Teacher Resume Example, Writing Tips & Questions

Kellie Hanna, CPRW By Kellie Hanna, CPRW, Career Advice Expert
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Want to create a professional, eye-catching teacher resume that impresses school administrators? You’ve come to the right place! My Perfect Resume offers a collection of fantastic teacher resume examples and writing tips to help you create your best resume. Use our resume examples as inspiration to create an A+ resume.

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Teacher resume example (text version)

Name: Addie Evans

Baltimore, MD 21206
555 555 5555
example@example.com

Professional Summary

Upbeat teacher devoted to promoting student learning and strengthening individual potential. Skillful in directing classroom environments and enhancing student behavior through positive and forward-thinking approaches. Caring relationship-builder with an analytical mindset and good decision-making skills.

Work History

January 2019 – Current
Baltimore County Public Schools – Baltimore, MD
Elementary Teacher

  • Prepare materials for lessons, assignments and assessments and evaluate, correct and grade the performance of 60 students.
  • Integrate technology into 50% of daily lesson plans to create engaging, multi-dimensional lessons.
  • Communicate student progress, academic difficulties or behavioral concerns to parents, guardians and administration using tact and professionalism to improve student academic performance.

September 2016 – December 2018
Kennedy Krieger Institute – Baltimore, MD
Classroom Assistant

  • Set up visual aids, equipment and classroom displays to support three groups of 20 students.
  • Assisted five teachers with classroom management and document coordination to maintain a positive learning environment.
  • Arranged and organized classroom desks, chairs and supplies, decreasing 95% of classroom accidents.

June 2014 – August 2016
The Literacy Lab – Baltimore, MD
Part-Time Tutor

  • Collaborated with 10 students per week to complete homework assignments, identify lagging skills and correct weaknesses.
  • Planned lessons for the allotted time to strengthen weak subjects, increasing academic progress by 55%.
  • Organized three group tutoring sessions per month to help students struggling in similar areas.

Skills

  • Instructing and monitoring
  • Learning strategies and evaluations methods
  • Proficient in Common Curriculum
  • MS Office
  • Communication and social perceptiveness
  • Time management
  • Active listening and persuasion
  • Collaborative and team oriented

Education

June 2022
University of Maryland – Baltimore County Baltimore, MD
Master of Education Human Development

June 2019
Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD
Bachelor of Arts Elementary Education

Certifications

Maryland Teaching Certification – (2019)
Professional Certificate I – (2019)

Top 4 characteristics of a best-in-class teacher resume

  1. Professional summary

    Follow the lead of the example of a teacher resume featured above and write a two- to three-sentence professional summary. A good summary should highlight your top skills and work experience and urge the hiring manager to continue reading your resume.

  2. Skills

    The best teacher resumes should have a mix of hard skills and soft skills in the skills section. Choose between six to eight key skills and make sure they’re all related to the job. If you’re applying for a mathematics teaching position, you might want to emphasize your math knowledge and ability to teach complex lessons.

    Looking for more skills for a teacher resume? Check our Top Skills article.

  3. Work history

    Take a look at our professional teacher resume examples to see how our experts have written the work history section. You’ll notice they’re using metrics and highlighting work accomplishments instead of simply listing daily tasks.

    If you’re a teacher with more than 10 years of experience, you don’t need to include your entire professional history. List out the last 10 years of your career in reverse-chronological order.

    Read our How to Write the Perfect Work Experience article for more guidance.

  4. Education

    To become a teacher, you must undergo extensive training and complete at least a bachelor’s degree. A good teacher resume will have these credentials listed out in bullet points, like the example of a teacher resume featured on this page. If you graduated more than 10 years ago, you don’t need to include the graduation date.

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Action verbs for your teacher resume

Our teacher resume sample shows you how to use action verbs to make your work history pop. Don’t be boring! Here are 15 powerful action words  to consider adding to your resume:

  • Arbitrated
  • Consulted
  • Spoke
  • Involved
  • Conveyed
  • Drafted
  • Incorporated
  • Edited
  • Influenced
  • Reinforced
  • Interacted
  • Lectured
  • Moderated
  • Outlined
  • Interpreted

Write the best resume for a teacher job using our Resume Builder.

Skills for your teacher resume

Emphasize the professional skills most relevant to the job description, as shown in our sample teacher resume. Use the most powerful words to describe your strengths, and don’t be shy when you add proficiencies to your resume. Take a look at this list of relevant teacher skills for a resume:

  • Instructing
  • Monitoring
  • Social perceptiveness
  • Time management
  • Decision-making
  • Active listening
  • Persuasion
  • Deductive reasoning
  • Presentation software
  • Learning strategies
  • Writing
  • Mathematics
  • Evaluation methods
  • Reading comprehension
  • Oral expression

Certifications to include in your teacher resume

All states require teachers to have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited program, usually in education. These programs prepare teachers on the best practices to teach students of different abilities and backgrounds, and they usually include a student-teacher program, in which prospective teachers are mentored and get hands-on experience teaching in a classroom.

Additionally, teachers in public schools must be licensed or certified by their state in the specific grade level they will teach. Teachers in private schools typically only need a bachelor’s degree.

Please visit your state’s education department website for more information on your state’s requirements.

How do you write certificates and licenses in a resume for a teacher? You have two options: Place any earned certifications in the education section or create a separate section for your certifications and licenses on your resume. The teacher resume sample shows you some format options.

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Teacher resume FAQ

  1. 1. What soft skills should you include on a teacher resume?

    Including soft skills on your resume shows principals and school administrators who you are and why your personality makes you a good fit for the job. In addition to being an excellent communicator, a good teacher must be diligent, attentive, empathetic, patient and organized. Be specific when describing these attributes. Do not write generic phrases such as “team player” or “hard worker”.

    The job seeker in our example teacher resume presents their soft skills in their summary statement. Follow this example. This gives the administrators of your next school a well-rounded picture of your talents from the moment they begin reading your document. You can also include a couple of soft skills at the end of your skills or highlights section.

  2. 2. What information do school administrators want to see on a teacher resume?

    Exceptional teachers use innovative teaching methods and materials to help students learn. They tailor classroom lessons to meet the needs of different students’ learning capabilities. Teachers should also be able to maintain order and be fair and objective when resolving conflict. They should know how to evaluate students’ progress and find ways to help struggling students succeed.

    School administrators want to know if you can perform such duties while adhering to your state’s teaching standards. Include similar descriptions in your work experience section. Administrators also review the credentials you list in your skills and education sections. Include the formal title of your master’s degree and your state certification. Describe notable technical skills such as Gradekeeper and a strong understanding of standardized testing.

  3. 3. What does a teacher resume look like?

    A teacher resume needs to have a minimum of four parts. The first is the summary statement. This component uses about three sentences or bullet points to give hiring managers a snapshot of their best teaching qualities. The next section is the skills section. You present at least six proficiencies applicable to the role you want.

    You must also include a work experience section. This portion takes up most of the space on your resume. It communicates your official titles, duties and achievements in prior positions. Finally, you need an education section that distinguishes your academic training.

  4. 4. What format and design should you use for your teacher resume?

    Our teacher resume sample provides a great example of an appealing resume for a teacher.

    The correct resume format for a teacher will depend heavily on your years of experience. While all resumes have the same sections, the resume format you choose will decide where those sections are placed.

    If you recently finished your student-teacher training, you might consider using a functional resume format to properly highlight your skills and the abilities you learned through this experience.

    A teacher with a couple of years of experience could benefit from using the combination format, as it perfectly balances work experience and skills. In contrast, the chronological resume format works best to create an experienced teacher resume, as its main goal is to highlight your extensive years of experience.

    Look to our example teacher resume for design ideas as well. Remember that the focus of your resume should be your abilities as a teacher, not your resume’s style. Opt for a clean design that excludes pictures and many colors. Use bullet points, white space and professional fonts.

  5. 5. How do you quantify accomplishments on a teacher resume?

    In your other teaching jobs, did you implement innovative teaching methods to help students succeed? Did you increase the percentage of students earning top grades? Employers want to see such accomplishments in a professional teacher resume. They will especially take note of these successes if you use metrics to quantify the results of your actions.

    How many students did you manage? What was the percentage of students who earned high marks? How many students improved their average grades from the beginning to the end of the school term? Use numbers, percentages and figures to quantify your achievements. Doing so paints a clear picture in hiring managers’ minds of what you can do.

Do’s and don’ts for your teacher resume

  • Use measurable achievements to describe your teaching abilities and experience.
  • Use action words to make an impact on your teacher resume.
  • Tailor your resume  to your target teacher job.
  • Use keywords from the job description throughout your teacher resume.
  • Format your teacher resume so that it is easy to read by ATS software and human eyes.
  • Lie about your teacher experience and skills.
  • Boast that you’re the “best teacher ever.”
  • Include irrelevant personal information such as your ethnicity and age.
  • Add skills and experience that do not pertain to teaching.
  • Forget to proofread. A teacher resume with errors is unprofessional.

Top 4 tips for interviews for a teacher job

  1. Do your research.

    The best way to prepare for an interview is by researching the school. Explore their website and any social media profiles they might have. You can also get in touch with teachers currently working there to see what their experience has been like.

  2. Practice your answers.

    Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to practice for the interview. Write a list of questions you think the interviewer might ask you and go over them. It’s impossible to know beforehand the exact questions they’ll ask during the interview, but as a teacher, you might have an idea of what to expect. Some general interview questions include:

  3. Be confident about negotiating.

    For many employers, negotiation is an expected part of the hiring process, so don’t be afraid to ask for what you want in terms of compensation. Know what your time is worth, and be confident in seeking a salary that matches that value. While you should be reasonable about your expectations, don’t be shy about asking, either.

    Identify a salary that you believe is the highest you can reasonably expect. This ideal situation should be the top of your range and the starting point of what you ask for when negotiating. Additionally, identify the minimum you are willing to accept that can satisfy your financial needs. This number should be at the bottom of your salary range. Once you have a range, stick to it.

  4. Remember the benefits.

    Compensation isn’t just your salary. Other benefits such as paid time off, insurance, and retirement plans are part of your overall compensation package. Have an idea of what benefits you are seeking. Don’t forget them in your negotiation. Even if you can’t get as high a salary as you want, you may be able to arrange perks such as additional time off.

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Kellie Hanna, CPRW

Kellie Hanna, CPRW

Career Advice Expert

Kellie is the content strategist for My Perfect Resume. She has more than 20 years of experience in digital media and is passionate about helping job seekers navigate their careers. She has a B.A. in English and writing from Temple University.

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