Smart Tools

Tips on How to Write a Great Résumé

When you apply as a teacher, the first thing school principals or human resource officers see is your résumé. A résumé should then be a clear, brief history of your work experience, education and accomplishments, enough to convince them that they need you.

In the résumé you have now, do you clearly present facts in an easy-to-read style? Can the interested employer easily know your strengths with one glance? Do you use dynamic action verbs?

To produce a strong and dynamic vibe the moment the employer sees your resume, take into consideration the following tips:

  1. Think relevance. Stop yourself from turning a resume into an extensive autobiography. It should be a compilation of what the employer is looking for.
  2. Try to be concise. If you have to make it two pages, fill both pages up.
  3. Accuracy counts. Refrain from exaggerating accomplishments or dates. Remember that they can call your references anytime.
  4. Be organized and neat. The document should be free from typos, erasures and creases.
  5. Spell and grammar check. Ask a friend to look at it again. There should be no spelling or grammatical errors, especially since you’re in the teaching profession.
  6. Use action words. Stay away from passive, weak or vague phrases.
  7. Be consistent. When it comes to format, there should be proper punctuation, consistent verb tense, proper order of dates and similar spacing.
  8. Avoid abbreviations.
  9. Steer clear of elementary or high school information. What matters is the college data in your educational attainment section.
  10. Use bullets. When it comes to describing duties and responsibilities, use bullets to give the impression they are quick and easy to read.
  11. Be professional. Use quality paper and print it properly, with no ink blots. Fonts should be professional looking (no cursives, sans serifs, and handwriting-like styles).
  12. Limit personal information. These days, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or marital status should not be used as basis for hiring a person.
  13. Highlight the right things. In your case, highlight teaching experience, educational and licensure qualifications, seminars, grants, masters degree scholarships and fellowships.
  14. Emphasize key skills. For those with teaching experience, you can highlight the number of years you’ve spent teaching a particular subject (if science, how many years spent teaching general science, biology, chemistry, physics, etc). For the newly licensed, include practicum hours, student teaching rotations, or student aid experiences.
  15. Specify why you’re a top performer. Employers want to hire the cream of the crop. Thus, you should include what you contributed above your basic responsibilities to the school/s you taught in. This can include involvements in committees, review boards, after-school programs, school sports, fundraisers, community education drives, literacy board, new teacher mentorship, cross-training in different subjects, new school program launch or outside education. The more you have these, the more they will be impressed at your value as a team member.
  16. Plan the layout of your resume. Carefully present yourself to your best advantage. Separate profile, key skills, talents and experience, from major achievements and employment history.
  17. Add a cover letter. Unless a job advertisement specifies it, always send a cover letter with your resume. Add three areas of experience most relevant to the advertised job.
  18. Adapt to the job you’re applying for. One resume cannot be used for all job applications. Tailor your resume to suit the position. This way, you’re more concise and straight to the point.
  19. Look at the end result. For every point you add, always ask yourself, “What does this say about me?” Does it comprehensively represent the best you?

Sources:

“How to produce a cover letter that gets you noticed.” Retrieved May 6, 2009 from
http://www.bradleycvs.co.uk/cv-writing-tips/cv-letter.htm
“How to Write a Teacher Resume.” Retrieved May 6, 2009 from
http://www.ehow.com/how_4780687_write-teacher-resume.html
Kennedy, NS. “How To Write The Best Teacher Resume You Can.” Retrieved May 6, 2009 from
http://www.articlealley.com/article_24000_36.html
“Top 10 tips for producing a better CV.” Retrieved May 6, 2009 from http://www.bradleycvs.co.uk/cv-writing-tips/cv-better-cv.htm

(Published 18 May 2009, Smart Communications, Inc.)