Teacher CV Example
Teacher CV Example & CV Writing Guide
In this post we look at a Teacher CV Example set out our “ultimate” guide to writing a stand out teacher CV. In the guide we highlight best CV writing practices and what should specifically be in teaching CV.
We also couldn’t help ourselves by adding the most common CV writing mistakes that people make, just to make sure the CV you create using our Teacher CV example meets our exacting standards!
A teaching role provides you the opportunity to enjoy a career that holds endless variety and the opportunity to make a real difference to the next generation.
Even though teachers are in high demand, there is still healthy competition for vacancies in desirable schools, making the CV writing process critical to your success.
Table of Contents
Qualifications
For teaching roles, the qualification section must be accurate and detailed. List all of your qualifications, with dates and the name of the institution you attended, from your GCSE/O’Levels through to your PGCE
Don’t forget to include any Continued Professional Development (CPD) courses that you’ve undertaken, and any certificates received for training completed during inset days.
There are skills sets that schools find hard to identify. If you are digitally literate or have experience working within the SEN field, it would be worthwhile to identify opportunities to gain certificates in these areas to demonstrate your capabilities.
Don't Forget The Keywords
Every industry has its own keywords and teaching is no different. When writing your teaching CV, especially when using our Teacher CV example, its essential to include these to ensure your document is found when a recruiter uses an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to sift through the applications.
If you are struggling to identify keywords for your CV writing, turn your attention to job adverts for inspiration. Reading the job specification you will clearly identify keywords and phrases such as:
- Classroom Management
- Student Improvement
- Subject Leader
- Pupil Involvement
When including them in your CV, use them sparingly so they appear natural. This will maximise the CV performance in electronic searching whilst improving readability to the human reader.
When ATS Systems first hit the computers of recruiters applicants used to stuff keywords into their CV in an effort to improve their chances of selection. Software has moved on since then and is able to penalise CVs if this is detected.
When writing the content for your Teacher CV example keep this in mind and ensure it reads naturally.
Achievements in Teaching, Sell
As with all CV, it’s the skills of the individual that convinces the recruiting organisation to make the hire. A Teacher CV and schools are no different, so now’s the time begin thinking of achievements to list on your CV.
Most people are relatively modest and therefore find it difficult to identify their achievements, so in an effort to provide some inspiration, here are some questions to ask yourself.
- Have you any wall displays/working walls that you are proud of? If so, take photos of them, load them onto the internet and link to them from your CV. This is particularly appropriate to primary school teachers.
- Have you led or taken a role in a school trip to a museum, learning event, sports event or residential course? If so, include it in your achievements and highlight how the trip progressed and the eventual positive outcomes.
- Have you been instrumental for the implementation of a particular scheme into school life, for example Rights Respecting Schools Award?
- Did you conduct an inspirational and creative assembly? Add details to your achievements.
- Have you created a successful teaching strategy that would highlight your ability and teaching style? This would be highly attractive to a recruiting school and needs to added to your CV.
- Have you liaised with external organisations?
Power Verbs For Your Teacher CV
When adding your content to the Teacher CV example, remember to make the text interesting which is easily achieved with the use of power verbs. Here are some that relevant for a teching CV.
Assess
Develop
Encourage
Instruct
Showcase
Collaborate
Discuss
Explore
Motivate
Teach
Create
Educate
Grade
Plan
Tutor
The Perfect Teacher CV Example
This Teacher CV Example is available for FREE download and can be found on our Teacher CV Template page .
Supply Teacher CV Example
This Supply Teacher CV Example is available for FREE download and can be found on our Supply Teacher CV Template page
Teaching Assistant CV Example
This Teaching Assistant CV Example is available for FREE download and can be found on our Teaching Assistant CV Template page
Practical CV Writing Skills To Enhance The Teacher CV Example
Name & Contact Details
There’s no point putting hours of effort into writing a winning CV only for the recruiters not to know who to contact because you failed to add either your name or contact details. Most people simply add this section to the first page but this is a mistake if your CV is longer than 1 page. If pages of your CV are separated, for whatever reason, its essential that recruiters are still able to contact you. Simply ensure that your name and contact details are at the top of EVERY page.
Are you known by another name, other than your Christian name? Don’t be tempted to use this at the top of your CV, this may cause confusion at a later date. Simply use your official name, the one stated on your passport. Only when you get invited for interview is it right to mention that you prefer people to call you by another name.
One word of warning, when adding an email address to your CV, make sure it is business appropriate. I’ve lost count ho many CVs I have received over the last 23 years that contain nicknames, are gimmicky or words that could be construed as offensive.
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Professional Profile
To catch the recruiter’s eye and entice them to read your CV further, its essential to include a professional profile at the top of your CV. This should be a paragraph of no more than 5-6 lines that contains a summary of who you are, your skill level, the experiences you hold and achievements gained throughout your career.
When scripting this section of your CV its best to avoid using clichés such as keen eye for detail. These phrases are seen time and time again by recruiters and as such hold no value in including them in the profile. Be creative with your descriptive writing, if you need help then our 167 powerful verbs may provide some inspiration.
Transferable Skills
Most people think its their employment history that sells them to a recruiter. That’s wrong. It’s the skills that the individual hold which is the ticket item that secures interviews. When you read a job specification, it is simply a list of skills essential for the vacancy, whether they are hard skills or soft skills. The employment history is one way of demonstrating these skills in action.
Therefore, its essential to include a well written skills section in your CV and not just a simple list of them. Select 5 skills that are appropriate the to the vacancy and construct a skills section around them providing specific information on each and when you most effectively used them.
Providing examples of skills, supported with achievements, will elevate your CV from good to great. Who wouldn’t want that?
Key Achievements
What sells your skills and experience to recruiters? Your achievements. They provide a quantifiable way for the recruiter to ascertain that the claims your make in your CV are genuine and not simply added to grab the recruiter’s attention.
Adding a section purely devoted to highlighting your achievements will provide the perfect stage to amplify the reasons why a recruiter should select you for an interview. To make it more effective, remember to utilise bullet points to break up any large chunks of text in an effort to improve readability..
Employment History
Not everyone has an employment history, however if your do its essential to use the reverse chronological order to list your various employment positions. This means that the most recent position is at the top of the section as it will hold the most relevant experience to the role to which you are applying.
When listing your positions make sure you include the following:
- The start and finish date of each position
- The name of the employer
- The position you held with the employer
- Description of the role and responsibilities.
To make this section as clear to the reader as possible its essential that you make good use of bold text and bullet points. Both of these techniques will ensure that the key points of your experience are easily identifiable by the recruiter and increases the readability of the section.
Avoid The Common Mistakes Avoid On Your Teaching CV
Name and contact details not on all pages
If laid out correctly, the header should instantly provide the reader with your name and contact detail and it should be on every page. Don’t make the recruiter hunt for this basic information.
Adding a photo
You want your teacher CV to be judged on the merits of your achievements, skills and work history. You do not want a recruiter to judge your suitability for a position based on your appearance at this stage. Apart from this, a photograph is very subjective and no matter how professional recruiters are, there is always room for bias as they are, after all, only human.
Missing or inappropriate email address
A teaching CV is effectively a sales brochure of you, the professional teacher. Why would you either omit your email address from your CV or worse still use an inappropriate email address?
No clear section headings
To increase the readability of a CV it is advisable to break the CV up into relevant sections. These sections should each have a header that is differentiated from the bulk of the CV text by using bold or underlined text, just like this article.
No bullet points
Large chunks of text are very hard to read. To increase your chances of making that first selection, you need to ensure that the pertinent information is clearly visible and the easiest way to achieve this is with the use of bullet points.
Reverse chronological order not used
Writing your CV in reverse chronological order is the most advisable order should you be using the chronological CV format. Using this order requires you to place your most recent work history at the top of the employment section of the CV and work backwards in time.
Excessive details on interests and hobbies
Listing of all your interests is unwise as it only adds to the length of your CV and could distract the reader from the more important aspects. Only include interests they demonstrate skills useful to the workplace such as team sports
Adding date of birth to personal details
Under data protection guidelines, the inclusion of a date of birth on a CV is considered unwise. Should these details fall into the wrong hands, they could be used for the basis of identity theft.
Including details of references
Include referenced on a teacher CV adds more detail which creates more opportunity for distraction, plus you could be opening the door to the referees being plagued with calls from recruiters which could have an adverse effect on your future relationship.
Spelling mistakes typos
A CV is no place for these errors. The only way to avoid this is to proofread your CV
CV over 2 pages in length
For a highly experienced teacher this can prove difficult, however, under no circumstances should a teacher CV be longer than 2 pages. Keeping the CV short improves the readability and ensures that the key achievements aren’t lost amongst a wealth of waffle!
Gaps in employment history
Don’t leave gaps in your career history and qualifications unexplained. They will only create questions in the recruiters mind and stop you from getting an invitation to interview. Add an explanation to justify the disjointed nature of your CV and settle the recruiters curiosity.
Wrong Person
Create a professional image. Ensure your CV is written in 3rd person and sticks with this throughout the CV
Colours
Unless you are working in the design industry its best not to include colour in your CV. It’s a very subjective subject and why run the risk of losing an interview because the recruiter was put off by your colour scheme.
Find Your Ideal Teaching Vacancy
Here are our top 6 websites to help you find teaching vacancies in the UK
Teaching Vacancies – UK Government
Free CV Review
Our Teacher CV example is great for layout and our tips should allow you to write the perfect CV for any teaching role.
However its essential to have confidence in your CV so get a professional review of your CV. We will produce a free, no obligation report that covers:
- 18 Point Checklist of the most crucial areas of a CV
- First Impressions
- CV Performance using Applicant Tracking Software (ATS)
- Suggested Improvements
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