How To Write an Education Resume (With Examples and Tips)

If you work in the education field, your resume is a critical document to convey how well-suited you are for your next job in the industry. Teachers and administrative leaders bring specific skills and qualifications to their roles. Knowing how to highlight them will help your resume stand out from others. 

In this article, we discuss education resumes and provide a template, examples and tips to help you craft a winning resume.

Related: Learn About Being a Teacher

Why is your resume important?

There are many different roles in education and each has its own requirements. From academics and department heads to early childhood practitioners and sports coaches, education leaders should show their most relevant skills on their resumes. Recruiters may look at hundreds of applications, so it is important to write your resume in a way that draws attention to your most relevant skills. It also lets you communicate what personal contributions you can bring to the position.

Those working in education may have experience working directly with students, writing courses and program materials or researching innovative educational approaches. Whatever role you play in education, you'll need to describe your skills and experience effectively to secure your next position. Your resume is a chance to presentbest your most hirable skills to a recruiter.

Related: 6 Universal Rules for Resume Writing

Choosing the best format for your resume

You want to create a resume designed to showcase your work experience, skills and qualifications in a clean and uncluttered manner. When you apply for a new position, you may research what type of skills, experience and keywords hiring managers search for when reviewing education resumes. Decide if the focus of your resume should highlight work experiences or skills. Looking at examples of formats may help you choose which type you prefer.

The three most common resume formats are: 

• Functional: A functional resume is a resume format that primarily showcases a candidate's skills. This is a good choice if you don't have much experience since it highlights skills and qualifications over experience.

• Chronological: A chronological resume is a resume format that prioritizes relevant professional experience and achievements. This is a good choice for executive-level positions such as superintendent. It highlights experience before skills, demonstrating career and leadership growth.

• Combination: A combination resume format emphasizes skills, accomplishments and recent work history. This is a good choice for mid-level positions such as vice principal. Skills and qualifications are highlighted before experience.

What to include in an education resume

When you are writing your resume, follow these simple steps to help you put together a well-organized resume that will help you catch a recruiter's attention:

1. Contact details

Make it easy for a recruiter by ensuring your contact details are easy to spot at the top of your resume. You can include your name, city and state, phone number and email address. Make sure your email address is suitable; if not, consider setting up a new one to maintain your professional credibility. For example, an email address with just your name is more professional than one with your hobbies or a quirky trait. 

2. Resume objective

This is an optional section, but if you include it, your objective should be no more than one or two sentences that sum up your most relevant skills and experience to highlight how you are suitable for the role. You may adapt this to suit each role you are applying for as it is your opening statement to impress a recruiter. You'll want to make sure you are showcasing your most relevant skills.

Related: Resume Summary vs. Resume Objective: What Are the Differences?

3. Experience

Your current or most recent job will usually be the most relevant to a hiring manager. Start there and work your way back as you list position responsibilities and accomplishments. You can leave off jobs you may have had at the beginning of your career that bear no relation to the role you seek but list anything where the skills and experience might be relevant.

Related: 24 Reasons You Should Become a Teacher

4. Skills

Recruiters want to see what you can bring to a role, so include a section that covers your education-related skills. For some roles, it might be first aid training or sign language. For others, it may be securing grant funds or bringing innovative teaching methods to the classroom. Review the job description for the kind of skills a hiring manager seeks. Mention class sizes and your strongest subject areas.

Education skills that hiring managers may look for include:

• Communication skills

• Learning support

• Emotional intelligence

• Curriculum development

• Teaching principles

• Education administration

• Lesson planning

• Classroom management

• Subject expertise

• Technological integration

Related: Top 10 Skills To Include on Your Teacher Resume

5. Qualifications and education

If you are applying for roles with qualification requirements, show that you have them by listing the relevant qualifications. This includes education, certification or continuing education. Be sure to include the institution where you studied, the awarding body and details of when you studied.

Here are some certifications you might have earned:

• English as a Second Language (ESL) Certification

• Teaching English as a Foreign Language/Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TEFL/TESOL)

• Grade level certification - Preschool through sixth grade; sixth through eighth; and eighth (or ninth) through 12th grade

• National Board Certification (NBC)

Related: 8 Teacher Certifications (With Benefits and FAQs)

6. Hobbies, interests or volunteer experience

If you spend your free time doing something that shows your commitment to education, include it on your resume. If you volunteer with a children's literacy program or you're writing a book about learning styles, then you can mention this on your resume.

Related: 50 Teacher Interview Questions and Example Answers

Education resume template

You can use use the following basic education resume template to create your own:

[Your name]
[Current city, state]
[Phone number]
[email address] 

Summary

[Brief summary or objective, approximately two to three sentences long]

Work Experience

[Company name] [Job title] [Dates you worked in this position]

• [Brief description of responsibilities you completed during this job with action verbs]

• [2nd brief description of responsibilities]

• [3rd brief description of responsibilities]

[2nd company name] [Job title] [Dates you worked in this position]

• [1st brief description of responsibilities]

• [2nd brief description of responsibilities]

• [3rd brief description of responsibilities]

[3rd company name] [Job title] [Dates you worked in this position]

• [1st brief description of responsibilities]

• [2nd brief description of responsibilities]

• [3rd brief description of responsibilities]

Skills

• [relevant hard or soft skill 1]

• [relevant hard or soft skill 2]

• [relevant hard or soft skill 3]

• [add more if relevant to position]

Education and Qualifications

[University, college or trade school you graduated from] [Years you attended]
[Degree or certificate you earned]

Achievements and Affiliations

• [Relevant achievement you've received]

• [Relevant organizations you're affiliated with]

To upload the template into Google Docs, go to File > Open > and select the correct downloaded file.

Education resume examples

You can use these resume examples for various education professionals to inspire you when it comes to writing your own:

Teacher resume

Superintendent resume

Tips for writing an education resume

Here are a few tips you can use for your education resume:

• Add white space: Your resume should look clean, clutter-free and simple to read. Use white space after each section for a neat and easily scannable appearance. Avoid using large blocks of text, graphics or background images.

• Use consistent format: Fonts in 11 or 12 points are easy to read and section headings should be two to four points larger, such as 13 to 16 points. You can use a one-inch margin for resume borders.

• Use action verbs: When describing your educational accomplishments, start each statement with an action verb. Use phrases like "led leadership development team" or "delegated assignments for teaching interns." Action verbs demonstrate that you take the initiative and produce results.

• Include awards and accolades: To stand out in the competition, use your resume to showcase all awards and recognition you've received related to your abilities in the education field. 

• Edit your resume: Proofreading is an important step in creating a resume for an education position. Part of your value as an educator is accuracy in research and expression along with expert knowledge of language rules. It can also be beneficial to read your resume out loud. This can help you hear any grammatical mistakes or errors. You might also ask a trusted friend to go over your resume.

Additional resume examples

Here are some examples of resumes for specific education-related jobs:

• Coach

• Counselor

• College instructor

• Home school teacher

• Research assistant

• Special education teacher

• Substitute teacher

• Teaching assistant

• Tutor

• Vocational teacher