Planning your Résumé

Updating your portfolio and creating or revising your résumé are the important first steps in your job search. Before composing your résumé, however, take some time to do an inventory: List your traits and skills. Think of skills you have developed through jobs and volunteer work, whether or not they seem to apply to the position you seek, and consider how the skills may apply to your next job. With your skills inventory as a reference, you can begin to build your résumé.

Your résumé layout. Most résumés are one to two pages long and are set up in a chronological, functional, or blended format, depending on what you want to emphasize most. Recent graduates with limited work experience may want to emphasize education and certification, and then list jobs, usually listing most recent experience first. For example, if you volunteered at camps and schools or other places where you gained experience and skills that relate to teaching, you may want to list those experiences first and then follow with a chronological list of paid positions.

Seasoned educators or career changers usually opt for a functional résumé to accentuate experience and skills over employment dates.  

Your résumé style. Your résumé represents you and gives your prospective employer a first impression, so it should reflect you, your personality, qualities, and goals—accurately, concisely, and appropriately. If you plan to apply for various types of educational positions, you may need to create a master résumé that you revise to fit each type of job for which you apply. Remember that your résumé summarizes your education and the skills you bring that are related to the posted position. Keep to the point. Make it easy for the scanner (human or electronic) to identify your eligibility for the position.

Tip: The first “person” to review your résumé may not be a person at all—it could be an electronic scanner. For this reason, be sure your resume includes words and phrases that appear in the job post itself. Scanners will search for key words that are included in the listing, so be sure your résumé makes it through the first scan by using terminology your prospective employer (or the digital scanner) will recognize.

Statement of Teaching Philosophy
In general, your statement of teaching philosophy describes your values and goals for teaching students and concepts for your classroom. The style and amount of information relates to the professional level you seek. For more information, see these links: More about teaching philosophies.

Career Objective
As a teaching candidate, list your certification(s) and endorsements first and the desired position (which should be the position for which you apply) second. You also may brieflylist objectives that match your personal goals if they enhance your changes for being hired (i.e., coaching experience, other endorsements or experiences), but don’t include them in the job description.  

Education/Credentials
List your specific degree, school with location and address, and graduation date (or projected date). Include overall GPA if it enhances your résumé. Also list certification expiration date.

Work History
If you are a recent graduate, list your most recent and education-related work experiences first. Career changers and experienced job seekers may want to list first those work experiences most relevant to desired position, listing most recent history later in the résumé.

Related Experiences to Position Sought
List volunteer and organization experiences that relate to the desired position; include the name and location of the school, camp, or other organization where you gained the experience.

Honors and Awards
List honors and awards you achieved and received whether they are education-related or not. Of course, you’ll want to include your membership in Kappa Delta Pi! Membership in KDP establishes you as one of the best and brightest candidates in education today—and that sets you apart from the crowd.

Community Involvement
Directors, managers, and administrators often look at a candidate’s involvement in the community. List the clubs and organizations in which you participated at school and in your community.

References
Many sources recommend simply stating that references will be supplied upon request. Hiring personnel are busy people, however, and they make consider asking for references as step for which they don’t have time. Also, the person reviewing your résumé may recognize one of your references, which may prompt a follow-up.

As you prepare to write your résumé, list past experiences, including jobs, internships, extracurricular activities, academic accomplishments, and volunteer work. For each area, list these details:

level of involvement, leadership, or responsibilities;

tasks or duties performed;

accomplishments and outcomes; and

specific skills and abilities used (e.g. analytical, research, creative).

Next, analyze what you recorded as though you were the employer and remember to tailor your résumé to highlight items that reflect your career objective. Keep in mind that you will have to tailor both your résumé and your cover letter for the various positions to which you apply. Start with a basic format or template and save the customizations.