Beginning Teacher Resume

Landing your first teaching job when you graduate can be difficult, so having a great beginning teacher resume is essential. Because starting teachers all have the same Achilles’ heel— the lack of prior experience— playing to your strengths is vital.

The organization of the resume should tailor towards highlighting your primary qualifications and allow an employer to get the information they need about you quickly and easily.

A beginning teacher resume should contain several essential elements:

• Goals and objectives
• Educational background
• Professional experience

While starting with a "goals and objectives" section can be very helpful on a resume, it really depends on your unique situation. Every resume is different and should be suited not only to the employer, but also to the specific, unique abilities of the applicant. Your resume must reflect your capabilities and skills -- accurately, creatively, and comprehensively.

Many first time teachers wrongly assume that they must use a standard chronological resume format. In some cases, however, this may not be the best choice. If you do not have a long history of relevant work experience, listing your jobs chronologically may not be the best way to present your skills. Several alternative resume formats exist that may be more appropriate.

Because listing former work experience might not be the best option for someone starting out, listing your unique skills and abilities is often the better choice. This can be done using a functional resume.

A functional resume lists each skill in a separate heading with relevant work experience described below each skill. For example, if you want to highlight your classroom management experience, you could write:

Classroom Management Experience

Managed a class of 20 students as a student teacher at "School Name".

This format allows you to highlight all of the different functional skills you learned while student teaching under separate subheadings, instead of simply listing "Student Teaching" as one item on a list of previous jobs.

A beginning teacher should list their goals and objectives on their resume. If you are looking for a stepping stone into further education, you should list that information in your "Objectives" section. If you are looking for a school to settle down in for five years or more, you should put that in a Statement of Objectives as well.

Such information is extremely helpful to prospective employers who may be interested in different types of individuals. Many schools are even looking for students who are right out of school, and an objectives statement can demonstrate the fresh perspective of a forward-looking new teacher.

When writing a your resume, you should draw upon any experiences you have in order to make the application seem more attractive. Place a professional summary near the top of your resume and include information about the type of teacher you consider yourself to be. For example, you might be a passionate leader, a caring and intuitive listener, or a dynamic and creative motivator.

You should also include student teaching experience in your employment history, along with information about any relevant employment or internships. Tutoring, mentorships, writing for local newspapers, and membership in professional groups can help make a resume strong.

If you feel that your employment history before applying for a teaching degree will be helpful, it should be included as well. Careers in counseling, human services, overseas or missionary work, civic or political organizations, or writing and editing can benefit a resume greatly.

It is often useful to put work history in terms of years and not specific dates, as perspective employers may view short periods of employment as a negative.

Although prospective employers usually find goals and prior experience the most important parts of an application, including your educational experiences as a student — particularly if you attended a prestigious university; had a GPA over 3.5; and/or received grants, scholarships or internships— is an absolute must.

If your education included proposal or grant writing, courses in second language or ESL, or leadership training, expand upon these as much as possible. Many beginning teachers lack a solid foundation in education, and including this information is essential to creating a successful beginning teacher resume.

The following links to sample resumes may be a useful starting point for you when writing your own resume:

• Sample Teacher Resume
• Resumes For Teachers

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