Developing Your Resume

Now that you have a clear understanding of what you have to offer to an employer and have researched the directions and expectations of your target school board, you are ready to develop an effective resume.

Your resume is a reflection of you – your skills, education and experience. Make certain you spend the time and effort required to develop a professional document that will help you in your search for a teaching position.

What are the common elements in a resume?

Employers often receive hundreds of applications for a single teaching position. You want to create a resume that attracts attention, and is also well-structured, easy to read and cleanly presented.

Headings

Here are the key headings to include in your resume:

Personal Information

Include your name, address, telephone number and email address if you regularly check your email
Do not include other personal information like your social insurance number, health status, marital status, citizenship etc.

Education

List education achievement in order of most recent first
List date, degree, name of institution and location of institution
Include special awards, scholarships or bursaries

Additional qualifications

List additional qualifications here
List date, course title, name of institution

Work Experience

List start year and end year, position title, organization name and location
Use bullets to list most important and applicable responsibilities and accomplishments
Begin bullets with action words (see list of action words below)
Avoid using personal pronouns (such as, "I")
Include volunteer experiences

Activities and Interests

Transferable skills are often demonstrated in this section
List clubs, professional associations, volunteer experiences, interests and other activities
Define level of responsibility, duties and any special accomplishments

References

List three professional references; ideally, at least one should have seen you teach
Provide title, organization, telephone number and email address for each
Be sure you have spoken to references before using their names
Obtain alternate numbers for references if vacations are a possibility

Other possible headings include professional development, language skills or special skills, extra-curricular or co-curricular activities. (This is not an exhaustive list. These headings should suit your skills and experience, as well as the needs of the school that your experiences and interests may address)

List of Action Words to Use in Your Resume
Able Accepted Accommodated Accomplished Achieved Acquired Acted Activated Adapted Adjusted Administered Advised Allocated Analyzed Answered Applied Appointed Appraised Arranged Assembled Assessed Assigned Assisted Assured Attended Audited Authorized Automated Balanced Began Brought Built Calculated Canvassed Cared for Categorized Classified Coached Coded Collaborated Collected Combined	Commended Communicated Compared Compiled Completed Composed Computed Conceived Conducted Conferred Confirmed Consolidated Constructed Contacted Contributed Controlled Converted Coordinated Correlated Counselled Created Cultivated Customized Dealt with Debugged Decided Dedicated Defined Delegated Delivered Demonstrated Described Designated Designed Detailed Detected Determined Developed Devised Diagnosed Directed Discussed	Disseminated Documented Drafted Earned Edited Educated Employed Encoded Encouraged Engaged Engineered Enhanced Ensured Established Estimated Evaluated Examined Excelled Exercised Exerted Expanded Explained Facilitated Filed Finalized Forecast Formulated Forwarded Founded Furnished Gathered Generated Graded Granted Guided Handled Headed Helped Identified Implemented Improved Improvised	Increased Indexed Indicated Influenced Informed Initiated Inspected Instituted Instructed Integrated Interacted Interfaced Interpreted Interviewed Introduced Invented Investigated Justified Labeled Launched Lectured Led Licensed Located Maintained Managed Manipulated Manufactured Measured Mechanized Mediated Minimized Modeled Modified Monitored Motivated Negotiated Notified Observed Obtained Operated Orchestrated	Ordered Organized Originated Outlined Oversaw Packaged Participated Perceived Performed Planned Positioned Postulated Prepared Prescribed Presented Presided Printed Processed Produced Programmed Promoted Provided Published Qualified Questioned Rated Received Recommended Recorded Reduced Referred Regulated Related Removed Reorganized Repaired Replaced Reported Represented Researched Responded Reviewed	Revised Saved Scheduled Screened Searched Secured Selected Served Set Settled Simplified Solicited Spoke Stimulated Strengthened Studied Submitted Succeeded Summarized Supervised Supplied Surveyed Taught Tested Theorized Trained Transferred Transformed Translated Transmitted Transported Treated Tutored Updated Used Utilized Verified Visited Volunteered Worked

From Employment Handbook for Teachers Student Services OISE/UT

Bullets

Action-oriented and detailed bullets are an absolute key. Adding more detail will create interest in your reader and give him/her a better picture of what you have done. Compare the following examples:

Example 1

Instructed students in Grade 9 and 11 Mathematics
Designed and taught grades 9 and 11 Mathematics classes, incorporating a variety of group-based learning strategies

Example 2

Evaluated and assessed student performance
Assessed students’ learning by using various tools, such as questions/discussions, a variety of assignments, homework, rubrics, quizzes, and tests

In each case, the second bullet provides a richer description of what you have done and will create more interest in the reader.

Check that every bullet in your resume begins with an action verb and that it contains at least some detailed information about your job activities. Gear these details towards what you know are expected teaching skills, such as assessment, classroom management, supporting diverse learners. This requires creativity, and lots of time and effort.

Format

Don’t underestimate the importance of having a resume that is well-formatted with a good sized, easily readable font (i.e., 12 pt, Times New Roman). Don’t crowd your margins to add more information, Leave a one inch margin around the edge. Hold your resume out at arm’s length or post it on the wall to look at it. It should appear well-organized and spacious enough to be easily read. More is not necessarily better!

Avoid Errors

Even a single typo can mean your resume ends up in the wrong pile. Proofread your work many times, but also enlist the help of others. If at all possible, have someone in the educational field proofread it for you, as well.

Advice from a Principal

Organize the experiences under the traditional headings found on resumes: Under Educational Experience, list accomplishments wherever they occurred. Also include facility with both official languages and other languages spoken/written. Be sure you have your references ready, both within Canada and from your home country with correct numbers and times individuals can be reached. Once you have put all this information into an accepted format, have someone from the field of education proofread it for you.

Sample Resume

Download as a Word Document or as a PDF .

Developing Your Resume

What are the common elements in a resume?

Sample Resume

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The Cover Letter

Teach in Ontario