Teacher Resume Examples, Templates and Tips for 2023

Getting qualified as a teacher is already hard enough. But applying to teaching jobs can be a whole new level of hard, especially if you’re looking for a well-paid long-term job in an area that you like.

However, “hard” and “impossible” are not synonyms. Write a teacher resume that deserves an A+ and you’ll get more job interviews than you could imagine. It’s time you stopped looking for jobs and started teaching!

This guide will show you: 

• How to write a teaching resume quickly and easily.
• A professional teacher resume example that will get you the job.
• Teacher resume template you can copy and use.
• How to nail your teacher skills on a resume.

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Looking for a more specific resume-writing guide? Check out these resources:

• Academic CV
• Art Teacher Resume
• Education Resume
• Elementary Teacher Resume
• English Teacher Resume
• ESL Teacher Resume
• First Year Teacher Resume
• Instructional Designer Resume
• Librarian Resume
• Math Teacher Resume
• Music Teacher Resume
• Preschool Teacher Resume
• Resume for College Application
• School Counselor Resume
• Special Education Teacher Resume 
• Substitute Teacher Resume
• Teacher Assistant Resume

Or, if you’re on the lookout for jobs outside the teaching profession, take a look at our professional resume examples—we’ve got over 280!

Teacher Resume Example

Your resume can be just as impressive as Mr. Johnson’s, no matter how much experience you have or what subject you teach. Let’s go through all the steps of writing a teaching resume.

1. Use a Properly Structured Teacher Resume Template

Don’t you love it when students submit well-structured essays and do their best to keep their handwriting legible?

Well, principals have the same preferences when it comes to evaluating teacher resumes. Structure, layout, and legibility can go a long way.

Here’s how to make sure your teaching resume gets maximum points for resume format and structure:

• Opt for the reverse-chronological resume format: start with your most recent work experience and go back in time.
• Set up the page: create even 1-inch margins on all sides, pick a classic resume font, and set the line spacing to 1.15.
• Create a distinct resume header (this is where your name and contact information go).
• Make big headings and leave generous amounts of white space around your resume sections.
• Do your best to fit your resume on one page, unless you’ve got decades of experience.

Just as with any professional resume, create the following sections:

The Sections of a Teaching Resume

• Header with contact information (name, job title, phone number, professional email address, LinkedIn profile)
• Resume objective / Resume summary
• Work Experience
• Education
• Skills
• Other sections if necessary: Certifications, Awards, Volunteer Work, etc.

In the next chapter, we’ll go through the work experience section of your teacher resume. Yes, we’ll skip the resume objective (or the resume summary) for now. It’s just easier to write them when you’re done with the rest of your resume.

Expert Hint: When you’re ready with your resume, save it as a PDF file, unless the job ad clearly states otherwise. Word (DOCX) files can look wildly different when opened on another device, whereas PDF files look the same on any smartphone, tablet, or computer. Since you’ve spent time and effort creating the layout of your resume, don’t let the wrong format ruin it.

2. Create the Work Experience Section of Your Teaching Resume

The work experience section of your teacher resume is more than just a list of the places where you’ve worked. It’s a great way to showcase your professional growth as well as the impact you’ve made on your students and their communities.

In this section, we’ll show you how to put work experience on a resume.

The best way to approach writing your work history section is to use the reverse-chronological order—this means you start with your most recent job and go back in time.

How many years of work experience should you include? It depends on how experienced you are—check out our guide on how far back your resume should go for more information.

Now let’s look at writing and formatting each entry in your work history section.

Teacher Resume Examples: Work Experience

This is a work experience entry that deserves an A+:

Each entry should include your job title, the employer’s name and location, and your dates of employment. There’s no need to include the exact day—months and years are enough.

Below this information, you can see several bullet points that describe the candidate’s most relevant professional accomplishments. In your own resume, opt for 3–6 bullet points.

Note how the bullet points start with action verbs and present specific achievements rather than responsibilities and duties, and how most of them contain numbers.

A good job description on your resume is closely tailored to the job ad. What challenges does the employer want you to solve? What skills are required? Read the job ad closely and make sure your work experience section matches the expectations outlined in the ad.

What’s more: make sure your work experience section has the same keywords as the job ad. This will ensure that your resume doesn’t get rejected automatically for being irrelevant.

If you’re not sure how to approach writing your bullet points, try the P-A-R technique: show what Action you took to solve a Problem and what the Result looked like:

Increased student engagement by up to 75% by implementing a CBI-based approach.

In this example, (low) student engagement was the Problem, implementing a CBI-based approach was the Action, and the 75% boost was the Result.

Let’s look at another example.

No principal who reads this will ever give this candidate an A or a B. Unless they’re the only person applying for this job, they’re sure to be rejected.

Why? First, note the lack of the starting date. Second, take a look at the bullet points. They suggest that the candidate did, in fact, show up to work and do various teaching-related things.

But… was this person actually good at what they were doing? Every teacher is “responsible for managing classrooms”, but is every teacher good at it? You know the answer.

Long story short: bullet points that don’t describe specific achievements make you look like you were a mediocre teacher at best.

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3. Put Education on Your Teacher Resume

No matter how talented you are, your formal educational background and credentials are extremely important to people who make hiring decisions. So use the education section of your resume to show additional proof of your skills and qualities—if you need to.

Why “if you need to”? Well, if you’re a seasoned pro with quite a few professional achievements, your work experience speaks for itself and there’s no need to go into detail about your education. Just list your highest degree, the university, and the start and end dates.

Experienced Teacher Resume: Sample Education Section

Here’s what an experienced teacher could write in the education section of their resume:

They’ve already got 6+ years of professional experience, so there’s no need to waste valuable space on describing their coursework or mentioning other degrees.

Look, this person has a Master’s degree, so no one cares about what school they went to. Oh, and they’re an English teacher, so their football achievements way back in high school are completely irrelevant.

But… what if you’re not a seasoned pro and don’t have professional accomplishments that speak for themselves (yet)?

In that case, expand your education section by adding bullet points to your latest degree.

What do you write there? Well, re-read the job ad once again and identify the skills and personal qualities the ideal candidate should have. Then simply mention a few relevant academic achievements that illustrate those skills and qualities.

Let’s look at an example:

New Teacher Resume: Sample Education Section

The education section of your resume should be focused on your degree rather than other professional certifications, even if they’re related to teaching. But don’t worry—you’ll put all of your additional qualifications in a separate section. We’ll get there soon.

4. Showcase Your Teacher Skills on Your Resume

We’re not going to talk about skills a lot. After all, trying to explain skills to a teacher is like trying to explain atoms to a nuclear physicist.

In a nutshell, here’s a brief three-step guide on how to pick the right skills to put on your teacher resume:

• Check the job ad once again and highlight any skills-related resume keywords you find there.
• If you can prove that you have these skills, put them into a bulleted list on your resume.
• Make sure your skills list has 5–10 items.

When your skills list is complete, get back to your work experience and education section. Do the bullets illustrate your chosen skills? Is there a way to squeeze your skills keywords into the job description? Edit them if necessary, so that your skills appear throughout your entire resume.

Here’s a general list of teacher skills you might find in job ads and put on your resume. Yours can be different depending on the subjects and age groups you teach. And, of course, your skills list must always be tailored to the job ad, so don’t copy and paste this one!

Teacher Resume Skills

• Communication skills
• Active listening skills
• Conflict resolution skills
• Blackboard skills
• Curriculum development
• Evaluation and feedback
• Intercultural communication
• Classroom management
• Preparing and customizing learning materials
• Stress management
• Time management
• Leadership skills
• Creative thinking skills
• Computer skills
• Google Classroom
• Kahoot!
• EdModo
• G Suite
• MS Office
• Canva

If you’d like to read more about resume skills, check out our complete guide to skills to put on a resume.

5. Add Extra Sections to Your Teacher Resume

By now, you’re probably wondering where to put your certifications and awards. And where do you list the languages you speak? Also, what if you have cool hobbies that are worth mentioning on your resume?

Well, just make separate sections for them. Like this:

Teacher Resume Template: Other Sections Example

You can make as many extra sections as you need to. Just make sure that all the info you include is relevant to your job application.

6. Write Your Teacher Resume Objective or Resume Summary

Remember how we skipped a section at the very beginning of your resume?

Now let’s get back to it.

This section is your resume objective or resume summary, depending on your level of experience:

• If you’re just starting out in the teaching profession, write a resume objective that highlights your skills and potential.
• If you’re an experienced teacher, opt for a resume summary that emphasizes your key achievements.

The general formula for resume summaries and resume objectives goes like this:

Adjective + Job Title + Years of Experience + Achievements + Skills + What You Want to Do for the Employer

How do you apply this formula?

First, you re-read your job ad. Yes. Once again. This time, your goal is to pick the most important skills and achievements that you want to highlight.

Then, you write a few catchy sentences. Like in this teacher resume summary example:

Teacher Resume Sample: Summary

This is what a resume summary should look like—straightforward and confident.

Don’t be like this person. They claim they’ve been teaching for 10 years, but… why couldn’t they find a half-decent achievement to put on their resume? Also, “I’ve moved here and I need a job in this area” is never a good thing to put on a resume. Instead, explain what you want to do for the students of this specific school.

Now, what about resume objectives?

Teacher Resume Objective Statement Example

This candidate doesn’t have paid teaching experience yet, but their volunteering efforts prove they’re a worthy candidate.

7. Complement Your Teacher Resume with a Matching Cover Letter

While not all employers read cover letters, they’ll always appreciate it if you write one. After all, taking the time and effort to write a cover letter shows that you’re serious about applying for this job.

Your cover letter is also an excellent opportunity to showcase your written communication skills and provide details about your professional achievements that don’t fit into a resume.

Yes, you might hate the idea of yet another writing assignment. But once you’ve gotten the hang of it, writing cover letters becomes quick and painless. Here’s how to craft a teacher cover letter that will get an A from the principal:

• Start with a proper cover letter heading that contains your contact info, the date, and the reader’s contact info.
• Open your cover letter with a classic greeting like “Dear Mr. Smith” and an attention-grabbing paragraph where you tell the reader about your most impressive achievements.
• Follow with a paragraph that shows your understanding of the job duties and proves that you excelled at these duties in the past.
• Explain why you’re passionate about working at this particular place.
• End your cover letter with a call to action: ask the reader to schedule a call or a meeting with you.
• Sign off and add a P. S. if you have an extra achievement to share.

It’s tough to give an exact word count, but the best length for a cover letter is under one page, split into around 4 paragraphs. We’ll walk you through every step of the process in our full guide to writing a cover letter for a teaching position.

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Key Takeaways

Here’s how to write a teacher resume step by step:

• Plan the layout and structure of your resume.
• Showcase your relevant work experience, focusing on achievements rather than responsibilities.
• Present your educational background.
• List relevant skills.
• Enhance your resume with extra sections.
• Complete your resume by writing a resume summary or resume objective
• Add a cover letter, preferably in a matching design.

Any questions on how to write a great educator resume? Do you have useful advice on writing different teacher resumes or a story to tell? We’d love to hear from you. Leave your comment below.