Teacher Resume Skills to Build Up Your Future

Educators make incalculable impacts on their students as educators, mentors, and role models. As such, prospective teachers should be well-qualified to take on such important positions. This could mean gaining educational experience, focusing on a specific topic or education type, or learning to teach a variety of subjects. To market themselves, aspiring educators must develop the appropriate teacher resume skills to highlight their advanced education, their expertise in the classroom, and their impact on their students.

An advanced degree in education, such as an online Master of Arts (MA) in Teaching program can provide current and prospective teachers with the skills and advanced knowledge they need to help students succeed and grow.

Tailor Your Resume to the Job Description

One of the most critical aspects of showcasing your experience is tailoring your resume to the job description. A teaching job description varies in some of its particulars, so you must modify your resume for each position you apply for. On any given day, a teacher may:

• Find unique approaches to convey academic subject matter
• Devise lesson plans
• Research new educational programs or activities for students
• Consult with outside education experts on innovative teaching programs and methods
• Communicate with parents and schools about student progress
• Grade homework and monitor student performance
• Handle student discipline
• Coordinate fun classroom events and activities
• Help address the educational, emotional, and health concerns of special needs students
• Review and respond to student and parent feedback
• Attend professional development workshops and teaching conferences

All teachers are ultimately guided by the determination to help their students learn and grow. How teachers choose to do this will reflect their own unique teaching styles. A good resume can reflect a teacher’s individual style while also addressing a job’s particular requirements.

Top Skills to Include in Your Teacher Resume

When applying for education jobs, teachers can expect hiring managers to evaluate their resumes against specific preferred teacher resume skills, including the following:

• Conflict resolution to address student issues
• Ability to clearly present and explain education material to students
• Classroom management skills, ensuring a positive learning environment for everyone
• Lesson preparation and planning
• Patience and empathy for student concerns
• Leadership and management when guiding students
• Imagination and innovation when crafting lesson plans
• Collaboration and candor when speaking with students and parents
• Delegation and teamwork abilities when working with other teachers and administrators
• Willingness to learn and evolve throughout the school year and across the career
• Familiarity with the most current principles in pedagogy and student development

Aspiring teachers may also want to gain additional skills, such as certifications in other fields in which they may want to teach, competence in using new educational technology, and licensure for working in different educational capacities. Additionally, teachers who wish to focus on a specific subject matter (such as science or mathematics) can use their resumes to highlight their credentials or background in these areas.

How to Build Up Your Resume

Additional ways in which teachers can build resumes to present them in the best light include highlighting their degrees and certifications, as well as their classroom teaching experience and other work in the field.

Highlighting Your Education Background

Aspiring teachers who want to work in the public school system or teach a certain grade or academic subject usually need to earn a bachelor’s degree. Typically, teachers earn a bachelor’s degree in education; however, they may still be able to find work as public school teachers if they have a bachelor’s degree in a field relevant to their target subject or teaching area. For example, strong teacher resume skills paired with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics may help land a teaching job in high school math.

Aspiring teachers who want to compete for teaching jobs often need to earn certain teaching and educational certifications sponsored by their state, city, or school district. Specific requirements will vary, though, depending on where aspiring teachers want to teach, what subjects they want to cover, and the age or type of students with whom they want to work.

Highlighting Your Professional Experience

Typically, schools require teachers to have a certain amount of professional teaching experience or other work experience related to teaching. This can include internships or volunteer work as a student teacher, substitute teacher, support teacher, or tutor in a school. It may also include working with children’s educational or recreational programs, such as after-school initiatives or summer camps.

Aspiring teaching professionals in a bachelor’s or master’s program often complete internships or fieldwork to gain professional experience as well. Educators can highlight these unique opportunities in their resumes to increase their chances of getting a teaching job.

Teacher Salaries

A teacher’s salary can vary depending on years of experience in the role; school district; type of school; or district, city, or state where the teacher works. Salary is also a reflection of the education and skill level of the candidate.

As of 2021, high school teachers earned a median salary of $61,820 per year, while kindergarten and elementary school teachers earned a median salary of $61,350 per year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Additionally, the BLS reports that teacher assistants (professionals who often support a full-time teacher in a school or university environment) earned a median salary of $29,360 per year.

Future Growth of Teacher Jobs

The projected job outlook for teachers is strong. Increasing population numbers suggest that there’ll be an even greater number of children enrolling in school in the coming years, requiring more teachers to teach them. As such, the teacher job market is growing at pace with other professions, exhibiting growth rates of roughly 7 to 8 percent.

Additionally, the rise of charter schools; private schools; and new types of educational programs and facilities, such as online programs for college degrees or high school diplomas, also points to more employment opportunities for educators. Teachers who are able to quickly adapt to technological trends, gain new teaching skills, and cater to the unique needs and challenges of diverse populations will be in the strongest position to succeed and grow in this field.

Start Your Teaching Career

Succeeding as a teacher takes more than just cultivating teacher resume skills. It requires dedication, determination, and a passion for helping students learn and thrive.

A career as a teacher can be rewarding, but it’s also a challenging and competitive profession. American University’s online MA in Teaching program provides the teachers of tomorrow with program pillars in Antiracist Pedagogy, Practice-Based Teacher Education, and the Science of Learning. It also has an extensive background in topics shaping education today, significant educational theory knowledge, and a firm foundation in how to make an impact on individual students and educational communities. Discover how to make a difference in students’ lives with AU today.