Teacher resume examples that show what your students learned

What a principal looks for first

A principal or hiring committee reads a teacher resume with three questions, in this order:

1. Can you legally teach this job? Public schools need a state-issued license or certificate, which usually means a bachelor's degree, student teaching, a background check and the state's exams. Your license, grade band and endorsements must be easy to find.
2. Have you taught these students? Grade level, subject, class size, and who was in the room (English learners, students with IEPs).
3. Did they learn? Growth on an assessment the school knows, and how you got there.

Everything else (tools, committees, clubs) supports those three.

The order of sections

Some teachers put the license block at the very top, under their name. That works too. What matters is that it is on the first half of the first page.

Teacher resume examples: bullet lines to adapt

Each line names a grade or group, an action and a result you could show from your own records. Change the numbers to yours, and leave out any you cannot back up.

Where your numbers come from

You already have more numbers than you think. None of them should name a student.

Teacher resume skills

List the skills the posting names, if they are true for you. Group them so a reader can scan them in a few seconds.

• Teaching: guided reading, small-group instruction, differentiation, classroom management, co-teaching, project-based learning.
• Assessment: running records, progress monitoring, formative assessment, using benchmark data to plan.
• Students: English learner support, IEP and 504 plan follow-through, positive behavior support.
• Tools: your learning platform (Google Classroom, Canvas), your student information system, an interactive whiteboard.
• Soft skills: clear communication with families, patience, teamwork with your grade-level team, staying calm in a hard moment.

Soft skills land better in your bullet lines than in a list. "Met every family twice a year" says communication better than the word does.

Teacher resume summary and objective

Experienced teacher (summary):

New teacher (objective):

Changing subjects or grades: say both sides in one line, for example "Middle school science teacher of five years, adding a high school biology endorsement this spring."

How to write the license line

Write the license type, the grade band or subject, the state, and the date. For example:

If your state uses the Praxis tests, the passed tests are worth a line while your license is pending. Teachers in private schools typically do not need a license, but a license still shows a private school you are trained, so keep the line anyway.

If you are a new teacher

Treat student teaching as your first job: school, grade, mentor teacher's role, dates, and three lines about what you planned, taught and changed. Then add any work with children (tutoring, camp, coaching, paraprofessional or substitute work). A first-year resume fits on one page, like any entry-level resume.

Mistakes that cost teachers interviews

• Listing duties every teacher has. "Created lesson plans" and "graded assignments" tell a principal nothing. Say what the plans led to.
• Hiding the license. If the principal has to hunt for your license or grade band, the resume goes back on the pile.
• Leaving out the students you taught. Grade, subject, class size, and groups such as English learners shape where you fit.
• Naming a student, or a child's scores. Use counts and percentages for the class, never a name.
• Education jargon with no result. "Implemented data-driven differentiated instruction" means nothing until you add what changed.
• One resume for every school. A Title I elementary and a suburban middle school want different things. Move the matching lines up.

You can build this resume here with the example as your guide, and change the bullets to your own classroom.