Professional Resumes
Disclaimer: There is no right or wrong way to do a resume. You create your own style and appearance that defines you! Success is not only about what you've done, but it is also about image and how you present yourself.
Here you will find basic information to get you started in the processing of creating your teaching resume. However, the majority of the information below addresses only the content of each section.
You will receive the following information in hard copy at the December seminar. The UOIT student copy will contain additional information not listed here, including sample layouts for each section.
Basic layout information to get you started:
- Do not use resume templates found in MS Word or other word processing programs - you cannot stand out from the competition if your resume looks like everyone else's
- Promote yourself thoroughly by using a variety of action verbs and expressing complete ideas in short bullet point form
Parts of a Teaching Resume
- Personal Information
- Objective
- Teaching Qualifications
- Education
- Teaching and Related Experience
- Work Experience
- Volunteer / Leadership Experience
- Computer Skills
- Professional Development
- Additional Experiences
- Professional Affiliations
- Interests
1. Personal Information
- Your name in capitals, bold, big (e.g. 18 pt) and noticeable (simple font = Arial)
- Fancy fonts are distracting
- No graphics (or 'cutesy' education bullets) - simply unnecessary
- Full address (street number and name, city, province, postal code), phone (permanent is best so they can reach you after school and into summer months)
- E-mail - have an appropriate address that's professional (and one you check frequently - for this reason a web-based address such as Yahoo! or Hotmail works well)
- Insert horizontal lines (use the border feature, not the draw tool) underneath personal information (simple is best)
- Inappropriate info: age, height, weight, SIN number, state of health, marital status, citizenship, religion
2. Objective / Mission Statement
- Shows your desired job, the skills you possess and the type of teaching environment in which you envision yourself
- Combination of your objective and your teaching philosophy, in one sentence
- To the point and clearly articulated
3. Teaching Qualifications
- A mandatory section for the first page of your resume
- This is different than your degree from UOIT - this is what you get AFTER you graduate and are in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) - it is what you are 'certified or qualified to teach' - i.e. divisions, special areas etc. You will be mailed a "Certification of Qualification" and it is these areas which will appear on it, with a Registration Number needed for hiring and board's records
- Specific qualifications you will receive from the Ontario College of Teachers next July e.g., Intermediate-Senior Divisions: Biology and General Science
- Intended courses you are planning to take to add to your qualifications e.g. Special Education Part 1 AQ (Additional Qualifications) - these would be taken in July if certified.
4. Education
- A listing of your formal education (post-secondary only - bachelor, master, doctoral - no high school)
- In reverse chronological order (MOST recent FIRST), list the name and location of the relevant educational institutions you attended (UOIT is first on the list - Bachelor of Education)
- Indicate "candidate" or "in progress" or "Expected June 2007" as you have not yet finished your UOIT degree
- List other credentials in full words (look on your degree to see exact wording e.g. Bachelor of Science)
- List all certificates or degrees you earned (as main bold title first, then institution underneath)
- If you have any special award or scholarship you received, you could put a bullet and place here (e.g. Dean's Honour Roll, Entrance Scholarship etc.) - as it directly relates to your education
5. Teaching and Related Experience (positions that have a relationship to teaching)
- In reverse chronological order (MOST recent FIRST) - list the dates, job title, place of employment, duties and learning opportunities
- Start with your practice teaching rounds (e.g., Grade Eight Teacher Candidate) and list some of the duties you performed (e.g. developed lessons, created units, organized science fair etc. …) in 2 or 3 bullets under the job title
- Emphasize transferable skills (e.g., organization, communication skills, planning)
- Other experiences related to teaching (tutoring, camp counselor, training, running workshops etc.)
- Use active verbs (developed, implemented, facilitated, created, worked, advised, assisted etc.)
- Be selective if you have many (you really want to show you have had as much experience in roles of taking the lead, developing and creating 'lessons' or 'presentations' as this looks good!)
- Emphasize computer skills used, collaborative endeavours, creative work etc.
6. Work Experience (often 'paid' work)
- In reverse chronological order (MOST recent FIRST) - list the job title, company name and dates
- List duties and learning opportunities in bullet form with action words (1 - 2 bullets)
- Emphasize transferable skills (e.g. organization, communication skills etc.)
- Use active verbs (developed, implemented, facilitated, created, worked, advised, assisted etc.)
- Emphasize computer skills used, collaborative endeavours, creative work etc.
7. Volunteer / Leadership Experience
- In reverse chronological order (MOST recent FIRST) - list the dates, title, place, and duties
- List all volunteering opportunities you've had (e.g., Big Brothers, Girl Guide Leader, Teacher Assistant, Cancer Society Canvasser etc.) - shows you've done things for the community and that you are a person who would give to the school community and related events in a school
- List all leadership opportunities you've had (e.g. Student representative, Student Union, Youth Group organizer, football/hockey team captain, etc.) - shows you can take on roles of responsibility and be in charge
- Emphasize transferable skills (e.g., organization, communication skills etc.)
8. Computer Skills
- Highly valued and sought after! - be sure to emphasize this area for employers! (especially with laptop program and software/hardware skills you possess)
- Don't fudge the truth and say you really know a program when you just know a few basic things - but do list programs you'd be comfortable using and teaching
- Definitely list Ministry-software you have become 'familiar' with or have a 'strong working knowledge of (e.g. Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner, Dreamweaver, HyperStudio, AppleWorks)
- Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Front Page, Windows 98, 2000, XP, Mac, etc. are also good to include
- Indicate programming languages here and networking / hardware experience as well
9. Professional Development
- Conferences you have attended or presented at
- Workshops attended or given (e.g., Board-wide ones, Grade 7/8 workshops at UOIT)
- Courses attended or planning to attend
10. Additional Experiences
- If you have a lot here, you may want to include subheadings
- Awards received and dates (e.g. Sports, Contests, maybe additional Academic
awards, Music, etc)
- Extra curricular activities (beyond Interests) - things you do regularly
- CPR, First Aid (dates!) - realize 2 year expiry dates
11. Professional Affiliations (optional)
- Organizations to which you belong, have membership
- Organizations which you may have or still do sit on committees
- Examples might include: Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO), Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), Science Teachers Association of Ontario (STAO), Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers Federation (OSSTF), Association for Computer Manufacturing (ACM)
- Write out full name (and include abbreviation as above) for each organization & years
12. Interests
- All to show that there is more to you than just the work experience and education
- What can you contribute to the job from your own personal experience? They want to see what sports and interests you have in order to help with clubs/teams
etc. (especially for high school!)
- Travel, sports, activities, etc.
