we have from the job seekers in our audience who have used them to land job offers.

Just click any of the templates below to start building your resume using proven, recruiter-approved templates:

Free Job-Winning Resume Templates, Build Yours In No Time .

Choose a resume template below to get started:.

Key Takeaways To Wrap Up Your Job-Winning Teacher Resume

You made it! We packed a lot of information into this post so I wanted to distill the key points for you and lay out next steps so you know exactly where to from here.

Here are the 5 steps for writing a job-winning Teacher resume:

• Start with a proven resume template from ResyBuild.io
• Use ResyMatch.io to find the right keywords and optimize your resume for each Teacher role you apply to
• Start your resume with a Highlight Reel to immediately grab your target school district's attention
• Use ResyBullet.io to craft compelling, value-driven bullets that pop off the page
• Compare the draft of your Teacher resume to the examples on this page to make sure you're on the right path
• Use a tool like HemingwayApp to proofread your resume before you submit it

If you follow those steps, you're going to be well on your way to landing more Teacher interviews and job offers.

Now that your resume is all set, check out my guide on writing a job-winning Teacher cover letter (with examples!)

Laura Lorta

Laura is an Editor at Cultivated Culture. She transitioned from teaching into the world of content so she's no stranger to career pivots. She also has a bachelors in Entrepreneurship and a Masters in Curriculum & Instruction / Bilingual Education. She currently shares job search advice to help people like you land jobs they love without applying online.

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Teacher Resume Example for 2024 [w/ Free Template]

You’re a teacher. You teach and inspire the next generation.

You help children to learn.

But when it comes to writing your own resume , you need advice from someone else.

What does a good teacher resume look like, anyway?

In such a competitive industry, you can’t leave any questions answered. 

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

• A job-winning teacher resume example
• How to create a teaching resume that hiring managers love
• Specific tips and tricks for the teaching job industry

Here’s a teacher resume example, built with our own resume builder :

Follow the steps below to create a teacher resume of your own.

How to Format a Teacher Resume

Before you can educate the recruiter on your skills and experiences, you need to choose the most suitable resume format for teaching.

You see, even the best applicant needs a resume format that is easy to read and follow. 

With “ reverse-chronological ” being the most common resume format , we recommend this format for teachers. It highlights your most recent work experience first, and then works back through your history and skills.

You could also try the two following formats:

• Functional Resume - This format focuses on your skills, which makes it the best format for teachers that are highly-skilled, but have little in the way of classroom experience. 
• Combination Resume - This format mixes both “Functional” and “Reverse-Chronological” formats, which means it focuses on both your teaching skills AND teaching experience. 

Stick to a one-page teacher resume. This shows that you’re able to information brief and precise. Feel free to check out our one-page resume templates for inspiration.

Use a Teacher Resume Template

As a teacher, you will likely work with Microsoft Word on a daily basis. 

However, this is not one of those times.

The program is best avoided if you want to avoid formatting issues. 

Use a teacher resume template for a resume that stays structurally strong. Any of the following templates can be easily tailored for a teacher application.

What to Include in a Teacher Resume

The main sections in a teacher resume are:

• Contact Information
• Work Experience/Teaching Experience

For a teacher resume that stands out from other applications, add these optional sections:

• Awards & Certification
• Volunteer Experience

Interests & Hobbies

Keep reading to find out how to ace each of the above sections.

For an in-depth rundown on which sections to use, check out our guide on What to Put on a Resume .

How to Write Your Contact Information Section

When grading papers, you know that every word or digit matters. This is also true with your contact information section. Any mistakes made in your phone number or email can render your whole application useless. 

For your contact information section, include:

• Title – Align this to the job title , which is “Teacher”
• Phone Number – Ensure there are zero errors
• Email Address – Make sure to use a professional email address ([email protected]), and not your 6th grade email address ([email protected])
• Location – Applying for a job abroad? Mention your location
• Optional - relevant social media profiles.
• Rose Hunt - English Teacher. 101-358-6095. [email protected]
• Rose Hunt - English Language Guru. 101-358-6095. [email protected]

How to Write a Teacher Resume Summary or Objective

Here’s a question for the class:

How long do you think recruiters spend reading through the average resume?

If you said less than a minute, you would be correct.

This means your resume needs to really impress within this short timeframe. 

The nest question is, what can you do to make the most important easy to see and consume?

Simple: use a resume summary or objective .

These are punchy paragraphs that go on top of your resume, just under the contact section. 

The main difference between the two sections is that:

A resume summary is a short summary of your teaching experiences and achievements. It is the best option for teachers who have taught for multiple years.

• Passionate English Teacher with a focus on American literature seeks a permanent position at XYZ School. Highlights from five years of teaching experience include improving college admission success rate by 40% at ABC High School. Excited about leveraging 5000 hours of teaching experience to give an inspiring classroom experience for your students.

On the other hand, the resume objective focuses on your professional goals and aspirations. It is ideal for entry-level teaching candidates or individuals who are seeking a change in their professional career. 

• Motivated English Literature graduate seeking the role of English teacher at ABC High School. Experience includes supervising classes at XYZ Middle School for 60 days over a 3 month period. Skills include classroom management, grading to strict time restraints, and utilizing whiteboard technology. 

So, which one is best for you? 

Well, a summary is suited for teachers who have a lot of classroom experience, whereas an objective is suited for those who are new to the world of teaching (student, graduate, or switching careers).

How to Make Your Teaching Work Experience Stand Out

The best way to prove your worth as a teacher is with your previous work experience .

Sure, the recruiter will want to see that you have lots of subject knowledge, but nothing builds confidence more than your professional experience.

Follow this layout in your experience section:

• Position name
• Company Name
• Responsibilities & Achievements

Elementary School Teacher

Hinchley Wood School

04/2017 - 01/2021

• Kept pass rates above 80% from 2017-2020
• Improved attendance by 12% in the first school year
• Graded classroom papers for 12 classes of 30+ pupils

As you may notice, the above example focuses on the candidate’s best achievements.

So, instead of saying:

“Taught children for three years”

“Kept pass rates above 80% from 2017-2020”

The second statement goes into specific details that show you’re a great teacher.

Use the job description to help you. Look to see if there is anything in the job description that matches your work history. If there is, include it in this section.

What if You Don’t Have Work Experience?

Maybe you’re a graduate who hasn’t worked before?

Or maybe you want a career change?

Whatever your situation, there are options. 

The main option is to use a portfolio. 

Here are several ways to build a teaching portfolio (and get paid for it):

• Use a freelance platform (e.g.: UpWork ) to pick up some private tutoring gigs
• Use social media to offer your teaching services to friends & acquaintances 

For the students reading this, you’ll enjoy our guide on how to make a student resume !

Use Action Words to Make Your Teaching Resume POP!

Look through a pile of teacher resumes, and you will see these words repeated again and again. 

Do you want your resume to look like all the rest?

Of course not! 

This is why we recommend using some of these power words instead:

• Conceptualized
• Spearheaded

How to List Your Education Correctly

The next section in any good teacher resume is the education section.

Now, there’s a few different paths you can follow to become a professional teacher. 

All you need to do in this section is describe your educational path to date. 

• Degree Type & Major
• University Name
• Years Studied
• GPA, Honours, Courses, and other relevant achievements 

Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education

Boston State University

2015 - 2018

Relevant Courses: Foundations of Education, Early Childhood Development, Physical Sciences, Computer Literacy, Classroom Engagement & Development

Right, let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions:

What if I’m still studying?

• Whether or not you’ve passed all of your teaching exams, you should always mention every year that you have studied to date.

Should I include my high school qualifications?

• Only include your highest form of qualification. If that’s a qualification from high school , then go for it.

What comes first, education or experience?

• If you’re an experienced teacher, your work experience should come before your education.

If you still have questions, you can check out our guide on how to list education on a resume .

Top 10 Skills for a Teacher Resume

Every great teacher has a certain set of skills.

It’s these skills that the recruiter wants to see when short-listing applicants.

You may be the best teacher in the world, but it’s vital to make your skills clear to see on your resume. 

It will depend on the specialist subject, but a teacher should have some of the following skills:

Hard Skills for Teachers:

• Computer Skills
• Literacy skills
• Disciplinary action

Soft Skills for Teachers:

• Classroom management
• Time management
• Organization

Want the most comprehensive list? Here’s a mega-list of 100+ must-have skills .

Other Resume Sections You Can Include

If graded, your resume should now be able to pass the test…

But what if the other applicants have scored top marks?

Add additional sections for an A+ resume that can’t be beaten.

When competing against an experienced field, the following sections may be the deciding factor… 

Awards & Certifications

Do you hold Coursera certifications?

Were you awarded during your studies?

Whatever the recognition, awards and certifications make the difference.

Awards & Certificates Examples

• Learning How to Learn – Coursera Certificate
• Motivating Gen Z Learners – Coursera Certificate
• Educating Deaf Children – Teaching Lab

Now, you may not be teaching Spanish, but it can be good to know another language.

Whether or not the teaching job requires you to speak a second language or not, it is still an impressive skill that you may want to include on your resume. 

Order the languages by proficiency:

• Intermediate

Now, you may be wondering, “why is my weekly book club worth mentioning when applying for teaching jobs?”

Well, because it says more about who you as a person.

It shows that you have a life outside of teaching. 

You’re someone who the other teachers could relate to.

If you want some ideas of hobbies & interests to put on your resume, we have a guide for that!

Match Your Cover Letter with Your Resume

Oh no, more writing!?

We feel your pain, but it’s for great reason.

Cover letters still play a vital role in the application process.

This guide has taught you how to build the best teacher resume possible, but even that may not be enough to secure your dream position.

By not writing a cover letter, you are simply missing out on an opportunity to communicate with more depth and personality. 

Even better, the recruiter will know that you want this position at this school .

Just like with the resume, the cover letter needs to be structured correctly. Here’s how to do that:

And here’s what goes in each section:

Contact Details

Your personal contact information, including full name, profession, email, phone number, and location

Hiring Manager’s Contact Information

Full name, position, location, email

Opening Paragraph

It’s important to hook the recruiter with a powerful introduction. With this in mind, mention:

• The specific teaching position you’re applying for
• Your experience summary and top achievements

With the recruiter wanting to know more, you can go through the rest of your work history and personal background. You may want to delve into:

• Why you want to work at this specific school
• Anything you know about the school’s culture
• What are your top skills and how are they relevant for the job
• If you’ve worked in similar industries or positions before

Closing Paragraph

This is where you:

• Wrap up any points you missed in the body paragraph
• Thank the recruiter for their time
• End with a call to action. Something like, “I’d love to further discuss how my experience as an X can help the school with Y”

Formal Salutations

To keep everything professional, use formal closing, such as “Best regards” or “Sincerely.”

Creating a cover letter is a craft. But don’t worry, you can call on our how to write a cover letter for guidance.

Key Takeaways

*Rinnnnnggggg!!!*

There goes the bell to end today’s lesson.

We hope that the advice in this guide was taken onboard. If so, you’re now in the perfect position to create a job-winning teacher resume. 

Before you go, let’s quickly summarize what we have learnt:

• Select the correct format for your teacher resume. Use a reverse-chronological format, and follow the best layout practices to keep everything clear and concise.
• Use a summary or objective to capture attention to your resume
• Focus on your achievements, rather than your responsibilities.
• Match your teacher resume with a cover letter that follows the best practises 

Suggested Reading:

• How to Answer “What Is Your Greatest Strength” [4 Samples]
• CV vs Resume - What is the Difference? [+Examples]
• How to Write a Cover Letter - Full Guide

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22 Teacher Resume Examples That Worked in 2024

• Teacher Resume
• Teacher Resumes by Grade Level
• Teacher Resumes by Subject
• Teacher Resumes by Type

Writing Your Teacher Resume

Teachers are the backbone of society. You spend more time with the children you educate than their parents do! And effective teachers like you are compassionate, intelligent, and organized, among hundreds of other things.

It can be difficult to highlight all your experience and skills on your teacher resume, and you’ll want to save some for your  teacher cover letter .

These 22 teacher resume examples are helping teachers with varying levels and types of expertise land jobs in 2024 . They’re a great place for you to get started building or  updating your resume .

Please note that this guide is geared toward educators in the K-12 space. If you’re applying to teach at the college level, you’ll likely need to  write a CV . 

Teacher Resume Example

or download as PDF

Why this resume works

• When listing your student teaching experience, focus on what you contributed instead of your responsibilities. 
• Since you want to make the resume reviewer’s job as pleasant as possible, clearly state the subject and grades you taught in a resume bullet.
• When you go to make a cover letter , this is your ticket to dive deeper into how you helped your students achieve greater success in the classroom.

Daycare Teacher Resume Example

• If you’re a pro at integrating play-based learning like building blocks or water play into your daycare environment, do more than list it in your skills section. Use your work experience to show your skills in action.

Elementary Teacher Resume Example

• Include licenses or certifications in a dedicated “Certifications” section on your elementary teacher resume. Our  user-friendly resume templates  and  Google docs resume templates  let you add a section just for certificates and licenses.
• For example, “Improved students’ passing rates on the statewide annual exam by 13%” effectively shows competency through an estimate.

Middle School Teacher Resume Example

• Including a  career objective  can help explain why you’re a strong candidate if you have limited work experience or if you’re undergoing a career change.
• Certifications are typically required qualifications for teachers, so it’s best to list any relevant certificates you’ve acquired. 
• Projects can be a great place to highlight experiences not technically work-related but still highly relevant to your passion for teaching. 
• An activities section is the spot for interesting, quirky experiences or  hobbies on your resume ; just be sure you can explain  why  they’re relevant when you get an interview! 

First Year Teacher Resume Example

• Succinct, to-the-point, and intriguing are everything your career objective should be-it should be two to three sentences summarizing your teaching career goals and demonstrating your readiness to help the hiring institution attain its objectives. Weaving in mentions of past relevant experiences like a teaching internship can leave a solid impression that gets you hired.

High School Teacher Resume Example

• The “Education” section of your  high school teacher resume  should list the degree you’ve earned. No need to list high school since that’s a given.
• For example, instead of saying, “Prepared students for standardized exams,” say, “Helped improve standardized testing performance by 3%.”
• If you list “collaboration” as a skill, then somewhere in your resume’s work experience bullet points, it should be clear that collaboration is part of your repertoire.

PE Teacher Resume Example

• Save a small section on your resume’s side column for role-relevant tertiary educational background, much like how Amanda flaunts her bachelor’s degree (Physical Education) from the University of Central Florida. It’s about showing you’ve put a great deal of work into amassing the necessary knowledge and skills.

Science Teacher Resume Example

• You see, few other things piss off hiring managers as much as a resume littered with grammatical mistakes, from typos, punctuation errors to awkward phrases. And that brings us to the essence of staking the time to meticulously proofreading yours before hitting the send button. Better yet, involve a second pair of eyes, be it a friend, family member or career coach.

Math Teacher Resume Example

• Such unique achievements make your math teacher resume shine and grab the attention of your dream employer. Identify such feats in your career and let them take center stage in your application.

Art Teacher Resume Example

• Your also have to prove that you go beyond the curriculum to offer students more opportunities such as through showcasing their work to the world.

Social Science Teacher Resume Example

• Ask a friend, colleague, or even a co-worker to proofread your resume. If you’re low on time, invest in a spell-check system like Grammarly or run your resume through our  resume checker  to catch any typos or comma errors. 
• All our example resumes include the essential sections, and you can add your own sections to customize your template to your specific needs.

English Teacher Resume Example

• Summaries are two to three-sentence paragraphs that can be thought of as a recap of your best self on your resume. 
• Purely optional, you can include one if you have years (10+) of experience in your field.
• Summaries work best to showcase your tried and tested years in the education field and any specializations you’ve honed, such as teaching AP-level courses.

Foreign Language Teacher Resume Example

• Why?  Hard skills are more specific to your profession and easier to demonstrate throughout your resume. Plus, they show school admin that you’ve already got some technical know-how for the job. 
• Aim to include six to eight specific skills, emphasizing hard skills (like “bilingual” and “lesson planning”) over soft skills (like “organization” and “caring”).
• If you’re hoping to switch from teaching German to teaching history, you don’t need to include many details on your strategies for teaching verb conjugation, for example.

Experienced Teacher Resume Example

• It’s perfect time to turn to your technology skills and how you’ve tapped them to solve everyday teaching challenges. Show how you’ve leveraged Zoom and Google Classroom for virtual teaching, Quizizz for tailored tests that improved average students score, and so on.

New Teacher Resume Example

• Also, show how it has been a lifelong process for you, and how you are ready to bring in your set of pedagogical skills in the learning environment.

Student Teacher Resume Example

• Schools know you have to start somewhere, so what they’re really looking for is that you show the promise and potential to step inside their classrooms and successfully manage and teach a class.
• If you’ve volunteered as a teacher after school, provided tutoring or homework help, or even assisted in a teacher’s grading load, you have valuable experience to add to your resume.

Teacher Assistant Resume Example

• Instead of vaguely stating, “Worked with assistants and teachers,” give concrete details, like “Worked with 2 assistants and teacher to provide instruction to 60+ 2nd graders with IEPs.”
• An objective is valuable if you’re light on experience and need to fill some white space, but it loses its value if it’s not customized.
• Tailor your objective by mentioning the target school by name and sprinkling in some keywords from the  teacher job description , so long as they honestly describe you!

Substitute Teacher Resume Example

• If you’re a certified substitute teacher (or teacher) in your state, include that in a dedicated “Certifications” section on your substitute teacher resume. This will help you stand out from other applicants, as this is not required in every state.
• Any prior subbing experience should highlight maintaining a disciplined classroom. One of the toughest aspects of being a sub is commanding a classroom, so demonstrating your strength will increase your chances of getting an interview.
• Another way to impress is by  formatting your resume’s  work history in reverse-chronological order; it lists your most current and relevant experience first, so the admin can glimpse your best stuff first.

Collaborative Teacher Resume Example

• Choose one or two key areas, such as section titles or your header, to include a pop of conservative color.
• Use two contrasting fonts on your resume template . Just don’t pick anything hard to read—remember, recruiters scan resumes within seconds, so it has to be understood at a glance.
• Even if your projects aren’t teaching-related, highlight skills you used or developed, like working with kids, collaborating with co-workers, or taking a leadership position.

Special Education Teacher Resume Example

• Does your resume take up the entire page?
• Does it have half to one-inch margins? (Either half an inch or one inch is fine.)
• Does your resume include separate sections for contact information, education, skills, and work experience?
• Start each bullet point with action words, like “spearheaded” or “brainstormed.” 
• Either end all bullet points with a period or none at all. Be consistent with punctuation.
• Write your work experience in the past tense.
• Avoid using personal pronouns like “me” or “I” on your resume. We’re pretty sure the employer already knows you’re writing about yourself!

Assistant Teacher Resume Example

• Consider a certifications section in which you proudly spotlight credential like Child Development Associate (CDA), just as Matthew does. Of course, a proven understanding of early childhood education best practices is sure to get a nod from the hiring manager reading your piece.

Teacher Aide Resume Example

• Begin by spotlighting your most recent, senior position (paired with key quantified achievements and relevant tool applications) and backtrack through your junior roles. This technique is golden for illustrating your career progression in a resume and should show an increment of responsibilities and wins as you go up.

Related resume guides

• Teacher Assistant
• Preschool Teacher
• Elementary Teacher
• Substitute Teacher

Formatting Your Teacher Resume

Formatting ensures your teacher resume is readable, logical, and complete. Imagine understanding a book without chapter headings or margins and no discernable organization. It would be a nightmare to parse out any information when nothing follows a clear structure and doesn’t lend itself to being read correctly. It’s an extreme example, but it proves the necessity of formatting. 

Just as you create lesson plans to help your class learn best, format your resume so your qualifications are conveyed and understood. We’ll cover three important formatting elements in the following sections: resume formats, your contact header, and resume readability for ATS.

Three resume formats

The most popular  resume formats  for 2024 are reverse-chronological, functional, and combination/hybrid. Here are some of the pros and cons of each:

• Reverse-chronological : This format highlights your career progression in an easy-to-scan list, making it ideal for recruiters and ATS. However, this format exposes time gaps and can be repetitive if you’ve held the same position at multiple schools.
• Functional : This format focuses on your skills, ideal for limited teaching experience or gaps. However, it’s commonly known to confuse potential employers and ATS.
• Combination/hybrid : This leverages an in-depth skills section and a small experience section to accurately summarize why you’re the best candidate for the job. However, it’s easy to structure this poorly, and it can look like you’re hiding a lack of work experience.

We advise the reverse-chronological format for your teacher resume because it proves you have practical knowledge and a steady career. This format tells the story of your teaching career in under  six seconds , which is how long recruiters will take to read your resume.

Include the right details in your contact header

Your contact header should be easy to locate and read. Some suggest not adding contact information in the header, but that’s why formatting your contact header properly is so important. With good formatting, none of your information gets buried, and it can distinguish you from other applicants. You should include:

• Job title you’re seeking
• Phone number
• City, State (optional)
• Professional links (optional)

Per industry standards, place the header in either the top left-hand corner or centered beneath your name. Not enough space? Remove the optional elements or go down a font size. Choose a sans-serif font that’s no smaller than your resume’s body text. 

Like the example below, you can put your header in a color block to grab attention quickly and add personality. It’s best not to use obnoxious colors (neon green would be a hard no), and always double-check that the color works well with black body text or white font. 

Sometimes, the ATS won’t read your resume properly despite having a beautiful header. That’s why we recommend submitting it as a .docx (friendly for ATS) and as a PDF (friendly for employers). 

We have plenty of  excellent resume samples  you can check out for inspiration on your header, and if you’re rushed, choose one of our  free resume templates  to start and finish your teacher resume in record time. 

Ensure the ATS and employers can read your resume

To ensure your resume reaches principals and department heads, you’ll need to pass muster with the ATS. The good news is formatting for the ATS also results in a resume easy to read by employers. 

Resume tips to steer you on the right path:

• Not only is a one-page resume faster for recruiters and ATS to scan, but it forces you to be concise and include only what’s relevant. 
• Most ATS don’t recognize documents in Open Office, Adobe Pages, HTML, or PDF (on occasion). The wisest option is to submit your resume as a .docx and  as a PDF to give employers options if one doesn’t work.
• The standard 10–12-point font is the best readability range for employers and ATS.
• Even at a reasonable size, some fonts are hard to read, unprofessional-appearing, and ATS-unfriendly. Stick to standard sans-serif fonts like Helvetica or Arial.
• One-inch margins are standard, but you can be flexible. Avoid going smaller than a half-inch or larger than one inch to keep your teacher resume professional and tidy.
• You may confuse the ATS and the school if you have odd header titles. Use standardized headers, as you see in our resume samples , to make each section easy to find (and comprehend). 
• ATS uses keywords to determine your eligibility, including skills (Google Classroom, modifying lessons, parent communication, etc.) matching what’s in the job ad. 
• If your resume sections aren’t in the recommended order, they may confuse ATS. Yet again, it’s best to stick to the standard. Try using our  resume builder  to ensure your structure is logical and readable. 

Writing an effective resume  may feel daunting, but it’s far more manageable if you take it section by section. You may even want to use one of our  fresh Word resume templates  designed just for teachers. Let’s dive into each resume section you’ll want to consider:

Does an objective/summary on your teacher resume matter?

Teaching history, top skills for educators.

• Listing education, certification, and optional sections

Customize your teacher resume for the job

Revise and edit your teacher resume.

Principals and their hiring teams may see hundreds of resumes across a wide array of teaching roles, so it’s crucial to showcase your talents and personality quickly. Objectives and summaries can work as excellent introductory tools, but many end up being generic, boring, or vague. 

First, consider whether you’ll use an  objective or summary statement (or neither). An objective highlights your interest and qualifications for the role, while a  resume career summary  distills your specialized skills and experience in a few lines. Use an objective if you’re seeking your first teaching position or switching from teaching one subject to another. On the other hand, veteran teachers may opt for a summary (or no statement at all).

Regardless of your circumstances, if you use either of these introductory statements, you should always tailor your message to the position. Let’s look at specific examples to contrast a D+ resume objective with one worthy of an A. 

A generic, vague objective tells recruiters nothing about you beyond the bare minimum:

New high school teacher seeking employment at a local high school closer to family. Talented at communicating with teenagers and teaching. Received many compliments and letters at last place of employment.

The above objective lacks personality and neglects to mention anything specific. This next objective, however, is focused and tells the principal about the applicant’s skills:

Compassionate algebra tutor with 4+ years of experience. Excellent at coaching students in formulas and helping them develop analytical thinking skills and mathematical competency at all levels of ability. Seeking to use my communication and interpersonal skills to build meaningful student relationships and improve their mathematical abilities at Joaquin High School.

Like the visual example below, the above objective works because it details the applicant’s experience and how it’s relevant to their new goals within the classroom. 

With summaries, it’s difficult to narrow down years of experience into one paragraph, so they often end up looking like this:

Skilled and experienced teacher who loves working with littles. Adept at communication and care. Excited to use my skills for Sunnyside Elementary. 

For starters, repeating “skilled” and “experienced” won’t tell employers anything. A good summary should sell your experience and qualifications, making principals wish they’d had the chance to hire you years ago:

Elementary education teacher with 12+ years of experience managing 25-30 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders’ classrooms. I am a patient, personable, and compassionate professional eager to bring my expertise to Sunnyside Elementary. Awarded Teacher of the Year in 2020 and 2021 for creating online individualized lesson plans for over 65 students during the height of the pandemic.

This summary works because it tells the recruiter their specific qualifications, namely personalized lesson plans and classroom management, and their skills (in this case, two awards). 

It’s tempting to list every job you’ve ever had to prove you’re qualified, but this becomes either overwhelming or redundant. It also means you can’t include much about each position, which won’t inspire principals to hire you. 

Instead, pick two to four of your most relevant teaching positions. Quantify your responsibilities and incorporate skill keywords to improve your ATS score with each. 

No teaching experience yet? Add internships, student teaching, volunteering, or other special projects like the example below that can highlight your soft skills like leadership. Certifications and awards are helpful additions, too. 

How to write your job description bullet points

Whether you’re describing a past job, an internship, or a college project, you’ll need to craft your bullet points with care. Every word counts, so use active verbs, definitive language, third-person pronouns, and consistent verb tenses. Pay careful attention to consistency with punctuation—using periods at the end of some bullets while none for others is sloppy.

Based on these resume writing tips , here are some examples of well-crafted bullet points suited for a teacher resume:

• Taught mathematics, English, general science, art, geography, and history to 60+ 3rd grade students
• Collaborated with parents to discuss student performance and options for an improved learning experience, such as individualized instruction for students with learning disabilities
• Hosted annual fundraiser to raise $6,500 for 10+ teachers to attend the RAISE conference and led yearly trips to RAISE meetings, resulting in overall more effective teaching strategies and a renewed passion for academia

These bullet points work because they’re descriptive and results-oriented. Strive for conciseness and specificity with your job description bullet points.

Maximize your classroom impact with numbers

From an employer’s mindset, metrics cement your abilities by proving that your actions resulted in a desirable outcome. If possible, include metrics on 50 percent of your job description bullet points to showcase the results of your effective teaching. 

When talking about past teaching roles, it’s a good idea to discuss the following metrics:

• Increase in test scores, passing rates, or grade point averages
• Number of students/classes taught
• Increase in student participation/improved behavior

The following examples use the metric types listed above to describe a teacher’s impact further: 

• Co-founded a S.T.E.M. club with the aid of 4 fellow teachers, increasing student passing rates in science and mathematics by 13%
• Established weekly one-on-one student conversation sessions to intentionally build student-teacher relationships, resulting in a 15% overall increase in classroom participation and attendance
• Hosted monthly Write-Til-You-Drop sessions for high school students struggling in English and offered expertise for outlining thesis development and argument structure, which resulted in 31% higher essay scores for participating students

The  skills section of your resume  is a quick guide to what you bring to the table as a teacher. That means choosing the right skills for each job is crucial. You might be organized and great at time management, but if employers want to see that you’re compassionate and great at lesson planning instead, your resume may be set aside. 

Since teachers fulfill many roles, employers will want to see a host of varied skills, including soft, hard, and technical capabilities, such as these:

Common teacher skills

• Collaboration
• Problem-solving
• 1:1 communication
• Organization
• Class management
• Active listening
• Lesson planning
• Google Classroom
• Parent communication
• Gradebook software

These skills demonstrate aptitude and support the responsibilities a teacher must complete on the job. Remember that while the above list outlines common and popular teacher skills for your resume, defer to what the job description is explicitly seeking. 

Education, certifications, and optional sections

You’ll need to include different elements on your resume depending on your education level, years in the workforce, and any specializations or concentrations you possess. All teaching positions require a bachelor’s degree, and an increasing number of teachers hold a master’s. Also, ensure you’re up-to-date on your state certifications, like the California candidate below.

If you hold many certifications, you don’t necessarily need to include them all if you’re applying for one specific role. For example, suppose you’re an ESL-certified teacher with a graduate ESL certificate seeking an ESL role. In that case, you’ll need to include  that  certification either in a summary/objective, in your work experience, or in your education. 

This candidate’s education speaks volumes with a classic bold font and color.

While including education and certifications is required, a projects section is optional. If you’re a drama teacher, for example, new to directing but experienced with leading drama camps, including a projects section to describe the drama camps you’ve led or assisted with can add a relevant impact. List and discuss projects on your resume, just like a paid position.

Additionally, consider adding  interests and hobbies to your resume . Most teacher resumes should save room for other information, but it’s a good idea to add these sections when the job you’re applying for stresses the importance of school spirit and culture.

Choose your interests that reflect the school’s values. However, be picky about what you include. Finding every Easter Egg in the entire timeline of Zelda games might be your favorite pastime, but that doesn’t mean you should list it on a resume (unless you’re applying for Nintendo, in which case this might be appropriate, and you’re reading the wrong resume guide). 

It’s up to you whether you include any optional sections on your resume, but always be sure to be as specific as possible. Your interests should also be specific. “Reading” doesn’t say much about you, but “leading classic book clubs” is far more likely to get you a job as an English instructor.

Generic resumes are easy to spot and will likely get tossed. To avoid the trash, tailor your resume to every position you apply for. This tells principals you’ve researched the school and the role, and you genuinely care about the position.

To customize your resume, scan the  job ad  to know what responsibilities, accomplishments, and keywords to include in your skills section and your bullet points. You should also tailor your objective/summary (if used) to have the school’s name and speak to anything unique about the school that particularly interests you. Check your resume against the job description to ensure you’re addressing their concerns. 

As a teacher, you already know the pitfalls of submitting drafts before they’re revised, so don’t let minor mistakes slip through the cracks. Instead, take a break and hand your resume off for peer review. You can also use our free resume checker  to get tips from our AI software. 

After a day, return to your resume and consider the constructive criticism you received. Edit and check for errors, inconsistencies, or gaps. Read through your resume at least twice more, one for content and one for proofreading. Once you’re sure it’s error-free, you can submit it proudly. 

Start Setting up Your Classroom (Almost)

Go ahead and celebrate because if you’ve made it this far, you’re well on your way to that A+ resume! By spending more time throughout each phase of the writing process, you’re vaulting yourself closer to your next teaching job. It’ll be time to turn in a simple resignation letter at your current job and start setting up your new classroom before you know it!

If you’re not quite satisfied with your current resume, upload it to our  resume checker  for our AI-powered tips. If it’s time to start from scratch, use our  resume builder tool  to work with our AI from the ground up. We can’t wait to see you land your next teaching role!

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How to Write a Teacher Resume [Plus Free Template]

5 Resume Examples for Teachers

How to format a teacher resume, must-have sections to include on a teacher resume, top skills & keywords for teacher resumes, tips for writing a teacher resume, teacher resume faqs.

Consider the following hypothetical scenario: You’re an outstanding teacher who is planning an upcoming move, or perhaps exploring new teaching opportunities in your current locale. You’ve got a solid background of experience, credentials and skills, plus many intangibles (unique talents, leadership acumen and passion, to name just a few).

So how do you communicate all of this to potential employers? And how can you showcase these qualities in a sharp, well-organized, visually appealing way that conveys your story and opens doors to new opportunities in the classroom and beyond?

Welcome to our mini Educator Resume Building Guide. Class is now in session.

Helpful for new and seasoned educators alike, this teacher resume guide will cover key insights regarding how to format and fine-tune your resume. We’ll share several strong teacher resume examples that you can use for inspiration — plus, a downloadable template you can use to build your own stellar resume!

If you’ve been off the job market for a while, or you’re new to the profession, it helps to pick up tips and new suggestions from example resumes featuring styles and formatting that have proven successful. Here are five top-notch sample teacher resumes from which to draw inspiration:

“Format” refers to two different ways of delivering your professional experience: page layout and file type. Aside from aesthetics or processing purposes, resume format is important because it prevents your resume from slipping through the digital cracks. 

Many employers today use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to help them process resumes quickly, so they don’t have to sift through dozens of resumes one by one. According to Inc. , “These systems automatically weed out most of the candidates who aren’t a close match for the role … It’s safe to say if you aren’t getting called for job interviews, ATS has something to do with it.” It’s important to understand resume readability and formatting so you end up in the 3 percent of online applicants who get contacted by a recruiter for any given job.  

The most easy-to-process resumes — for both ATS and human eyes — follow one of these formats: 

Reverse-chronological : This format highlights your career progression in an easy-to-scan timeline, making it ideal for recruiters and ATS. However, this format exposes time gaps and can be repetitive if you’ve held the same position at multiple schools.

Functional : This format focuses on your skills, which is ideal if you have limited teaching experience or gaps in your career. However, it’s been known to confuse potential employers and ATS.

Combination/hybrid : With an in-depth skills section and a small experience section, this format summarizes why you’re the best candidate for the job. However, it’s easy to structure this poorly, and it can look like you’re hiding a lack of work experience.

You’ll notice that each of the formats above contains a flaw. The truth is, words on a page cannot always accurately convey your entire professional experience. Only you can speak to that — and that’s what (hopefully) your interview is for. 

That said, we recommend the reverse-chronological format for your educator resume because it proves you have practical knowledge and a steady career. This format should convey the story of your teaching experience in under six seconds , which is how long recruiters will take to scan your resume before knowing whether you’re the right fit.

Speaking of scanning, here are the most important elements you need to consider when creating your educator resume: 

• Layout: A reverse-chronological conveys information with the most efficiency.
• Sections: Make sure each section of your resume is distinct and has white space around it to breathe.
• Font: Sans serif fonts like Verdana and Helvetica are recommended for body copy, as they are easy to scan. If you must choose a serif typeface, save it for the header (your name). Stay away from decorative fonts — flourishes, bubble letters and other ornamentation are simply distracting. 
• Font size: Body text should be 11–12pts. Go 2–4pts. larger for section headings, and 6–10 pts. larger than that for your name. Again, you want the most important info to be easily scannable — name, job titles, dates. 
• Subheadings: Identify each subsection with easy-to-read and straightforward titles: “Professional Experience,” “Education,” “Skills & Specializations,” and so on. You don’t want to confuse the ATS or resume screeners with witty headlines. 
• Margins: Keep a 1-inch margin as a border to your resume. This leaves enough room for notes, plus it’s visually appealing. 
• Line spacing: Single line spacing is recommended in resume body text; double spaces make it look like you’re trying to fill space.
• File type: Save and send or upload resumes as PDFs, unless the teaching job post or employer asks for Word docs. This prevents all but the savviest of users (or those with Adobe subscriptions) from editing your resume for any reason. 

Now that we’ve covered the visuals, let’s dive into the important content — your experience and skills. 

These are the must-have sections to include on your teaching resume:

• Header: This should be its own section, distinct from the rest of the resume content. Your name is the “title,” followed by contact information like your email address, phone number, address and website or other professional links (if applicable).
• Introduction: This is a brief introductory statement that summarizes who you are as an educator, what your objectives are and what you might bring to this role. Keep it to 1–3 sentences or 3 lines total; you can always expand upon your experience and enthusiasm in your cover letter . Here’s an example: 

“Elementary school teacher with over 5 years of classroom experience instructing at the 4th–6th grade levels, focusing on Life Sciences and prioritizing a whole-child approach. Increased 5th grade MCAS Science scores by 15% from 2017–2019. Seeking to bring enthusiasm and expertise in STEM engagements to the open 5th grade Science teacher role at Horace Mann Elementary School.” 

• Work history: This is a detailed account of your teaching experience, preferably presented in reverse-chronological order. Include the names of your previous schools, range of tenure in years, grade levels taught, subject matter focus and any additional roles you held at the school. You may include brief descriptions of your accomplishments — not simply your responsibilities — in each role. 
• Education: List your undergraduate and postgraduate schools and degrees, plus any noteworthy academic achievements at the postsecondary level. Do not include high school information if you are past the undergraduate level.
• Skills: This is a concise, objective list of teaching skills and abilities. Include both hard skills and soft skills, and make sure you demonstrate the application of these skills in your work history descriptions. (More on skills below.)
• Extra sections: You may want to leave room for awards, additional languages, community involvement, etc., if applicable and relevant to the position you are applying for. See below for more guidance here. 

Additional Teacher Resume Sections to Consider

Of course, your teaching experience and skills are the primary qualifiers for any teaching position. However, don’t discount the importance of listing additional skills and awards, as long as they are relevant to the position. You never know — your intermediate German or recreational sports coaching may make you a candidate for additional open positions at a school, even if you don’t land the job you’re applying for. 

• Certifications: For teachers, this section isn’t exactly optional. Potential employers want to know that you hold the appropriate licenses and certifications to teach children in their state. List any state teacher’s licenses first, followed by any supplementary private teaching certificates you may hold.
• Teaching association memberships: Are you affiliated with any teaching organizations or academic associations ? This demonstrates a dedication to the profession and may help you build connections with potential employers or coworkers. 
• Volunteer positions: Are you on any volunteer committees in your town? Do you offer free tutoring or mentor services? Do you regularly serve meals or stock shelves at the local food pantry? List anything you think might help round out your full professional picture. 
• Language proficiency: Four years of French in high school doesn’t count; do mention if you possess proficiency or fluency in a language besides the school’s primary language. 
• Hobbies & interests: This is typically covered in an interview, or perhaps even after you’ve been hired. However, list any hobbies that may be relevant to the position you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for an English teacher position, you can mention that you run a book club that focuses on 19th-century British literature.  

WRITE A GREAT TEACHING RESUME

CONTENT AND FORMATTING TIPS FROM USD’S MASTER OF EDUCATION PROGRAM

DOWNLOADABLE TEMPLATE

APPLYING FOR TEACHING JOBS?

No matter the job, every potential employer likes to see a balance of “hard” and “soft” skills on a resume — hard skills being practical, job related abilities, and soft skills being your personal attributes that enable you to manage your work and relationships effectively. 

In-demand hard skills for teachers include, but are not limited to: 

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Subject area expertise
• Age group/grade level expertise 
• Classroom management
• Curriculum development
• Lesson planning
• Performance evaluations
• Specific teaching methods
• Computer skills 
• Educational technology
• Online/virtual/hybrid teaching
• STEM/STEAM instruction speciality
• Differentiated instruction
• Digital literacy
• Adaptive teaching methods , such as project-based learning and scaffolding 

Firsthand experience with the following classroom tools is also helpful:

• Google Classroom and Google Meet
• Microsoft Teams for Education  

While soft skills are sometimes harder to define, important soft skills for teachers include: 

• Conflict resolution and diplomacy
• Critical thinking
• Time management
• Project management
• Leadership 
• Creative problem solving 
• Objectivity 
• Empathy and compassion 
• Ability to stay calm under pressure 

If you’re new to teaching and haven’t held many previous teaching positions, be honest! Everyone has to start somewhere, and embellishing your resume to make yourself seem more experienced will hold as much water as a pencil pouch. If you feel your lack of experience is holding you back from the right jobs, be sure to identify and include professional and academic references on your resume who can speak to your skill set (with their permission, of course). 

There is no shortage of “top tips” out there for writing resumes. When it comes to teacher resumes, however, there are some things to keep in mind as you try to get in front of the right educators or administrators. 

Make it instantly memorable.

As explained by Inc. , your resume must be scannable in six seconds or less in order to capture a recruiter’s attention. Don’t spend hours crafting the perfect description of your previous jobs while forgetting to label them clearly. In order of importance, prioritize your resume header, section headings and font readability. Section headings especially are not the place to get “cute” — leave the clever quips for your second interview. 

White space makes it easier to read.  

Leaving lots of white space might sound boring, or like there’s not enough content to fill a page. However, white space makes text easier to read and scan. Maintain a 12- or 11-pt. font for body text, and don’t be afraid to stretch your resume to two pages if need be. 

Tailor your resume to each job. 

This is a standard rule for every type of profession, especially those in which people talk. Educators are well connected within the teaching community, and you don’t want one school to discover you’ve applied to multiple teaching jobs with a copied-and-pasted resume. Your introduction below your header should be customized to each job post, and so should your list of skills. Likewise, review each of your own job descriptions to see if you can highlight aspects that may speak to the specific position you’re applying for. 

Show, don’t state. 

Simply listing your job responsibilities doesn’t tell much of a story. You can still use bullet points to explain your prior positions, but instead of saying, “Taught a 5th grade class of 25 students,” try to frame your duties through a lens of your accomplishments in that position. For example, you could say instead, “Designed Life Science lesson plans around authentic STEM engagements, resulting in an average 25% increase in 5th grade test scores by the end of the school year.” 

Support your experience with numbers . 

You may have noticed that several examples in this article feature hard data. This is the best way to convey that your classroom impact had real results. Keep track of your students’ progress, and note where it improved as a direct result of your instruction. If you no longer have access to data from a previous job, you can reach out to the school to ask if they can share those records from your tenure.  

Proofread and edit. Proofread and edit. Proofread and edit.

Any questions? 

Teacher Resume Template

Now it’s time to polish up your teaching resume and start sending it out! Use our free teacher resume template to organize your experience according to best practices, or feel free to customize the layout in your own version. Above all, remember to be authentic — you love teaching for a reason, so use your resume to demonstrate! 

If you’re looking ahead to your next teaching career move, or would like to learn more about expanding your educator skill set, a University of San Diego advisor can answer any questions you have. Our online Master of Education program is ideal for K–12 educators who want to make an even bigger impact in their classrooms and schools. Make an appointment with a USD advisor today to activate your teaching future. 

What do I put on my resume if I don’t have any teaching experience yet?

As we said above, everyone has to start somewhere. If you are a recent undergraduate, you can list any relevant academic accomplishments, internships, student teaching experience, extracurricular activities and volunteer work. Include academic references and letters of recommendation in your application materials, with their permission. If your bachelor’s degree is not in education, there are solutions — read our article on that topic here .

Should I send my resume in a Word doc or PDF?

The job posting or application will usually specify what file format to send your resume in. Microsoft Word docs are editable by the recipient, while PDFs provide the creator the option to prevent editing. However, some ATS software cannot process PDF content, so it’s best to send both file types or check with the job recruiter if you’re not sure.

How long should my teaching resume be?

One page is the standard recommendation for most types of resumes, but don’t be afraid to extend it to two, especially if your experience warrants the extra space. Font size should be no smaller than 11 pts., so if you can’t condense your content without crowding the page or leaving key information out, add an extra page to give your text room to breathe.

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How To Teach Resume Writing: 5 Tips

by Sapna | Mar 10, 2017 | 0 comments

Editing is  the most important part!  Typos and spelling mistakes are unprofessional and completely avoidable.  In fact, this should also be double checked in a  cover (or covering)  letter , but that’s for another post! Editing your CV shows employers that you have  attention to detail, professionalism,  and  organizational  skills.  Don’t rush it!  Take your time and do a great job!

A Practical Peer Workshop

Planning a peer editing workshop for your class is  an excellent way to practice resume writing skills.  In fact, students will be able to really experience the way some resumes stand out, and others do not!  Have students  bring in a draft copy of their curriculum vitae and a potential job they would like to apply for.  Then, ask them to do the following with their partner’s CV:

• Think:  Does the name stand out? How legible is the font? What was your first impression?
• Find & Fix:  Typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
• Write down:  3 jobs that you think the resume would be a good candidate for, based on their writing.  Compare your list to the job posting that the student brought in to their resume. Do you think they would qualify for an interview? Why or why not?
• Discuss:   Once both partners have taken a look at each others’ resumes and make their comments, have them discuss changes they should make to their next draft.

Well, I know that was a bit of a wordy post, but I hope my handful of tips are useful!  Please let me know in the comments below if you have any further tips you’d like to share with The Teaching Cove community.

Happy Teaching!

P.S.  For those curious about the photography, I took the main photo for this week’s post in a park in Norwich, UK in 2013.

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How to teach resume writing to your high school students

If we are teaching our students how to write literary analysis essays about the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, then we also should be teaching our students how to write effective resumes that will get them jobs. In fact, I think the latter is more important, and I say this as a teacher who is obsessed with Gatsby. (Just stalk my Instagram.) But I’m not trying to call you out or shame you for not teaching resume writing in your English class. I actually never taught resumes until this year, when I was tasked with the responsibility of teaching a new senior English Elective, “Technical Communication.” After taking on this class and teaching resumes, I am wholeheartedly convinced that every single student should be required to create a resume before graduating high school.

Teaching resume writing was not an easy task for me or my students, but we learned a lot in the process. Drafting a resume is about more than practicing “real life” writing or becoming an employable job candidate. It’s about growing as a human being. Writing a resume requires introspection, self-awareness, and reflection. Throughout the process, students wrestled with the questions “Who am I?” and “How can I represent what I have to offer on a mere piece of paper?” This unit was challenging but rewarding, for me and my students.

Initially, I was intimidated by teaching resumes, because unlike the Gatsby essay that would be turned in and graded by me, these resumes would be printed out and sent off into the “real world” someday. The thought of teaching students how to write and design a document that could end up on the desk…or in the paper shredder…of a hiring manager was a bit daunting. Although I was nervous, I was excited about empowering my students and teaching what I knew would be one of the most relevant and valuable units I’ve ever taught.

Thankfully, I was right. By the end of our resume writing unit, I was so proud of how much my students had grown as writers, future job candidates, and most importantly, human beings. If you’re hoping to implement the same kind of learning experience for your students, check out my resume writing unit, which contains editable versions of all of my mini-lessons and resources. Here’s everything I learned about how to structure a helpful resume writing unit for your students:

1. Expose the students to lots of resumes: the good, the bad, and the ugly

At first, I didn’t know how to start our resume writing unit. Jump in to the writing process and revise later? Start with a mini-lesson? Honestly, I was stressed out and doubting my ability to teach resumes. I hadn’t interviewed for a job or touched my resume in 5 years. I felt like I was in over my head. What did I know?

In an effort to begin my unit and lesson planning, I started researching resumes. I found myself searching examples and taking mental note of what I noticed. Then it hit me: That’s what my students needed to do! Like me, they would be overwhelmed with the daunting task of creating an appealing, modern resume. Suddenly, my lesson plan for the next day was simple: Find tons of examples: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let students sift through them and record their observations about what makes an effective resume–student-centered, inquiry-based learning!

I quickly rounded up sample resumes from Google, pulled up my old (and ugly) resume, and asked friends on Facebook to share their resumes. Within 20 minutes, I had a nice collection of over 20 resumes to share with my students. I printed off a few copies of each and arranged them on the counter in the back of my classroom.

Then, I created a worksheet where students simply recorded what they noticed about each resume. I gave them a few categories to focus on and asked them to critique each resume. I told students to pretend they were hiring managers going through stacks of resumes, deciding which candidates deserved an interview. After examining multiple resumes, students had to synthesize what they noticed about the most effective resumes. Finally, they reflected on what they already knew about resumes and what they wanted to learn and focus on throughout our mini unit.

This lesson was so simple, but so valuable. Some of them were harsh critics, which was great! Afterwards, I told them, “Gotcha! Now I have higher expectations because now you KNOW what to do! The only excuse is laziness!” If they critiqued the ugly fonts on the sample resumes…I could critic their font choice when I graded their final resumes with my rubrics. Mission accomplished!

2. Model the process with your own resume

After the results of the resume critique activity, I knew I needed to model the resume writing and design process by updating my own resume. My students were right. My resume was 2 pages long, filled with way too much text, and just plain ugly and uninspiring.

So before I began my mini-lessons on resume writing, I sat down to “teach myself” before I taught my students. I redesigned my entire resume, deleted irrelevant jobs, cut the fluff, and improved my word choice. This process gave me some confidence about teaching resumes for the first time, and it helped me realize what I should focus on during writing workshop with my students. During mini-lessons, I used my resume as an example. My students appreciated my transparency and learned a lot from my “before and after.”

Even though you might not need to update your resume, it’s a great exercise that will help you better understand the process and allow your students to see an “expert” model revision.

3. Scaffold the writing process with mini-lessons & a resume outline

When I revised and redesigned my own resume, I remembered how laborious it is to create an effective, visually-appealing resume. To make the resume writing process less daunting for my students, I broke up the different sections of the resume into different mini-lessons. I also created a resume outline on Google docs, and I required students to draft everything in the outline before they even touched a template. Students drafted and revised multiple times until I “approved” their working outline and allowed them to begin their final draft. This outline document scaffolded the structure and formatting of the resume, and it also helped me break down my mini-lessons. Here’s how I set up my mini-lessons during writing workshop:

• Writing a Professional Profile (If you’re new to the resume writing game, this is what has taken the place of the “Objective” section).
• Outlining Employment & Using Powerful Action Verbs
• Listing Skills & Using Strong Adjectives

I also incorporated peer feedback and teacher feedback activities in addition to the above mini-lessons.

4. Provide resources and support throughout the process

Since all of my students were creating resumes for different types of jobs, I knew I needed to offer even more scaffolding and support. A resume for an aspiring esthetician is going to look a lot different from a resume for an automotive technician! To support students and give them access to even more resources and examples, I created a hyperdoc of resources and links. Some of these resources were my own, but others were links from helpful websites that provided samples of resumes for different careers! If you want more information on creating your own hyperdocs for your students, check out this blog post.

Another way I provided support throughout the writing process was by checking in with every student, every day. On most days, I was able to walk around the room and physically check in with each student, but on days when I ended up helping a handful of students for a while, I didn’t make it to everyone. To make sure that I had a way of checking in on every student, no matter what, I had students submit an exit ticket at the end of each day. Each exit ticket was the same: “What did you accomplish today? What questions do you have and how can I help you?” I did this through Google Classroom’s “question” feature, so I was able to respond to students’ questions and see what everyone needed during the next day of writing workshop.

5. Incorporate multiple opportunities for peer feedback

Here’s the way I see peer feedback: The more you can train your students to provide feedback, the more efficient you can be with your teacher feedback. During our resume writing unit, I incorporated peer feedback in a variety of ways. First, I had students “turn and talk” to each other to give a “personal sales pitch” that would then become their professional profile at the top of their resume. Then, once they had drafted their profile and posted it on Google Classroom, I asked them to provide feedback to 3 of their peers. That way, once I looked at their professional profile drafts, their peers had already addressed a lot of what I would have commented, anyways! This allowed me to give my students more specific, focused feedback (and it saved me time, too).

The writing process can feel time-consuming, tedious, and boring for students. Mixing it up with opportunities for them to talk about their writing helps with engagement, too.

6. Emphasize the process of revision

It’s important to emphasize the process of revision and how it’s different from proofreading and editing. Some of them wanted to crank out their resumes, click “Turn in,” and then cheerfully shout, “I’m done!” when they hadn’t taken the time to genuinely revise. Other students argued that their resumes were “good enough” because they had successfully used them when applying for their current jobs. It was difficult to convince some students to invest time in the revision and editing.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret: Some of the students who struggled or complained the most were the very same ones who thanked me later in their learning reflections. Here’s what one student said: “The resume unit was the most helpful because I was too lazy to write one on my own. Miss G, you’re killing it.” At least they’re honest.

By structuring the resume-writing process with step-by-step lessons, modeling my own revision, and incorporating lots of peer and teacher feedback and subsequent revision, I forced my students to revise. I demonstrated the value of revision and purposefully integrated revision in my mini-lessons. I even included a category titled “Evidence of Revision” on my final rubric, and I asked students to explicitly tell me (through Google docs comments) what they revised and why. The end result? Better resumes, but more importantly, better writers who finally valued the process of revision.

7. Provide templates to help your students create a visually appealing, modern resume

It’s easy to let your students create the standard text-on-a-page resume, but it’s 2019, and those resumes are ancient! There are tons of options and templates available online, but my favorite resource for visually appealing resumes is Canva, a online graphic-design tool with many free templates. You can also search on Pinterest for more inspiration!

I designed two of my own templates and provided them to students, but I also linked up a few templates I found online. Most of my students used my templates or the ones from Canva, but I did have a few students who used other sources. I would recommend assessing how much structure your students need and then recommending different templates and/or websites. For example, for my ELL students, my pre-made template was especially helpful. I didn’t want them to be overwhelmed by the process of creatively designing a resume, because the process of writing was already challenging enough. Meet your students where they are, but use templates to help them create a visually appealing resume!

8. Make it meaningful & “publish” students’ final resumes!

English teachers know that one of the most important but often ignored parts of the writing process is the final phase: Publishing! When your students are finished, print their resumes out and celebrate their hard work in an authentic way. Here are a few ideas:

• Facilitate a “gallery walk” or “exhibit hall” where students “network” with their peers, exchange resumes, and discuss their experiences and skills.
• Facilitate mock interviews where students must discuss their resume and answer other common interview questions. (We did this & it was a hit with students!)
• Send off the resumes to administration or an hiring manager (if you can find one) and ask them to provide realistic feedback.
• Encourage students to use their new resumes to apply for a job, and then celebrate when they are successful!

I was so proud of my students’ final resumes and how much they grew during the writing process. The unit was not without its challenges, but it was so rewarding to end it with physical proof that students were one step closer to being “college and career ready.” If you’re interested in preparing your students for life after graduation, check out my Career Readiness Growing Bundle, which currently contains a career research project and this resume writing unit. (Cover letters and mock interviews are coming soon.)

Do you teach resume writing to your students? If so, what grade level and class? What other ideas or tips do you have? I would love to hear more in the comments!

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Thanks for the great resources. I plan on beginning my employment package assignment in April and this will come in handy. However, there is something that I want to point out. As a business professor who teaches business classes and resume writing, I would suggest telling your students that creative and fun resumes are only appropriate in that type of field such as graphic designs, creative writing, art, etc. In fields such as marketing, medicine, engineering, management, etc., creative resumes with various designs is a no-no. Granted these are high school students, but what we teach them now as a foundation on what they need to know should be practical for future referencing. Yes, the resume is a boring looking document, but how you teach it can be the creative and exciting part!

I will definitely be using these resources this year. Thank you for all you do.

Hi there, Thanks for your feedback. I do teach them about that. However, even the “boring” resumes look more professional with some fonts/lines/boxes/formatting/etc.

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As an educator, your focus is usually on your students and their achievements, not your own. But when it comes time to look for a new teaching opportunity, a professionally-written resume that showcases your achievements will help you stand out from the competition. That’s where we come in! 

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Why TopResume is best suited to write your Education Resume

With a professionally-written resume, you can be confident your skills, experience, and accomplishments will be presented in the best possible way, enabling you to secure more interviews and find your ideal teaching position.

As the world’s largest resume-writing service, TopResume has written over 1 million resumes. We understand how to create a personal brand that tells your career story, reflects your values, and successfully positions you in front of your target audience - recruiters and hiring managers! We’ve written education resumes for professionals ranging from Teachers to Professors - and everything in between. 

Who are the TopResume writers?

Senior Resume Writer

4+ years of experience, bachelor of arts in humanities and classical studies.

Billie is a passionate writer whose mission is to write impactful resumes to support career growth, evolution, and transition targets. Billie’s love of the written word spans her entire life, and she enjoys utilizing that passion to empower successful career transitions.

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Traci has a Master of Arts in English and has been writing since middle school. After spending several years in marketing, she used her writing skills and corporate knowledge to help job seekers put their best foot forward and achieve their career goals.

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Your new resume will be provided in a cutting-edge format that is designed with both ATS and the hiring manager in mind. Based on our expertise, research, and any job opportunities you share with us, we’ll showcase your most relevant skills, whether that’s classroom management and lesson planning or course development and curriculum design. 

How we ensure that your Education resume will help you to reach your job search goals

We understand the education field

Our team of experts are well-versed in a wide range of industries, so you’ll be able to work with someone with extensive experience writing education resumes. They are up-to-date on current resume writing best practices and know the best way to present your credentials. 

We tailor your resume to a education role of your choice

When you partner with TopResume, you’ll be asked about your career goals. Ideally, you will share a few job postings that match your job search. That way, your writer can focus on the skills, experience, and qualifications that are most important for your unique job search. Rather than a generic education resume, your document will speak directly to the hiring managers who will be reading it! 

We include education-specific skills and keywords

Our expert writers know how to tell your career story using the language that appeals to hiring managers (and performs well with ATS). For example, if you’re looking for a role in elementary education, we will focus on your ability to cultivate a positive and engaging learning environment through expert classroom and behavior management. Whereas if you are pursuing opportunities in higher education, we will emphasize your commitment to student-centered instruction as well as your knowledge of instructional techniques and assessment styles. It’s up to you!

We work collaboratively with you

Our writers are expert collaborators. After sending your first draft, they are ready to answer your questions and make any changes you request. At the end of the process, you will be confident in your new education resume and excited to start your job search!

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How To Write A Resume In 7 Steps (With Examples)

• How To Write A Resume
• Resume Skills Section
• Resume Objective Section
• Career Objective Section
• Resume Reference Section
• Resume Summary Section
• Resume Summary Example
• Resume Interests Section
• Address On Resume
• Relevant Work Experience
• Anticipated Graduation Date On Resume
• Education Section On Resume
• Contact Information On Resume
• Statement Of Qualifications
• How To List Publications On Resume
• Accomplishments On Resumes
• Awards On Resume
• Dean's List On Resume
• Study Abroad On Resume

Resumes are still the most important document in your job search . Generating a professional and interesting resume isn’t easy, but there is a standard set of guidelines that you can follow. As hiring managers usually only spend a short time looking over each resume, you want to make sure that yours has a reason for them to keep reading.

If you’re looking to write a resume, rewrite a resume you already have, or are just curious about resume format, then you’ve come to the right place. This article will go through the steps to writing an excellent resume, as well as offering examples for what sections of the resume should look like.

Key Takeaways:

A resume is a short document that details your professional history in a way that tailors your experience and skill set for the particular job you’re applying for.

Resumes follow a few standard formatting practices, which hiring managers and recruiters expect to see.

Highlighting your work experience, skills, and educational background with relevant keywords can help you get past applicant tracking systems and into more interviews.

How to write a resume

Writing a resume involves using the proper formatting, writing an introduction, and adding your work experience and education. Stuffing your entire professional life into a single page resume can feel overwhelming, but remember that you’re distilling the relevant parts of your professional experience in order to catch the eye of the recruiter .

Formatting your resume. To start, use a word processor such as Microsoft Word or Google docs. Standard resume formatting calls for:

1 inch margins

10-12 point font

A professional, commonly-used font

Additionally, there are three resume formats that are commonly used. Most people should stick with a chronological resume format , but the combination resume format and functional resume format can be effective for more advanced workers or those who have significant gaps in their resume.

Write a resume header . It doesn’t matter if you have the best resume in the world if the hiring manager can’t contact you. Every single resume should include the following contact information:

Your full name. First and last.

Your phone number. Use a personal phone number, and make sure your voicemail is set up properly.

Your email address. Nothing inappropriate — [email protected] is a safe choice.

Location. City, State, Zip Code is fine, but you can include your full mailing address if you think it’s appropriate.

Your social media (optional). LinkedIn is the obvious one you’d want to include, but make sure your profile looks good. If you have an online portfolio , either on a personal blog/website or on a site like Journo Portfolio , feel free to include that here as well.

Your job title. Also optional, but can be useful for applicant tracking systems.

Resume introduction. You have four options for your resume introduction: a resume objective, summary statement, resume profile, or qualifications summary. For most job-seekers, a resume summary statement is the best choice. Regardless of which resume introduction you choose, avoid first-person pronouns (I/me/my).

Resume objective. A resume objective is the goal of your resume. Since the objective of every resume is to land a job, this is not the most original or impressive opener you can have.

On the other hand, it’s a good choice for an entry-level applicant or someone who is changing career paths . This should be a 1-3 sentence summary of why you’re motivated to get the position you’re applying for.

Who should use a resume objective: Entry-level applicants, career-changers, and recent college graduates.

Resume summary. This is the best opener for most job-seekers. As the name suggests, a resume summary highlights the most salient aspects of your resume.

It should include your current position, how many years of experience you have, some of your biggest achievements, and possibly your career goals. This should be a 1-3 sentence spiel and should include some quantifiable experiences.

Who should use a resume summary: Most job seekers; anyone with quantifiable accomplishments to emphasize and a broad range of skills.

Qualifications summary. A bullet point list (4-6 points is the sweet spot) of your qualifications for the position. It’s best used by applicants going for jobs that require a fixed skill set. It’s not a great choice for entry-level applicants who lack quantifiable achievements.

You’ll notice that a qualifications summary takes up more space than a resume objective or summary, but it can actually save the hiring manager time if you provide a bunch of valuable information right off the top.

Who should use a qualifications summary: Those applying to a job with requirements for certain skills and job-seekers who have a lot of experience in their industry and/or field.

Resume profile. A resume profile is similar to a resume summary, but goes into more detail about your accomplishments at your current or former job, while also telling the reader about your career goals. Think of a resume profile as a section that pulls all the best parts of your work experience section into one place.

Who should use a resume profile: Anyone with significant accomplishments under their belt, expertise in a niche field, or applying to a job in the same industry that they have lots of experience in.

Resume headline. Resume headlines aren’t necessary, but you can include one alongside any of the four types of resume introduction listed above. A resume headline comes between your contact information and the resume introduction of your choice.

Headlines can be used by entry-level applicants and experienced job-seekers alike. The important point is that your headline should be short and to the point. Additionally, you should use title case when writing your resume headline (capitalize words as you would for a book title).

Who should use a resume headline: Any job-seeker who wants to showcase their experience or unique value right off the bat.

Work experience. Your work experience section is the place to let hiring managers know that you have relevant experience that would allow you to handle the job you’re applying for.

If you’re using the chronological resume format, your work experience section would come after your resume summary/objective. In a funcitonal reumse, it would follow your skills section. Either way, work experience should be listed in reverse-chronological order (most recent experience at the top).

When listing your work experience, you should include all of the following information:

Job title. Start by stating the position you held at the company. These are easy cue for the hiring manager to look at and determine whether your past positions would help you succeed at their company.

Company Info. Include the name of the employer, the location where you worked, and perhaps a brief description of the company, if it isn’t a well-known name.

Dates Employed: Use the mm/yyyy format if you want to be sure that most applicant tracking systems (ATS) will pick it up. Whatever format you use for dates, be consistent, or your resume will look sloppy.

Job Description. Don’t just list your job’s responsibilities; hiring managers and recruiters already have an idea of your duties based on the job title. Instead, list your most important and impressive responsibilities/achievements at the job with bullet points. Determine which of these are most relevant for your new role based on the job description.

Ideally, each bullet should be no longer than a single line. However, two lines is acceptable, if used sparingly.

Always start with a strong action verb, followed by a quantifiable achievement and a specific duty. For example: “Developed ad campaigns for clients, increasing sales by an average of 27%.” Each job title should include 3-5 bullet points.

The order that you include this information can be changed around, as long as you are consistent throughout your resume. However, the bullet points detailing your job’s achievements should always be the last item for each entry.

It’s important that you tailor your resume’s work experience section to the job you’re applying for. We recommend reading the job description carefully and highlighting the action verbs in one color and the skills, adjectives, and job-specific nouns in a different color.

Educational background. In almost all cases, your education section should come after your professional history. If you’re a recent college graduate with limited work experience, you may choose to put your educational achievements first.

Like the section on your professional history, educational experiences should come in reverse-chronological order, with your highest level of education at the top. If you have a college degree, you don’t need to add any information about your high school experience. If you didn’t finish college, it’s okay to give a list of what credits you did complete.

Each educational experience can be listed in the following format:

Degree/Program Name College/University Name Dates attended

You don’t need to add anything else, especially if your resume is already impressive enough. But if you’re struggling to fill up the page, or you feel that aspects of your educational experience will help make you a standout, you may consider also including:

Minor. If you think it rounds out your not-exactly-relevant-to-the-job major nicely.

GPA. Only if it was 3.5 or higher. Otherwise, it’s not going to do you any favors to include this.

Honors. Dean’s List, Cum Laude, etc.

Achievements. If you wrote a killer thesis/dissertation that showcases intimate knowledge relevant to the job to which you’re applying, you can include its title and a very brief description.

Extracurricular activities. Only include if they’re relevant. For example, if you’re applying for a management position and you were president of your student government.

Certifications/Licenses. If the job you’re applying for requires/likes to see certain certifications or licenses that you have, you may include them in this section as well.

Skills section. Your impressive skills should be scattered logistically throughout your professional history section, but you should also include a section solely dedicated to highlighting your skill set . Skills can be broken down into two categories:

Hard skills are skills you learn through training and indicate expertise with a technical ability or job-specific responsibility.

Soft skills are your personality traits, interpersonal abilities, and intangible qualities that make you more effective at your job.

Your resume should have a healthy mix of hard and soft skills, as both are essential to job performance. However, since soft skills are harder to prove in the context of a resume, we recommend leaning more toward hard skills. Additionally, whenever you list a soft skill, make sure that it has a correlating item in your work experience section.

For example, if you say you are skilled in collaboration, you should mention a time when a team project was a major success somewhere in your work experience section.

Optional sections. If you still have space left or there’s more you want to show off that doesn’t quite fit in any of the above sections, you may consider adding an additional section covering one or more of the below categories:

Language . Being bilingual is always impressive, and can be included on a resume for any company. Highlight this more if your position involves liaising with international distributors and/or clients. Don’t lie about your proficiency level.

It may be best to not mention it if you’re not particularly proficient speaker . Such as if you took courses in school, or haven’t really managed to gain fluency. It can end up looking like an attempt to inflate your credentials, which you want to avoid.

Volunteer experience . Always a good thing to include. It shows you’re a team player who behaves in a way that promotes the greater good, without thought of personal gain. Especially good for entry-level candidates and those applying for jobs at a non-profit. If you have gaps in your work history, you can also consider including volunteer experiences in your work history section instead.

Personal projects. A personal blog, published works, or a portfolio of your past projects are all good things to include. They show you take initiative, enjoy and take pride in your work, and that you can handle the responsibilities of the job, if relevant.

Certifications/licenses. If you didn’t include these in your education section, this is another good place to list relevant certifications or licenses that you have.

Interests . This is largely just a space filler if your resume is light in other areas. However, if your hobbies are directly related to the job that you’re applying for, it’s not a bad idea to include them. And it might draw a recruiter’s attention if you end up sharing some of the same interests as they do.

If you have several seemingly random items that are valuable, but don’t warrant creating a whole separate section for, you can also make a section called “Additional Experience.” Here you can include all of the above categories in one place. Just make sure that each item is clear and easy for readers to understand.

Resume samples

Now that we have a good idea of how to write a resume, let’s take a look at some example resumes:

Jack Pilgrim Washington , DC 14015 – (555) 444-3333 – [email protected] – www.linkedin.com/jpilgrim Resume Summary Graphic designer with 3+ years of experience creating and implementing promotional materials and social media graphics. Worked with sales and marketing teams to increase inbound calls by 23% YoY through compelling digital media. Adept at planning, managing, and prioritizing multiple deadlines at once, and thrives in fast-paced work environment. Work Experience Creative Designs | Washington, DC Lead Graphic Designer | June 2018-Present Worked with sales and marketing teams to create landing pages, sales proposals, and supporting media elements to drive sales by over $250,000 per quarter Trained, managed, and mentored team of 4 junior designers to fulfill 40+ project orders on a weekly basis Conducted UX research through surveys, usability testing, and data analysis to plan content marketing strategy, driving organic search traffic by 12% Presented proposals, results, and status updates to set of 4-7 clients, ensuring customer satisfaction at or above 95% for 3 years straight Happy Place | Alexandria, VA Junior Graphic Designer | July 2016-May 2018 Translated client needs and branding strategies into design and content strategy, increasing client retention by 22% Reduced project turnaround time by 8% by Utilizing web-based ticket system for completing and archiving finalized pieces Posted digital artwork to network IPTV using web interface to produce high-end info-graphics and other materials Happy Place | Alexandria, VA Marketing Intern | September 2015-July 2016 Assisted marketing team with data collection, analysis, and presentation using Google Analytics Drew up storyboards for new marketing campaigns alongside sales team, increasing brand awareness through social media Wrote 500-1000 word articles to pair with graphical elements on page, leading to a 40% boost in engagement on company website Education Savannah College of Art and Design | Savannah, Georgia May 2016 Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design Skills Adobe Creative Suite Typography HTML/CSS WordPress Collaboration Organization

Allison Neederly Chicago, Illinois , 60007 | (333) 222-1111 | [email protected] | www.linkedin.com/allison.neederly Resume Summary Dedicated customer service representative with 4+ years experience resolving customers’ needs in-person, online, and over the phone. Top achiever at XYZ Inc. with a 100% customer satisfaction rate for Q1 of 2020. Friendly personable, and knowledgable about company’s products and services. Relevant Skills Customer Service Responded to upwards of 200 customer queries daily with XYZ Inc., reducing the average wait time by 56% and increasing customer satisfaction rates by 13% Ability to resolve conflict and create a positive atmosphere for shopping for both new and existing customers through technical proficiency Expert product knowledge and communication skills, and experience training and mentoring new customer service staff Web Chat and Phone Skilled in 3 web chat platforms for helping online customers resolve their queries quickly and accurately Achieved fastest call resolution rate at XYZ Inc., with an average resolution time of under 5 minutes per customer Performed outbound calls for customer satisfaction surveys, as well as writing web-based surveys for 10,000+ customers Troubleshooting Detailed product knowledge allowed for customer technical issues to be resolved at rate within top 5% of all customer service associates at XYZ Inc. Created manual for step-by-step directions for troubleshooting that was implemented for team of 100+ customer service reps Positive attitude took average tech-related negative response from 1/5 stars to 4/5 stars, increasing trust in brands and services Work Experience XYZ Inc. | Philadelphia, PA Customer Service Associate New Look Global | Burlington, VT Junior Customer Service Representative L.L. Bean | Burlington, VT Sales Associate Education University of Vermont | Burlington, VT May 2012 Bachelor of Arts in Humanities

Priya Laghari New York, NY | (222) 111-0000 | [email protected] | www.priyabizdev.com Resume Profile Strategy Development: Grew John Deere’s international sales by 13% by tapping into undeserved countries in Southeast Asia Management: Oversaw a team of managers representing marketing, sales, and product teams. Streamlined collaborative, cross-functional communications through agile and scrum management system CRM: Developed, customized, and implemented new customer relationship management database for accounts totaling over $10M in value Work Experience Business Development Manager 01/2015-Present Microsoft | Redmond, WA Developed product strategies and roadmap for Google AdWords, increasing inbound traffic by 26% YoY Reduced time training on new software by 50% for new and existing employees by implement e-learning programs Spearheaded digital marketing campaign worth $1M that saw a return of 200% in first year by qualifying leads earlier in the sales funnel Regional Sales Manager 11/2012-01/2015 Big Things Inc. | St. Louis, MO Managed territory encompassing 29 regional locations with an annual revenue of approx. $55M Worked with C-level executives to plan business strategies, resulting in 20% reduction in overhead costs Increased client retention by 12% in first year by implementing a CRM approach based on account profiling and elevating levels of relationship selling Account Manager 02/2009-11/2012 Solutions Corp. | Chicago, IL Implemented and developed CRM strategic plans, increasing retention of long-term clients by 22% Maintained 50+ accounts totaling over $35M in value Generated leads through one-on-one consultation via phone inquiries, online check-ins, and meeting office walk-ins Relevant Skills CRM: Proficient with Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot; some experience with Keap. Used various CRM software over a decade to successfully manage customer relations and quick to adapt to new software and tools that aid in quality of customer experience. Salesmanship: Negotiated and closed over several deals worth $1M+ and skilled in upselling and cross-selling. Adept at working closely with marketing and product teams to maximize the efficiency of the sales funnel for both inbound and outbound traffic. Presentation: Represented Microsoft Northwest Region at quarterly board meetings, ensuring all stakeholders were kept abreast of new developments and opportunities. Also deliver monthly presentations to big clients and vendors to maintain positive relationship. Data analytics. Expert at integrating data from various analytics platforms, including Google, Microsoft Power BI, and SAP BusinessObjects Education Colgate University | May 2008 MBA Fordham University | May 2006 Bachelor’s Degree in Business

For more resume examples and templates:

Resume examples by job

Google docs resume template

Resume templates

Resume builder

Resume Headers Samples:

Tip : Never put your contact info in the header of your document; some applicant tracking systems might miss it.

For more on how to write a resume header:

Resume Header

Resume Titles

Resume introduction examples

Entry-Level Resume Objective.

Recent graduate with a bachelor’s in Marketing from the University of Virginia seeking an entry-level role in content marketing. Excellent copywriter with 2+ years experience editing content as a member of the UVa Writing Center.

Career Change Resume Objective.

Eager to apply 7+ years of experience with customer success management to make successful outbound B2B calls, deliver customized business solutions to new and existing customers, and provide expert product knowledge in the role of Account Manager for XYZ Inc.

Example Resume Summary Statement.

Accountant with over 8 years of experience in the medical industry. Adept at advising on management of cash deficits, reconciling departmental accounts, and creating new accounts and codes. Coordinated invoice preparation system for ABC that reduced contractor overhead by 19% YoY.

English teacher with a love of language and 6 years of experience teaching high school students. Developed new curriculum that boosted freshman reading comprehension scores by 12% and created after school book club for AP Lit class, resulting in 100% of participating students achieving a 5 on the AP Lit test.

Example Qualifications Summary.

Executive assistant with 5+ years experience helping maintain efficiency in an office of 25 employees Communicated directly with internal and external stakeholders, helping Senior Vice President manage projects worth $5M+ Proactively managed office schedules, identifying and prioritizing changes to ensure client satisfaction Recognized in a company of 500 for “Outstanding Achiever” in May 2019

Example Resume Profile.

Detail-oriented IT Specialist with 4 years of experience overseeing and improving the infrastructure of IT systems. Adept at building and running troubleshooting systems and testing services. Decreased security risk by 47% through continual optimization, while also improving the speed of client portal by 22%. Excellent communicator both internally and for client-facing discussions. Achieved 98%+ customer satisfaction ratings through weekly and monthly check-ins with accounts valued cumulatively at $500,000.

Entry-Level Resume Headline.

Bilingual College Graduate with 80 WPM Typing Speed and Tutoring Experience

Experienced Resume Headline.

Business Development Specialist with 6+ Years Experience Scaling Start-Up Tech Teams

For more on resume introductions:

Resume objective statement

Resume summary statement

Resume summary statement examples

Qualifications summary

Sample resume work experience sections

Work Experience XYZ Industries | Seattle, WA Marketing Associate | May 2019-Present Delivered weekly presentations to client-base to communicate brand messaging, increasing client retention by 11% Served as liaison between marketing and product teams, resulting in projects finishing 2 weeks early, on average Leveraged Excel skills to create and maintain spreadsheet to track consumer insights, emergent trends, and inform decisions of marketing team through competitive analysis Managed team of 5 contractors to juggle multiple priority projects simultaneously, never missing a deadline Initiated an affiliate referral program that PR team went on to turn into a revenue-generating stream valued at $30,000 annually ABC Corp | Seattle, WA Marketing Intern | September 2018-May 2019 Developed, maintained, and processed 20+ digital consent forms and distributor forms Worked collaboratively with a team of 10 marketing professionals, closely aligning our goals with the PR team Provided data analysis using Google Analytics and performed keyword research to increase blog traffic by 56% over six months Answered up to 50 customer queries by phone and email each week

For more on building the perfect resume work experience section:

Resume work experience section

First resume (no experience)

Examples Of Education Resume Sections

Graduated recently from a 4-year program.

Western Illinois University | Macomb, Illinois May 2020 Bachelor of Arts in Sociology | Minor in Psychology 3.95 GPA magna cum laude Dean’s List all semesters

Two degrees.

Fordham University | Bronx, New York April 2016 Master of Chemical Engineering Stony Brook University | Stony Brook, New York April 2014 Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

Anticipated graduation date (not yet graduated).

DePaul Univeristy | Chicago, Illinois Bachelor of Arts in History – Degree anticipated May 2021 Current GPA: 3.8

Older job seeker (graduated 10+ years ago).

University of Chicago | Chicago, Illinois Bachelor of Business Administration

High school graduate (no college degree).

Johnston High School 2016-2020 Head of Computer Club

More on crafting the perfect resume education section:

Education resume section

GPA on resume

Dean’s list

Magna cum laude

Examples Of Skills For Resume

Examples of hard skills include:

Examples of soft skills include:

Here’s more information on how to incorporate skills into your resume:

Resume skills section

Hard skills

Soft skills

Top skills for professionals

Skills-based resume

Resume writing FAQ

What is a resume?

A resume is a one to two-page document that focuses on professional experience, past achievements, education and certifications, and specific skills tailored to the job you’re applying for.

Almost every job application requires a resume, and hiring managers use them as a first impression in determining which applicants get a shot at an interview.

Whether you’re fresh out of college or have 30 years of professional experience, this guide should help craft a resume that stands out from the crowd and get you one step closer to landing your dream job.

What is the format for writing a good resume?

Most people will want to use a chronological or reverse-chronological resume format. This format is compatible with most applicant tracking systems (ATS) and is easy for employers to read. Additionally it helps highlight your experience, which helps prove your qualifications.

How far back should a resume go?

A resume should go back no further than 10 to 15 years. However, it is important that all your information is relevant. Therefore, do not include job experience that is irrelevant to your application, even if it’s fewer than 10 years old. Save that information for later discussions.

Should you personalize your resume for each job?

Yes, you should personalize your resume for each job you apply to. Many recruiters use ATS now, which will search for keywords in a resume and reject those that don’t have them. That means that the skills you choose to highlight as well as your opening, such as your resume summary, should be altered to suit each job you apply to.

You don’t need to rewrite the entire resume for each job, but it does show attention to detail and initiative to make sure that your resume is customized. It also makes it more likely that you’ll get past the first step of the process.

State of New York Department of Labor – Resumes, Cover Letters and Job Applications

Harvard University – Create a Resume/CV or Cover Letter

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Matthew Zane is the lead editor of Zippia's How To Get A Job Guides. He is a teacher, writer, and world-traveler that wants to help people at every stage of the career life cycle. He completed his masters in American Literature from Trinity College Dublin and BA in English from the University of Connecticut.

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7 chatgpt prompts to land you that leadership role in education.

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7 ChatGPT Prompts When Applying For A Leadership Role In Education

Becoming a leader in education is a career milestone that demands thorough preparation.

You must be able to articulate a clear vision, demonstrate a deep understanding of leadership and show your ability to drive school success through strategic planning and colleague engagement. The following ChatGPT prompts are designed to help teachers refine their interview skills, craft compelling personal statements and develop a robust leadership strategy. Each prompt is tailored to address critical aspects of the preparation process.

Get this right and present yourself as the well-rounded, confident and capable leaders you are.

1. Role Play The Interview

Using ChatGPT for this purpose can help you practice responses to potential questions. This will allow you to refine your answers and build confidence. It is an opportunity to receive constructive feedback, so you can improve your communication skills.

"I am preparing for an educational leadership interview. Act as the interviewer and ask me a series of questions about my experience, my leadership philosophy, and how I handle specific challenges in an educational setting. After each response, provide detailed feedback and suggestions for improvement. Focus on questions that test my strategic thinking and ability to lead a team."

ChatGPT: "Can you describe a time when you had to manage a conflict between staff members? How did you handle it and what was the outcome?"

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You: "In my current job, two colleagues disagreed over resource allocation. I arranged a meeting and listened to their concerns. I was able to facilitate a meaningful discussion to reach a consensus. The solution improved team collaboration."

ChatGPT Feedback: "Good job facilitating a discussion and reaching a consensus. Next time, highlight any specific conflict resolution techniques you used such as active listening or mediation to show a deeper understanding of conflict management."

2. Drafting A Resume

Your resume will stand out when it clearly highlights specific achievements and quantifies results.

Demonstrating your tangible impact is crucial. Using a clean, professional format with well-organized sections makes the document easy to read and visually appealing.

"Help me draft a resume tailored for an educational leadership position. Include sections for professional summary, work experience, education, skills and certifications. Emphasize my leadership accomplishments, my impact on student outcomes and my experience with school administration. Use bullet points and highlight the special projects or initiatives I led. Ask me questions that will help make this an accurate and outstanding resume.”

3. Writing A Personal Statement

A personal statement that aligns with the job specifications and provides concrete examples is crucial. It will show your suitability for the role and demonstrate that your past experiences have prepared you to meet the specific needs of your new role. This will make your application stand out.

"Assist me in writing a personal statement for an educational leadership role that aligns with the job specifications. Emphasize my leadership experience, vision for the school and how my skills and accomplishments meet the requirements. Include examples of past successes and describe how I plan to contribute to the school's future success. Ask me questions that will help make this an accurate and outstanding resume."

4. Articulating Your Vision for Leadership

This will demonstrate your ability to inspire and guide the school community. It will foster a sense of purpose and direction. It makes you a compelling candidate for driving positive change and achieving long-term success.

"Help me articulate my vision for the educational leadership role I am applying for. Focus on my goals for academic excellence, staff development and community involvement. Include specific strategies and initiatives I plan to implement to achieve these goals."

Example Interaction:

ChatGPT: "My vision as an educational leader is to create a nurturing environment where every student can achieve academic excellence. I aim to implement professional development programs that empower teachers and foster a collaborative community that actively engages parents and local stakeholders. Specific strategies include introducing data-driven instruction, expanding extracurricular activities and building partnerships with local businesses to enhance educational opportunities."

5. Understanding Key Leadership Concepts

Understanding key educational leadership concepts will enable you to articulate your vision and approach to improving teaching and learning. It allows you to provide examples of how you have applied these concepts, showcasing your practical experience and impact on student outcomes.

"Explain key concepts and trends in educational leadership. Provide examples of how these can be applied in a school setting and how I can discuss them effectively during my interview. Ask me questions that will help make this an accurate and outstanding resume."

6. Developing a Strategic Plan

Developing a strategic plan to refer to in your interview will be very impressive. It demonstrates your ability to set clear, long-term goals and align resources to achieve them. It provides concrete evidence of your commitment to improving educational outcomes and your proactive approach to leadership.

"Guide me through developing a strategic plan for a school. Outline the steps and include key components such as vision, mission, goals, action plans and evaluation methods. Provide examples of how to set realistic goals and measure progress."

ChatGPT: "Step 1: Define the vision and mission of the school. Step 2: Identify strategic goals such as improving literacy rates and increasing student engagement. Step 3: Develop action plans for each goal detailing specific activities, responsible parties and timelines. Step 4: Establish evaluation methods to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed. For example, to improve literacy rates, set a goal of increasing reading proficiency by 15% over three years. Implement reading intervention programs, provide professional development for teachers and use standardized test scores to measure progress."

7. Reflecting on Your Personal Leadership Style

This will help you understand your strengths and areas for growth. This allows you to effectively communicate your value. This self-awareness also enables you to align your leadership approach with the school's vision and culture.

"Help me reflect on my personal leadership style and how it aligns with the needs of the school I am applying to. Provide examples of leadership styles (e.g., transformational, transactional and situational) and their impact on school culture and performance. Guide me in identifying my leadership strengths and areas for growth."

ChatGPT: "Reflect on whether your leadership style is transformational, transactional or situational. For instance, a transformational leader who inspires and motivates staff might be ideal for a school needing significant cultural change. Discuss how your style has positively impacted previous schools and how it aligns with the current school's goals. Identify strengths such as effective communication and decision-making and areas for growth such as delegating responsibilities or managing change."

These ChatGPT prompts can help you prepare for an educational leadership role. By practicing interview scenarios, drafting key documents and reflecting on leadership concepts, you can approach your interview with increased confidence and clarity.

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