A lot of club names, associations, and committees are used in day to day activities in a school setting. If you are a teacher who was involved with these school organizations, you certainly want to include them in your teacher resume.
Teachers make several common mistakes when writing their own resume and cover letter. One is assuming the acronyms they use in their local teaching community will be clear to those reading their resume. Nothing frustrates school administrators more than trying to guess what “Co-director for the MWP" means, for example. If the reviewer doesn’t know what an acronym stands for, they won’t be impressed.
In order to make your teacher resume less confusing, write out the full name of the organization and a short description of its mission and accomplishments. This is essential if the organization served a crucial function or you were an important member, such as an officer.
It is safe to assume that certain acronyms such as PTA are universally known. But it won’t hurt you to write out full names of anything that could be confusing.
The same common mistake applies to names for unique committees and associations. Don’t just write, “Developed and ran The Parent Project" with no explanation as to what that name means. This will not impress your potential employers if they have no idea what this group does. Briefly describe what its purpose was, what its achievements were, and your role within it.
You should be as concise and clear on your teacher resume as possible. But you also need to include important details that show what your commitment to education really is. Otherwise something that could really highlight your dedication or enthusiasm might be hidden among a sea of acronyms and meaningless committee names.
To see if this is a problem with your resume, have a non-teacher friend read your resume and clarify anything that is confusing to them. Take the same care with your teacher cover letter and you will stand out from the crowd!
First Year Teacher Resume
In fact, your teacher resume may be the one thing that gets you the interview.
There is no question that teaching jobs are extremely difficult to secure these days. The fact is the baby boomers are not retiring in the numbers most experts thought (who can blame them?life is just too expensive) and many people are switching careers and going into teaching (who can blame them'it's a great job with great benefits).
However, this means there are more and more teachers looking for fewer and fewer available teaching jobs.
For these reasons it is not uncommon for schools to receive 500 -1000 applications for just one teaching position.
Unfortunately, this makes it extremely difficult to even get an interview for a teaching position.
Fortunately, there are many things that you can do to separate yourself form the other 1000 applicants and you should make sure to do them all.
This article, however, will focus on just one?your teacher resume. Actually, this article will focus on just one aspect of your teacher resume?your objective.
Every teacher resume should start out with an objective right at the top! I know this may sound obvious to many, and many may argue they are doing this already.
However, most teachers are not taking full advantage of their teacher resume objective.
This one sentence, if done correctly, will give your teacher resume a huge edge over the competition.
The truth is I stopped including my own objective when I first started applying for teaching positions thinking it wasn't necessary as I thought all I was doing was just stating the obvious.
It was not until I got involved with teacher recruitment and started sitting on various teacher interview committees that I realized leaving my objective out of my teacher resume was a HUGE mistake.
You see?there are two major problems with most teacher resumes and I can show you how to overcome both of these obstacles with a powerfully written teacher resume objective.
The first major problem with most teacher resumes is that they do not immediately let the reader know what SPECIFIC position the applicant is applying for. What many people don't realize is that the teacher interview committee is not just interviewing for one position at one specific grade level. Those on the teacher interview committee are actually interviewing for many positions at many different grade levels.
If you don't include your objective in your teacher resume'an objective that clearly and specifically states the teaching position you are applying for?then you are making it more difficult on the teacher interview committee. They do not know if your resume is for a first grade teaching position or an 8th grade teaching position. This is a big mistake!
This goes hand in hand with the other major problem with most teacher resumes?they do nothing to STAND OUT!
This would be a big problem if there were only a handful of applicants, but when there are over 500 applicants it is a major concern. If your teacher resume does not stand out amongst the others how then can you expect to get a call for an interview?
When those on the teacher interview committee sit down to go through all the applications they may very likely be going through hundreds of teacher resumes at a time. Their initial goal is to divide the resumes into various piles. At least one of those piles will be the pile that never gets looked at again?the ones whose teacher resumes did nothing to stand out?the ones whose teacher resumes simply all blended into one another. Unfortunately, after a while almost all the teacher resumes start to do just that?blend in.
This is why it is imperative that you make your teacher resume stand out!
How?
Again, with a well constructed teacher resume objective.
A focused objective grabs attention instantly and will make you stand out brilliantly, but only if you do it right.
However, most applicants that use an objective in their resume don't do it right?they simply state "Objective: Seeking an 8th grade social studies position"
While this is better than nothing'it is not nearly enough.
Try this instead: "Objective: 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher ? Seeking to interview for a position where ten years of teaching experience and a passion for education will add value to [insert school name]
See the difference? The second example really stands out AND you personalized the resume by inserting the name of their school.
Also, notice how the above example subtly ASKS for the interview. ?
So at the top of your next teacher resume, start it off with an "objective" that clearly states the teaching position you are applying for and one or two well-written sentences that speak about your specific skills pertaining to that teaching position.
Use this powerful tip to energize your teacher resume.
Both Laura Malischke & Adam Waxler are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Laura Malischke has sinced written about articles on various topics from Cover Letter. Laura Malischke, owner of Great Teacher Resumes is a professional resume writer and an acclaimed teacher resume expert. She has written hundreds of resumes for clients all over the United States and Canada. To learn more about Ms. Malischke please. Laura Malischke's top article generates over 1900 views. Bookmark Laura Malischke to your Favourites.
Adam Waxler has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Interview Questions and Arthritis Signs. Are you still looking for a teaching job?Get the inside secrets on how to get a teacher interview an outright ACE it at. Adam Waxler's top article generates over 6600 views. Bookmark Adam Waxler to your Favourites.
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