Teaching at any level in the US can be such a hugely rewarding career--inspiring young learners to explore the world around them, instilling discipline and behavior, and remaining as an influence long after pupils have left the classroom. Any teacher, whether that’s kindergarten level, high school, or college, has experienced huge upheaval over the past few years, upskilling massively by having to experiment with online learning, forcing them to quickly adjust to a different way of teaching.
It is incredible to think that there are over 4 million teachers across the US, making up 2.5% of the working population. But with a shortfall of 300,000 teacher and school staff vacancies, according to Rebecca Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ union in the US, the race is on to fill those gaps.
Coming to this article was certainly a great move if you’re in the mindset to seek out a teaching position with a fully functioning and engaging teacher resume.
Whether you’re a seasoned teacher or new to the field, your teacher resume needs to reflect your skill set accurately and concisely.
These teacher resume examples were created by ZipJob’s team of professional resume writers with you in mind.
This post has three sections:
A general sample teacher resume, ready to be adapted for the many different variants of educators there are out there, written by ZipJob’s team of experts
General advice on how to write a great teacher resume
20+ examples of teacher resumes from kindergarten up to college level
Professional teacher resume sample
This example is a basic teacher resume that can be customized. The main sections include your name and vital contact information, a professional summary, your core competencies, work experience, and an education section. The teacher resume follows a reverse-chronological format, meaning the professional experience starts with your most recent position at the top. Throughout this teacher resume, keywords have been incorporated, including hard skills, soft skills, and qualifications. The bullet points and consistent line spacing makes this teacher's resume easy to read while being concise and relevant, with enough white space so that it does not overwhelm the reader.
Now let’s look in more detail at each section that is required on a teacher's resume.
What does a teacher resume need?
Qualifications and certifications
When drafting a teacher’s resume, you’ll want to display your qualifications and certificates prominently. Teaching jobs require certain certifications by law. Many teachers also have graduate degrees. All of this information should be displayed under an education heading. For those jobseekers with professional work experience, this section should go at the end of your resume.
If you don’t have a teaching certification, you can note your current credential program, temporary or emergency certifications, or substitute permits (depending on your state) instead .
Pro Tip: If you are a newly qualified teacher with little work experience, place your education section underneath the Professional Profile towards the top of your teacher resume.
Practical skills
You’ll also want to include your soft and hard skills on your resume. Your soft skills, such as communication, classroom management, lesson planning, and time management, will demonstrate how well you work with students, administration, and other teachers.
Your hard skills will display your familiarity with certain technologies. For example, you may want to note how comfortable you are with Google Classrooms, Blackboard, Zoom, and other EdTech (education technology) tools.
Your skills are usually pulling double duty these days. Try to match your skills to the job description using the same language. By doing this, you’ll look like a great match for teaching positions to both administrators and any ATS (applicant tracking systems) used by a school’s HR team.
For example, if a job description requires that applicants are fluent in Spanish, your resume needs to include the keyword phrase “fluent in Spanish”.
Classroom experience
Finally, all teacher resumes should include your experience in teaching. To earn a credential, you must log a certain number of hours teaching. Your teacher resume should include the educational establishment where you taught, along with the dates, and the name of your supervisor. Detail your classroom experience with the focus being on results and data. No one can argue with data! A Californian teacher may emphasize the Common Core Standards she taught, whereas a high school teacher would want to draw attention to the stunning test scores that his students achieved year after year, with comparable data to really drive home those achievements.
Experts in writing resumes for teachers
How do we know what a teacher’s resume needs? ZipJob is a leading resume writing service. Our professional writers have helped thousands of teachers land new jobs--and we can help you too. Learn more about ZipJob's teacher and educator resume writing services here.
The rest of this blog post is devoted to examples of teacher resumes at various grade levels and different subjects. Click on the link that is relevant to you in order to view a teacher resume that you can tailor to your needs.
Elementary school teacher resume example
This elementary school teacher resume includes all the elements required for a successful resume. The complete two-page example is displayed on the full post here--Elementary Teacher Resume Example & Template.
You will note that the qualifications and certifications are listed in the education section on page two. The practical skills are detailed up top in the professional summary (labeled profile on this example) as well as in the core proficiencies and throughout the work experience. The work experience is comprehensive. It provides a robust look at what this candidate is recognized for, capable of, and will likely bring to a new position.
The work experience section of this teacher resume highlights the candidate’s ability to differentiate learning, which is a key element that school administrators emphasize when looking for new hires. There are also many instances of creating a safe and effective learning environment for pupils under a variety of circumstances.
Art teacher resume
Many art teachers, and artists in general, make the mistake of turning their resume into an art project. Your resume should not be a collage of colors and patterns. Instead, it should keep the focus on your proven skills and experience. This example shows how an art teacher can write about a job using keywords that fully engage the reader.
The work experience section also references pursuing professional development. If this is something valued by a particular school or in a certain job description, you can reinforce your professional development in the education section.
Special education teacher resume
Related resume example: Special Education Paraprofessional
Showcasing experience of teaching students who have developmental delay or intellectual disabilities can be hard to convey in words. This example of a special education teacher resume displays several bullet points related to these required skills:
Created and managed IEPs to define student learning objectives and educational strategies, in addition to applying instructional knowledge and methods to support goals.
Established a safe play environment for the students.
Gave one-on-one attention to students, while maintaining overall focus on the entire group.
Source: Special Education Teacher Resume Example & 3 Expert Tips
Music teacher resume
Clashing cymbals, students who are tone deaf, and a talented youngster on the flute–all of these scenarios can happen at once in a music room. Music teachers need to control a classroom in addition to knowing how to teach music. This resume includes experience with both of those attributes.
Substitute teacher resume
Substitute teachers may have experience in just one subject, but they also want to show how they can add value to the classroom, despite not necessarily knowing the children in their charge. This teacher resume displays great power verbs to show the flexibility that a substitute teacher requires: led, communicated, encouraged, and proctored. Demonstrating your experience in classroom management and behavior control are also great key phrases to include.
Physical education teacher resume
A physical education professional teaches physical fitness, generally outside of the traditional classroom setting. This example conveys experience with coaching. Depending on the depth of experience and how relevant it is to the potential job, you could add on a separate job title or include it in an “Additional work experience” section.
Expert Tip
Keen to know if your experience is relevant to the job applied for? Consult our guide on What Does Relevant Experience on a Resume Mean?
Online teacher resume
Increasingly important and relevant, most teachers now will have some sort of online teaching experience. If you’d like to reflect that in your teacher resume, this example has some great descriptions of desirable skills such as digital classroom administration, documentation, scheduling, computer program technologies, and remote video conferencing.
Middle school teacher resume
This sample of a basic middle school teacher resume shows a language arts teacher with an exemplary suite of core proficiencies including:
Middle School Education
Educational Technology
Curriculum Development
Research Methodology
Student Engagement
Classroom Management
Learning Differentiation
Literary & Rhetorical Analysis
Learning Strategies & Assessments
High-Impact Lesson Planning
Conflict Resolution
Behavior Management
Communication Theory
Media Integration
Least Invasive Interventions
Independent Educational Plans (IEP)
Source: Middle School Teacher Resume Example & Guide
This section is the perfect place to display your core strengths as they relate to a specific job posting. You can add, edit, or remove skills as needed. This process is all about tailoring a resume and can greatly increase your chances of earning that all-important interview at your chosen middle school.
Math teacher (secondary) resume
This math teacher sample leans towards the use of technology and other hard skills to show excellence. This message is first mentioned in the professional summary--“Adept with innovative technologies”--and reinforced in the work experience section with, “Leverage educational technology comprising various calculators, computers, and simulators to illustrate various mathematical concepts.”
Be sure to include any specific skills from the job description in your skills section to create even more impact.
Spanish teacher resume
Ola! This Spanish teacher resume example displays several instances of collaborating with teachers, as well as professional development, in the work experience bullet points. That’s another important aspect of this career--it’s not all about teaching the students!
ESL teacher resume
An ESL teacher, who teaches English as a second language, is predisposed to being a linguistic genius, as well as being able to cooperate with pupils of different cultural backgrounds. This teacher resume showcases both of these strengths by stating that the person is tri-lingual and “enriches learning experience to diverse populations.”
High school teacher resume
High school teachers may teach one or more subjects depending on job demand. Generally, a high school teacher’s resume should focus on the subject that is core to standardized testing, but still includes the additional subject or subjects within the work experience.
The example above uses a paragraph and bullet point format to explain past jobs. This ensures the most important information is easy to view, without leaving anything out.
High school math teacher resume
A high school math teachers’ core competencies section on their resume should include only the most relevant skills. This will be determined by the job description as well as a person’s aptitude.
Here are some examples for a high school math teacher resume:
Core Competencies
Mathematics
Trigonometry
Algebra
Geometry
Performance Metrics
Web-Based Learning
Program Evaluation
Student Motivation
Relationship Building
Source: High School Math Teacher Resume Example
This candidate includes skills that are the foundations to being a successful math teacher, such as algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, as well as skills required for an instructor, including performance metrics, relationship building, and student motivation. As an extra, web-based learning is included to add even more value.
Biology teacher resume
This resume, which is specifically for a high school biology teacher, uses the core competencies to highlight general classroom management skills instead of subject matter expertise. This is a smart move for teachers who are open to teaching students additional subjects, whether or not they have any experience in teaching them. It is also a good tactic for substitute teachers who fill in for any class.
English teacher resume
This English teacher resume sample uses the core competencies section to blend subject matter skills related to English with soft skills that relate to teaching. Team building, effective communication, collaboration, and student evaluations are great skills to note on a resume for both English and ESL teachers.
Further related resume examples include Teacher Aide, Assistant Teacher, Long Term Substitute Teacher, Online Teacher and Homeschool Teacher.
Early childhood teacher resume
Instilling a sense of fun and enjoyment into learning for young children is vital, in order for them to grow and flourish, and want to keep learning throughout their lives. They say patience is a virtue, along with tolerance, and they are certainly great assets to have when teaching in early years education!
Montessori teacher resume
Montessori teachers adopt a particular method of education that places more emphasis on developing children’s natural interests and activities, as opposed to using more formal and traditional teaching methods. These strengths are highlighted in this teacher resume with bullet points such as, “Observed children and interpreted their needs,” and “Coordinated with other teachers to develop lesson plans for children to develop their intellectual, physical, emotional, and social skills.”
Similar examples of resumes in early education include Kindergarten Teacher, Daycare Teacher and Preschool Teacher Assistant.
College/University professor resume
In higher education, a resume must display your expertise in your subject matter as well as your ability to lead a classroom. The resume summary is an excellent opportunity to do both.
In the above example, notice how the resume summary refers to the instructor’s ability to communicate with multiple groups of people including students, colleagues, and administrators. It also highlights the candidate’s ability to lead engaging class discussions. These soft skills can make all the difference between a good educator and a great one.
The professional summary also makes references to research and tenure. These aspects should be echoed in the work experience section. If there is a lot of research to include, that can have its own section.
Source: College Professor Resume Example
Adjunct professor resume
As an adjunct professor, this candidate summarizes both an established reputation on campus along with industry experience. Adjunct faculty--as well as guest lecturers and other higher education professionals who are not on a tenure track--should use a resume to showcase what makes them distinctive. The summary is an excellent place to start, as it is the first section that the reader sees.
Source: Adjunct Professor Resume Example
Other related resume examples are Professor (general) and College Instructor.
Expert Tip
Pro Tip: These higher educational examples are of resumes, not academic CVs. The terms are not interchangeable, so please refer to each job description to know which document to submit.
Other teacher resume examples
Yoga teacher resume
A major part of teaching is retaining and furthering your knowledge of industry advancements. A successful yoga teacher resume illustrates your ability to drive fitness and wellness by leading students through controlled breathing, visualizations, and meditation lessons. On your resume, demonstrate how you maintain up-to-date knowledge of yoga practices in order to apply cutting-edge expertise of techniques and exercises that meet individual client needs.
Sunday school teacher resume
Sunday school teachers hold a special place in the hearts of lots of children, so illustrate your strengths in a tightly written and informative resume, with the focus on promoting good values and community spirit.
Summary
It’s always a good idea to have an up-to-date resume, even if you’re not currently on the hunt for a job. While updating your resume, it’s smart to compare your work experience with recent teacher job listings and updated professional resume samples. That will give you a better idea of how your resume should look, and what teaching skills are valued at this moment in time.
Crafting a teacher resume on your own can be time consuming and frustrating, even if you have had a lot of expert advice. To make the journey smoother for you, ZipJob offers a free resume review.
ZipJob is a premier resume writing service that has been helping job seekers create job-winning resumes since 2016. Our network of over 100 professional resume writers are experts in all industries, not just education! That includes IT, business, marketing and sales, along with construction, HR and product management.
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Written by
Elizabeth Openshaw, Editor & Content Writer, Elizabeth Openshaw, Editor & Content Writer
Elizabeth Openshaw is an Elite CV Consultant with over 12 years of experience based in Brighton, UK, with an English degree and an addiction to Wordle! She is a former Journalist of 17 years with the claim to fame that she interviewed three times Grand Slam winner and former World No.1 tennis player, Andy Murray, when he was just 14 years old. You can connect with her at Elizabeth Openshaw | LinkedIn.
