English Teacher Resume Example & Writing Guide

An English teacher resume is a concise document that describes your mastery of the language and ability to convey that knowledge to students. It highlights your skills and work-related accomplishments to help you impress recruiters and get a callback for a job interview.

This article is a step-by-step guide on how to write a resume as an English teacher. We’ll provide detailed instructions with expert tips and examples to help you get ahead of the competition, so without further ado, let’s start!

Here’s a complete example of an English teacher resume to show you what the document should look like and help you write your own:

Excellent English Teacher Resume Example

Use this example

If you’re curious to learn how to create a clean, elegant, and professional resume like this one, keep reading for a step-by-step guide and expert tips.

What Format to Use for an English Teacher Resume

In most cases, the best format to use for an English teacher resume is the chronological format. It creates an orderly structure where your past employments are listed one after the other, starting with the most recent one.

This makes it favored by most recruiters, as it allows them to analyze your career progress effortlessly. Plus, its prevalence makes it compatible with most ATS tools.

There are two additional formats that candidates use in specific circumstances:

English Teacher Resume Layout

Resume layout refers to the design and style of the document. After all, creating a visually appealing English teacher resume helps engage the reader and convey valuable information to them quickly and effortlessly.

Here are some tips on how you can create a stellar layout:

Mandatory and Optional Sections of an English Teacher Resume

Every English teacher resume needs to have these five mandatory sections to give recruiters the basic information needed for their decision-making:

Following that, you can include one or more optional sections if they can help you demonstrate your competence further. Some optional sections to consider include:

Simply adding all the mandatory sections with the right format and layout will get you ahead of most other candidates. If you want to ensure that you’ve done that correctly, you can use our resume builder instead of making your document from scratch.

Our AI-powered software tool guides you during the process. You simply fill in the blanks using artificial intelligence to polish your writing, and you get a professional resume in no time. On top of that, you can choose between numerous templates, which you can customize further to design and download the perfect resume.

Here’s one of the many English teacher resume templates that you can use if you decide to leverage our resume builder:

Contact Information of an English Teacher Resume

Contact information is a standard section for your resume header. It should include the following details:

On top of that, you can include your LinkedIn profile and address, as well as other details that the employer might ask for.

However, you shouldn’t include sensitive personal information, like your age, gender, political affiliations, etc. They could get your resume automatically discarded due to legally prohibited employment policies.

Here’s an example of a contact information section:

Objective and Summary of an English Teacher Resume

An objective and summary are elevator pitch-style introductory paragraphs for your resume. They are meant to grab the recruiter’s attention by highlighting your biggest strengths in a couple of sentences.

Junior English teachers should write a resume objective to emphasize their skills and career goals. Senior English teacher resumes should have a summary that highlights one or two of the job seeker’s most notable work-related accomplishments.

English Teacher Resume Objective

Here’s an example of a well-written English teacher resume objective that points out the candidate’s valuable abilities, as well as some experience obtained during their assistant work:

For contrast, here’s a bad example where a candidate didn’t specify any of their qualifications:

English Teacher Resume Summary

Now, let’s check out a good example of an English teacher resume summary that underscores the candidate’s competence by showcasing a couple of their most impressive accomplishments:

However, if you don’t include any concrete results of your work, you’ll end up with a vague and unimpressive resume summary, like in this bad example:

How to Add Professional English Teacher Experience to Your Resume

Work experience is typically the main section of an English teacher resume, so let’s see how you can make it perfect.

General Tips

When adding your past jobs to the work experience section, you should list them in reverse-chronological order. This puts your latest employment first and showcases your current level of competence before adding the rest to give recruiters a look at your career progress.

For each previous job, you should include the following information:

When listing the achievements, you should use bullet points instead of paragraphs, as they are easier to read while taking up less space. In general, you should have 3–5 bullet points per job.

Each bullet point should highlight a notable result backed by numbers and statistics since these quantify your effort, add measurable value, and help them become concrete. What you should avoid is listing general responsibilities and everyday tasks.

Lastly, you can leverage action verbs and power words to make your writing pop and be more memorable. However, make sure not to go over the top with outdated buzzwords and clichéd language.

English Teacher With No/Little Experience

If you’re writing an entry-level English teacher resume and have little to no work experience, you can use other activities for this section. For instance, you can include volunteer experience or participation in college projects to highlight your competence.

Here’s an example of a candidate using their experience as a teaching assistant to craft a compelling work history section:

Experienced English Teacher

If you’re an experienced English teacher writing a resume, you should demonstrate a wide array of skills, ranging from technical to interpersonal. Plus, you want to show the ability to deliver exceptional results worthy of a senior role.

Here’s a good example:

Education Section of an English Teacher Resume

The education section of your English teacher resume should typically showcase your highest degree to help validate your competence.

Here are the details to include:

In practice, that looks like this:

If you’re an entry-level professional with a modest work history, you can expand the education section a bit more. It’s best to do so with a bullet list of notable academic accomplishments, like a high GPA, relevant coursework, extracurricular activities, and so on.

English Teacher Resume Skills

Adding skills to your English teacher resume is a two-step process, as you need to include them in:

However, before doing that, it’s critical to determine which skills to add to your resume. Recruiters are not just looking for a generally qualified professional but one with the right skills for a specific role in their organization.

That’s why it’s essential to research the company that you want to join and read the job description carefully to figure out which abilities take priority. That way, you’ll find the specific skills recruiters want in candidates. Plus, the same skills are usually resume keywords for the ATS, so including them can help you pass the software scan.

Once you decide which skills to include, you should list them concisely and mention the key ones throughout the resume.

Here’s an example of a candidate emphasizing their lesson planning skills:

Hard skills are specific to English teachers. They are typically taught and learned through traditional methods and are a must-have on a resume.

Notable examples include:

Soft skills are transferable between professions. They represent a collection of interpersonal abilities and personality traits that affect your productivity and collaboration.

Here are some of the most sought-after soft skills for English teachers:

What Other Sections Can You Add to Your English Teacher Resume?

Let’s explore some additional sections you can include in your English teacher resume after adding all the mandatory ones.

Certifications

Certifications represent proof of specialized skills and qualifications. Moreover, they show that you’re committed to continuous learning and improvement. For instance, certifications like TESOL can help English teachers land ESL positions on the global market.

On the other hand, certain positions in the U.S. might mandate that you have state-required teaching certifications.

Foreign Languages

Proficiency in foreign languages is particularly important if you’re teaching non-native individuals. Knowing their native language can help you connect with the students and convey your knowledge more efficiently. Moreover, having experience in learning a language makes you better at teaching others.

When adding language skills to your English teacher resume, it’s critical to use an established framework of reference and list them in a descending order.

Hobbies & Interests

Hobbies and interests add a personal touch to your resume. Plus, they can hint at a specific teaching style. For example, creative hobbies can indicate that you make your lessons more engaging.

Do I Need a Cover Letter as an English Teacher?

You need a cover letter as an English teacher, as it helps you demonstrate genuine interest in the role. Writing and submitting the letter alongside your resume shows your willingness to go the extra mile.

On top of that, a cover letter is a great document you can use to highlight additional skills and experiences that didn’t fit in your resume. Plus, you can use it to talk about your motivation, specify the reason for applying, and include a call to action to maximize the chances of getting a callback.

3 Final Tips for Creating an English Teacher Resume

Before we conclude the article, let’s go through a couple of final expert tips that will help you polish your English teacher resume to perfection:

Closing Thoughts

A job outlook for English teachers varies depending on the specific position. ESL teachers are looking at a 13% decline in the number of openings (which still amounts to about 4,100 new jobs each year), while postsecondary teachers experienced an 8% growth.

Regardless of the position you’re after, having a well-written English teacher resume and an accompanying cover letter will help you get ahead of the competition. They will grab the recruiter’s attention and help you get a callback for an interview. After that, brush up on your knowledge of the most common interview questions, and you’ll be one step away from the job!