Attn Teachers

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''ve been asked to help out a friend with her resume. She''s a teacher and administrator with a huge amount of experience so her resume goes back like 30 years. Honestly, I''ve never done a resume for a teacher so I don''t know what the key elements are for the industry. I imagine schools look for certain things besides just education and experience. Basically I''m asking, what makes a winning resume for a teaching position?

I don''t know if any of you are willing, but it would be super helpful to see a resume or two (obviously with personal info taken out) so I can get an idea of acceptable format and contents, etc.

Thanks in advance ladies!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

**crickets** **crickets** **crickets**

 

[Tuckins1]

In my personal experience, teachers really need to highlight 1. Education and certification/degrees. 2. Past experience in work. I realize that in 30 years one accrues a vast amount of experience, but name of school and position is important. I would also include any time she was in leadership roles, and any kind of innovative programs that she used or created. I know the thought is that resumes need to be 1-2 pages, but for educators that is just not reasonable!

 

[Haven]

Okay, I changed my info to make it generic, so here are screenshots of my resume. (Sorry, I couldn''t figure out how to post it as one piece.)

HUGE DISCLAIMER: I''ve only been teaching for five years, and I am not an administrator and have ZERO desire for ever becoming an administrator. I DID use a traditional resume when I applied for my CC position, and not a CV, because my teaching experience didn''t warrant a CV.

I have no idea if this is a good resume or not, because I''ve only seen resumes for applicants when I sat on search committees. All I can say is that this is what I used to apply to the only two CC positions that were available, and I was called in for an interview for both positions. (And I got one! Yay!)

I sat on a lot of committees, but I only included information about the committees that applied to the positions available. I also kept it to one page because I have so little experience, thus far. Five years is nothing in the teaching world.

SO, with all those disclaimers, here it is:

 

[PinkTower]

Teacher here.

In our district, resumes are no longer accepted. One may only apply online using the online form.

 

[Haven]

I saw so many different formats for resumes when I sat on search committees. I only sat on one administrative search committee, and that was for our new English Department chair. Their resumes looked similar, with the exception that some included an "Administrative Experience" section in addition to a "Teaching Experience" section.

I tend to like resumes that use a serifed font more than those that use a san-serifed font. I think they're easier to read. I use Garamond for everything I do, so that is what I used on my resume.

I hope Swimmer pops into this thread. She's a school administrator, and I think she'll have much more useful advice than anything I can provide. Hopefully MariaD will see this thread, too. I believe she's a veteran teacher, as well.

 

[Haven]

Date: 5/12/2010 12:31:09 PM
Author: Pink Tower
Teacher here.

In our district, resumes are no longer accepted. One may only apply online using the online form.

Pink Tower's post reminded me of something I meant to say earlier:

If I've learned one thing about education here on PS, it's that expectations vary greatly amongst districts and regions. A standard resume in my area can be something that gets a candidate overlooked in another. Just something to think about!

Our districts use an online application exclusively, as well. However, teachers must upload a pdf version of their resume into the online system.

ETA:

I just remembered that I have a friend's resume on my computer. She's currently a dean, but she's moving into an Asst. Principal position next year. I edited her resume for her.

She has her resume broken into these sections:

- Header with name and contact info
- Statement with a brief description of her strengths and skills
- Administrative Experience section
- Leadership Experience section
- Professional Experience section (She lists her non-administrative positions in education here)
- Education Section
- Certifications Section

She has been in education for seven years, and her resume is two pages long. Her format is probably more appropriate than mine. The layout of her resume looks similar to mine. She has her name and her position titles in a brownish-red color to stand out. That looks quite nice.

 

[katamari]

Can she submit a teaching portfolio? That is what we do in the higher ed world, as a supplement to our CVs. It really helps set applicants apart, IMO.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks ladies!

 

[zoebartlett]

Hey HH -- check your email!

ETA: I forgot to mention in my e-mail that I also include a one page sheet that describes my educational philosophy. This is something we were required to do in grad school and I've updated it over the years. I also throw a professional development page in my packet, highlighting some of the current training sessions I've attended. There are a lot of buzz words on it and it's served as a quick, at a glance record of how I've stayed current with research, etc. A few principals and people on hiring committees have mentioned that they find it helpful.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Great, thank you Zoe! I got your email too...