Resume Guide For Teachers (Page 2 of 12) in pdf

Teaching Resume Aesthetics, Content & Editing

Writing a Teaching Resume is an art, not a science. There is no one correct way to formulate your resume, but

there are some best practices and standards that the Career Center recommends. Stand out from the crowd

with high quality content and a clearly written, error-free document. Teaching Resumes need to be

aesthetically pleasing, dense with relevant content and properly edited.

Aesthetics: Always remember to have a classic, professional resume. This includes the font choice,

consistency, an appropriate amount of white space, length and overall appearance of the resume. Teaching is a

creative and innovative profession; a teaching resume should be strictly professional. Professional means

there should not beany pictures, colors or designs on your resume. Those within the education field will

immediately exclude you from potential candidates if your resume has poor aesthetics and is not professional.

Content: While aesthetic mistakes can take you out of the running for a position, the content of the resume is

what will make you stand out from the crowd. Experiences you choose to include in your teaching resume

should be the most relevant to your target audience. Accomplishment statements are intended to expand on

your relevant experience and highlight your expertise. Look to page 8 for more advice on accomplishment

statements.

Editing : Editing is a necessary component of resume writing that is often underutilized. Editing is where you

and others assure that content is accurate and aesthetics are pin point. Have Career Development review your

resume as well as colleagues and faculty.

 Reverse Chronological Order: Within each section on the resume, your experience must go in reverse

chronological order, meaning from new to old.

 Accomplishment Statements (Bullet Points): Eliminate the pronoun “I” at the beginning of each bullet

point as this is assumed. Avoid introductory and wind-up phrases such as “My duties included...” and

“My responsibilities were…” . Describe accomplishments, rather than listing duties, quantify outcomes

whenever possible, and be sure to highlight your proficiency in teaching and transferable skills. More

description on Accomplishment statements can be found on page

 Length: With rare exceptions, student teachers and new teachers should keep their resume to 1 page. If

you have difficulty narrowing down your resume, consider removing elements that are not closely related

to teaching; Ask yourself, “Will this experience enhance and support my future in education and

teaching?”

 Margins: Make your resume visually attractive by using an appropriate amount of whitespace to allow

the reader’s eye to rest. Using .8 inch to 1.5 inch margins is standard practice.

 Font: Use a professional font that is easy to read. Times New Roman, Arial, and Courier New are good

choices. A 10-12 point font size is recommended.

 Consistency: The formatting of a resume needs to be consistent. For example, if you choose to bold a job

title, make sure you bold every job title. Also, make sure that everything lines up neatly on the page.

 Accuracy: Your resume, and all other job search materials, must be 100% error free. Be sure to carefully

read through your resume, checking grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Editing a resume can always use

another set of eyes; have as many people proofread it as possible, and, come to the Career Center!

 Paper Quality: Use a high quality paper stock (24-32 lb, 25% cotton fiber, 8-1/2 x 11) when mailing your

resume or bringing one to an interview. Use the same paper for cover letters and thank you letters. White,

ivory, or light grey are good choices

 Digital Resumes: Always convert your resume to PDF (Portable Document Format) when send as an

email attachment or uploading to a web site. This will preserve your formatting.

Resume Guide For Teachers Page 2