So you are about to apply for your first or your next teaching role and are dreading writing or updating your CV? Not a worry, we are here to help!
A good CV or resume is crucial if you want to land your dream teaching role. This is the first impression you are making to the Centre or School. This is your chance to sell yourself and to stand out amongst the crowd. You want to write a professional resume that flows. It needs to outline all of your qualifications and experience. It should showcase why you are the better person for this role as opposed to the next teacher. So where do we start?
Include the right information
Anything you include on your CV should be relevant and in a logical order. This means, put the most important or relevant information first, then flowing into the less relevant info. Eg. If you worked at McDonalds while studying your teaching degree, this would be the last thing I would see on your resume, just before your Hobbies and Interests. Do not include anything that is totally unimportant or irrelevant, as it will just take up valuable space.
Here is a recommended order for your CV:
Start with a Personal Summary
This should only be a couple of sentences long and should provide some quick facts that summarise the rest of your resume. This is where you would include the qualification you have and a brief overview of your experience (even if it is just your placement experience). You could also include any applicable registrations and qualifications.
You should also incorporate a statement about your teaching philosophy, particularly if you are at the beginning of your career.
Outline your work history
Please list your roles in the order of whichever job was most recent. Don’t just state which subjects you taught, but also the applicable year level(s). Under each role, and especially the most recent, outline your key responsibilities and include more information such as committees you’ve led, initiatives you started, awards you’ve won and anything that will show how great an addition you would be to the Centre or School you are applying to.
What if you’re a new graduate teacher? Focus on your placements, again including subjects and year levels. Be sure to outline any achievements and awards as normal, but you can also include any additional roles you’ve taken on during placements, including extra-curricular activities, groups you organised and any positive feedback you received from your mentor teachers. You can also include your non-teaching experience (i.e. other jobs), but always try to contextualise them to teaching – focus on transferable skills.
List Your Relevant Achievements
This section can be option (as achievements can be included among your work history), but many professionals in education recruitment recommend creating a small section of key achievements so you can really promote your best work. Remember this is the first impression you are making to the Centre or School, why should they invite you for an interview?
For each of your previous roles, detail your biggest achievements. Use specific outcomes and numbers where possible. Remember, you want to be able to validate these achievements – use keywords that are applicable to the school for which you’re applying, be clear and concise about what you did and why it was successful then use numbers to back yourself up.
Add Your Qualifications
Education and qualifications are important. You must include all your relevant education, degrees or diplomas, certificates, and practicums. If you have achieved any additional certification outside of teaching (first aid training, non-teaching degrees), include these as well. Remember to include the year and the institution where you studied.
Choose Good Referees
Friends, family, and colleagues might volunteer to be your referees, but for a teaching position, they aren’t the best choice. The best choice is always someone who has seen you teach or people who were involved with you at a management level (i.e. a mentor teacher from your placement if you are a recently qualified teacher, or the Head of Department / Principal of your previous school).
Remember to Proofread
I always recommend to have a friend or mentor teacher or university lecturer have a read of your resume once you have finished. You need to ensure that you do not have any spelling mistakes, is it grammatically correct, have you included information you shouldn’t have etc. Two pairs of eyes are always better than one so ask a friend for a review and constructive criticism.
Template CV
We have a template CV that we would be happy to share with you to help get you started. Please click the Contact Us button to reach out and we would be happy to share this with you.
