How To Put Teach For America On Your Resume

Use A Teacher Resume Template

As a teacher, you will likely work with Microsoft Word on a daily basis.

However, this is not one of those times.

The program is best avoided if you want to avoid formatting issues.

Use a teacher resume template for a resume that stays structurally strong. Any of the following templates can be easily tailored for a teacher application.

Resume Samples And Tips For Jobs In Education

The Balance/ Miguel Co

When writing a resume, it’s helpful to review examples of resumes that are related to your occupation. Your resume should reflect the latest trends in resumes for your field, including the format, as well as what you choose to include and how you include it.

In the competitive field of education, you will want your resume to stand out and highlight your ability to learn and grow in the industry’s current environment.

Here is a list of education-related resume examples to give you ideas for your own resume. The list includes resumes for early childhood education, teaching abroad, and related positions such as camp counselor and librarian.

How To Format A Teacher Resume

Before you can educate the recruiter on your skills and experiences, you need to choose the most suitable resume format for teaching.

You see, even the best applicant needs a resume format that is easy to read and follow.

With reverse-chronological being the most common resume format, we recommend this format for teachers. It highlights your most recent work experience first, and then works back through your history and skills.

You could also try the two following formats:

• Functional Resume – This format focuses on your skills, which makes it the best format for teachers that are highly-skilled, but have little in the way of classroom experience.
• Combination Resume – This format mixes both Functional and Reverse-Chronological formats, which means it focuses on both your teaching skills AND teaching experience.

Stick to a one-page teacher resume. This shows that youre able to information brief and precise. Feel free to check out our one-page resume templates for inspiration.

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How To Write A Resume Recruiters Will Read

Resume writing is hard stuff. For teachers, it is even harder because traditional advice on writing a resume may not always translate. Since thats the case, heres some advice to help you get your resume read by recruitment teams like ours.

I came up with the following seven tips to help you write a more-engaging resume.

1. Explicitly State You are Part of Any Teacher Preparation Organizations

If youre a TFA corps member or part of Americorps, or a teaching fellow through a TNTP program, recruiters want to know. They also dont want to search for that information. You can put the organization affiliation right in the employer line. It makes sense, and its easy to find that way.

If you stuff important organizational information in one of the many bullet points on your resume, theres a good chance a recruiter or screener wont even see it. That would be a shame since you worked really hard to get into that program and have been doing great things ever since.

Dont make it hard for screeners to find it.

2. Talk Results and Numbers

There are multiple schools of thought when it comes to what actually goes on your resumes. When it comes to teaching and education, people like to write their job description into their list of accomplishments.

3. Highlight What Matters to You

This is not the time to put a head shot on your resume.

4. Specifically Name Programs and Curriculum

5. Tailor the Content of Your Resume to the Posted Position

8. Format it Well

How To List Your Education Correctly

The next section in any good teacher resume is the education section.

Now, theres a few different paths you can follow to become a professional teacher.

All you need to do in this section is describe your educational path to date.

• Degree Type & Major
• GPA, Honours, Courses, and other relevant achievements

Heres a practical example:

Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education

Boston State University

Relevant Courses: Foundations of Education, Early Childhood Development, Physical Sciences, Computer Literacy, Classroom Engagement & Development

GPA: 3.8

Right, lets answer some of the most frequently asked questions:

What if Im still studying?

• Whether or not youve passed all of your teaching exams, you should always mention every year that you have studied to date.

Should I include my high school qualifications?

• Only include your highest form of qualification. If thats a qualification from high school, then go for it.

What comes first, education or experience?

• If youre an experienced teacher, your work experience should come before your education.

If you still have questions, you can check out our guide on how to list education on a resume.

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What Goldman Sachs Tells Us About Teach For America

Last week, Goldman Sachs announced that it would scale back its two-year analyst program and eliminate the bonus at the end of the two years. This comes as a shock to many college seniors and forecasts a potential trend among college-hire programs in other companies. More importantly, it also provides a new perspective on a completely different organization, Teach for America, and how we can fix it.

Among college seniors, an analyst position with Goldman Sachs is often regarded as a golden meal ticket to a successful future business career. It pays well and looks good on a resume. The same could be said about Teach for America, minus the money. Both programs carry with it a certain prestige sought by frantic college seniors on the verge of graduation. This has little to do with what each college senior might want to do with the rest of his or her life, but only with the general pressure associated with scrambling to find some resemblance of security.

So most college seniors turn to our most basic instinct, what has helped us succeed for so long, and what we have in many cases been taught to excel at: competition. Among business-oriented individuals, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley become the Holy Grail. For those who are ideally opposed to investment banking, but don’t yet want to go to graduate school, Teach for America becomes the goal at the end of the tunnel.

Both paths become a competition.

Teacher Trainer Skills And Qualifications

• Teaching experience – teacher trainers have previous teaching experience. Many teacher trainers once worked in the same role they are working to train and coach
• Training experience – successful teacher trainers also have prior experience training adults and are familiar with adult learning theory
• Organization skills – teacher trainers display a high level of organization, as they often juggle multiple schedules and responsibilities at any given time
• Conflict management – teacher trainers are successful conflict managers. They recognize when conflict is about to happen and can deescalate the situation before conflict arises
• Communication skills – teacher trainers are expert communicators. They use active listening and interpersonal communication skills to clearly and concisely convey their meaning

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How To Make Your Teaching Work Experience Stand Out

The best way to prove your worth as a teacher is with your previous work experience.

Sure, the recruiter will want to see that you have lots of subject knowledge, but nothing builds confidence more than your professional experience.

Follow this layout in your experience section:

• Kept pass rates above 80% from 2017-2020
• Improved attendance by 12% in the first school year
• Graded classroom papers for 12 classes of 30+ pupils

As you may notice, the above example focuses on the candidates best achievements.

So, instead of saying:

Taught children for three years

Go for:

Kept pass rates above 80% from 2017-2020

The second statement goes into specific details that show youre a great teacher.

Pro Tip:

Use the job description to help you. Look to see if there is anything in the job description that matches your work history. If there is, include it in this section.

How To Write A Teacher Resume Summary Or Objective

Heres a question for the class:

How long do you think recruiters spend reading through the average resume?

If you said less than a minute, you would be correct.

This means your resume needs to really impress within this short timeframe.

The nest question is, what can you do to make the most important easy to see and consume?

Simple: use a resume summary or objective.

These are punchy paragraphs that go on top of your resume, just under the contact section.

The main difference between the two sections is that:

A resume summary is a short summary of your teaching experiences and achievements. It is the best option for teachers who have taught for multiple years.

Teacher Resume Summary Example

• Passionate English Teacher with a focus on American literature seeks a permanent position at XYZ School. Highlights from five years of teaching experience include improving college admission success rate by 40% at ABC High School. Excited about leveraging 5000 hours of teaching experience to give an inspiring classroom experience for your students.

On the other hand, the resume objective focuses on your professional goals and aspirations. It is ideal for entry-level teaching candidates or individuals who are seeking a change in their professional career.

Teacher Resume Objective Example

So, which one is best for you?

Well, a summary is suited for teachers who have a lot of classroom experience, whereas an objective is suited for those who are new to the world of teaching .

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Teacher Trainer Duties And Responsibilities

While a teacher trainer’s day-to-day responsibilities are determined by where they work, there are many core tasks associated with the role. Based on our analysis of job listings, these include:

Coach Teachers and Other Staff The main responsibility of teacher trainers is coaching teachers and other staff through leading a classroom properly. This includes planning classroom curriculum and holding training courses for teachers of various backgrounds.

Set Goals for Teachers and Other Staff Teacher trainers help teachers and other staff set progress goals for their classrooms. Teacher trainers evaluate the current level of knowledge a teacher has and make goals based on that knowledge.

Measure Teacher and Staff Progress As teachers and other staff apply the teacher trainer’s lessons to their work, the teacher trainer measures their progress and determines where they can improve. They often sit in on classes to measure teacher performance.

Report on Teacher and Staff Performance After measuring their students’ progress, teacher trainers compile reports and present them to school administrators and other involved parties. This includes answering any questions upper management may have and presenting new strategies for improving teaching staff performance.

Oversee Classroom Activities From time to time, teacher trainers may oversee classroom activities. As a part of this responsibility, they may help plan curriculum and observe lessons to determine how successful they are.

Tips For Writing Your Resume

What should you include in the resume you submit for your Teach For America application? Follow these four pieces of advice.

• Application Tips

The resume you submit with your application to Teach For America provides us with critical information to get to know you. In a nutshell, it should highlight your academic and professional achievements, as well as your leadership experience.

Whether youve recently graduated or are coming from the professional ranks, weve put together four vital tips on how to produce an exceptional resume.

For more information on what you should include on your resume, check out our Preparation Tips and examples of effective resumes for college students, recent college graduates, working professionals, and military veterans.

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What Is Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with 350 urban and rural communities across the country to expand educational opportunity for children.

Founded in 1990, TFA is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. TFA recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders. Corps members make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schoolsand become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity.

Today, TFA has more than 64,000 alumni and corps members working in over 9,000 schools nationwide, on a mission to transform education and create a more equitable system for students.

Top photo credit: Sally Ryan

Teach For America In North Carolina

In North Carolina, TFA has nearly 2,000 corps members and alumni, teaching and leading in all sectors. From classrooms to school districts to state houses, TFA members are reimagining education, so that one day every child will have an equal opportunity to learn, lead and create a future filled with possibility.

As a North Carolina corps member, youll either teach in TFAs Charlotte-Piedmont Triad region or Eastern North Carolina region. The Charlotte-Piedmont Triad region places corps members in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Guilford County Schools. In Eastern North Carolina, corps members teach in one of 12 placement counties .

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Match Your Cover Letter With Your Resume

Oh no, more writing!?

We feel your pain, but its for great reason.

Cover letters still play a vital role in the application process.

This guide has taught you how to build the best teacher resume possible, but even that may not be enough to secure your dream position.

Even better, the recruiter will know that you want this position at this school.

Just like with the resume, the cover letter needs to be structured correctly. Heres how to do that:

And heres what goes in each section:

Education Reform That Helps Only Your Resume

Last month, I got an email from a recruiter. An associate of Teach For America, citing a minor leadership role in a student organization as evidence that I have distinguished as a leader here on Harvards campus, asked me to meet with Harvards TFA representative on campus. Dropping phrases like race and class, equal opportunities, and educational injustice, the recruiter promised that I could have a significant impact on a classroom in an underserved community.

I have thought for many years about teaching high school history. But I stopped replying to this email after a few exchanges.

I am not interested in TFA.

For one, I am far from ready to enter a classroom on my own. Indeed, in my experience Harvard students have increasingly acknowledged that TFA drastically underprepares its recruits for the reality of teaching. But more importantly, TFA is not only sending young, idealistic, and inexperienced college grads into schools in neighborhoods different from where theyre fromits also working to destroy the American public education system. As a hopeful future teacher, that is not something I could ever conscionably put my name behind.

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An Alum Who Has Reviewed 100000 Resumes For An Organization That Places Educators In Title 1 Schools Tells How To Avoid Resume Mistakes

At OneTeacher, an organization that works to place teachers and administrators at Title I schools in Arizona, Nina Tinsley has reviewed more than 100,000 resumés while working as a director of outreach and now the senior director of marketing and development.

She also shares advice on the alumni platform TFA Connect Beta. The organization is currently hiring educators for the 2019-20 school year. We asked Tinsley: What are the most common resumé mistakes that you see?

A: One is a lack of data. I want to see numbers. It could be student achievement data, how you did on teacher evaluations, just something to show that youre achievement-minded. One thing that raises questions is gaps in your job history. If you have taken a true leave from the workforce for a good reason, perhaps to raise a child, then put that in your resumé and explain it. You dont need to be cute about itmanager of the home, domestic goddessjust explain it.

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What If You Dont Have Work Experience

Maybe youre a graduate who hasnt worked before?

Or maybe you want a career change?

Whatever your situation, there are options.

The main option is to use a portfolio.

Here are several ways to build a teaching portfolio :

• Use a freelance platform to pick up some private tutoring gigs
• Use social media to offer your teaching services to friends & acquaintances

For the students reading this, youll enjoy our guide on how to make a student resume!

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The Inside Scoop On How To Write A Resume That Will Get You Hired As An English Teacher Abroad

There’s an old cliché that “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” and when you apply for jobs teaching English abroad – or just about any job for that matter – your resume, or “CV”, can make or break your chances of getting an interview and ultimately the job you want. Here are some key points to help you put together a killer resume that will greatly enhance your prospects of getting the job you want teaching English abroad, whether it be in China, Spain, Argentina or anywhere else.

*Note: This article is an excerpt from the 350-page International TEFL Academy Job Search Guidance Manual that is provided exclusively to International TEFL Academy students and graduates as part of their lifetime Job Search Guidance. It was prepared by expert job placement advisors in the Student Affairs Department at ITA, who provide personal assistance to hundreds of students and graduates each year with their resume and cover letter in addition to other aspects of the job search and interviewing process.