English Teacher Resume Example & Writing Guide

As a connoisseur of the written word, your job application is a perfect place to show off your command of the language and your love of a great turn of phrase. But as every good teacher tells their students, the main goal of any piece of writing is to communicate your message loud and clear. Take your own advice when compiling your English teacher resume. 

Any excellent resume presents the candidate’s skills, attributes and accomplishments in a concise, user-friendly package. While, as an English teacher, you’ll want to illustrate your word prowess, you’ll want to steer clear of purple prose. 

Resume guide for an English teacher resume

Feel free to take some notes from the resources Resume.io offers job seekers: resume guides such as the one below and resume examples for 350+ professions. When you’re ready to put it all together, trust our intuitive resume builder to take the angst out of formatting.

Included in this resume guide is a sample resume for English teachers and explanations of the following topics:

• How to write an English teacher resume
• Choosing the right resume format for an English teacher
• How to add your contact information
• Creating a great summary
• Adding your teaching experience
• Listing education and relevant experience (particularly important in the education field)
• Picking the right resume design/layout
• What the English teacher job market looks like and what salary you can expect

How to write an English teacher resume

When you teach a new type of essay, you list the components and then explain them in detail. Following that pattern, here are the sections you must include in your English teacher resume . 

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Resume writing has some similarities to essay writing and some big differences. In a persuasive essay, your goal is to convince your reader of your main argument. In resume writing, your goal is the same: convince the reader to grant you an interview so you can further prove the point that  you are the right teacher for the job.

Here are a few other ways in which you can apply your essay writing skills to a resume for an English teacher:

• Maintain a consistent tone
• Use evidence to back up your assertions
• Target your audience

These points may make you grit your teeth, but it is here that you should break the rules of essay writing and adhere to resume style:

• Use creative verbs that illustrate your actions as an educator
• Synonyms are fine but you should use the same words several times to play to the ATS algorithms (more on that below)

Choosing the best resume format for an English teacher

The best overall format for any job seeker is reverse chronological order. The same is true for most sample resumes for English teachers and should be true for you, too. This format puts the information recruiters want in places they can easily find them. Plus, this traditional style is comfortable for them. The last thing you want is a frustrated human resources person who isn’t sure where to look for your current job.

Typically, a resume reader will look at your most recent employment, followed by the skills you bring to the job. For teachers, education may rank high on their quick scan list as well. The chronological resume puts all that information at the forefront. If you have more than one career under your belt or are shifting into teaching English for the first time, you may consider an alternate format such as the functional format that will allow you to highlight transferable skills and experience.

Our resume builder offers many design options for traditional and alternate formats. They are available as resume examples.

Include your contact information

A key component of any English teacher’s job is communication with students and their loved ones. To maintain that, your syllable contains the best ways to reach you. The part of your English teacher that contains your contact information is the header. 

While the header is your most significant design element, its main goal is to highlight your contact information in a professional manner. 

What exactly goes into your header? 

• Your full name and title. Your first and last name should be in the largest type. Use the title of the role you are pursuing if it is different from the one you have now.
• Email address. The preferred format is [email protected] or a variation. Save your cute college nickname account for your friends.
• Phone number. List the best number with which to reach you. If you haven’t listened to your voice message for some time, give it a listen and make sure it sounds professional.
• Address. Your city and state are enough. Don’t list street address or zip code. It’s both outdated and unsafe. If you’re applying for jobs that require a move, note 'Willing to Relocate' here.
• LinkedIn. If your LinkedIn profile is active, relevant, and shows your professional development work, include it here.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth: Not necessary and could potentially lead to age discrimination.
• Personal details: Marital status, social security number, passport number, etc.

Make use of a summary

Want to show off your writing chops? The summary of your English teacher resume is the section for you. It is the only place where full sentences and persuasion come into active play. You have about 400 characters to wow.

WIthin the summary, also known as a profile, you need to highlight the skills and successes that will intrigue the recruiter. What makes you the right person to fill the position? What accomplishment demonstrates that you add value to the department and get students excited about English? 

According to EducationWeek, here are the top three things principals look for in candidates:

1. Whether the candidate’s mindset aligns with the school’s vision
2. Do they have professional certifications that meet the school’s needs
3. Experience managing student behavior

It would serve you well to get at least one of those into your summary.

Keep in mind the old rule “show, don’t tell” as you describe crowning achievements in your career. Use active verbs to lay out your teaching philosophy and passion. 

You can find adaptable English teacher resume examples summary below:

Outline your English teacher work experience: write right

Consider the employment history section of your English teacher resume as you would the body of an essay. Even a teacher looking for a first job has student teaching experience, so this section should always make up the bulk of your document.

Your responsibilities far outstrip the amount of space you have to list, but more importantly, you should not be thinking of your work experience as a laundry list of responsibilities. Instead, pare that list down to the achievements of which you are most proud and the ones that best match up to the requirements of the job you seek.

How many times have you written this comment on a student paper: too general, be specific! In resume terms that would look something like this:

• Taught four sections of middle school English literature and composition
• Graded term papers
• Differentiated instruction
• Met with parents and guardians to discuss student progress
• Led team of 10th-grade teachers in revising curriculum
• Guided students through analysis of Shakespeare’s Othello

What does that tell the English department about you? Mostly that you don’t practice what you preach. If you’re stuck, you may try outlining your bullet points in the STAR model : Situation, Task, Action, Results. For example: 

• Reinvented “The Raven” unit to include comparisons to modern music lyrics achieving a 15% rise in student grades.

Using that method, here are those bullet points reimagined:

• Inspired four sections of middle school English literature and composition by allowing one student-choice novel per semester resulting in 20% decrease in missing assignments.
• Conducted individual conferences with 150 students per school year to ensure theses of the highest academic quality.
• Incorporated multimodal learning styles and differentiated expectations into all curriculum.
• Communicated biweekly with parents and guardians to discuss student progress and offer curriculum updates.
• Spearheaded collaborative effort 10th-grade English team to better align curriculum with standards and changing demographic of students.
• Shepherded students through comprehensive exploration and analysis of Shakespeare’s Othello leading to 10% increase in students passing AP English literature exam.

Take a look at the English teacher employment history resume sample below:

 

How to write an English teacher resume with no experience

If you are looking for your first “real” job, you may choose to move your education section above your work history; afterall, educators value education so if you have an impressive academic record or advanced degrees, seriously consider this option.

But consider that if you have experience as a student teacher, that you have plenty of accomplishments to highlight. Although you had a collaborative teacher, it was you who was in front of the class, developing curriculum, tracking grades and communicating with stakeholders.

Treat your student teacher experience the same way you will teach your later teacher experience and develop a strong employment history section. Take an extra line or two with your summary so your English teacher resume doesn’t look too airy.

Include the qualities and skills that make you a great English teacher

Recruiters may rely heavily on this list of attributes to weed out candidates who don’t list the exact skills they are looking for. 

Reexamine the job listing to refresh your memory on exactly what the school wants. Then, choose your top attributes that best match your prospective employer’s wish list. Curate a list of your teaching and classroom management skills plus literary expertise and add to that the personality traits that make you an excellent teacher.

While many people think of soft skills when they think of teachers (compassion, enthusiasm, communication), teaching also increasingly requires hard skills such as data collection and analysis, understanding of common core standards and how to apply them, and the use of educational technology. 

The resume builder offers several pre-written key skills to choose from with proficiency ranges you can set. You can also write in your skills.

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our English teacher resume template. 

Highlight your academic achievements and English teacher certifications

Education is important to educators. Because of that, you may want to move your education section up higher in your English teacher resume, especially if this is your first job or you have a stellar record.

List your degrees in reverse chronological order. There’s no need to include your grade point average unless it’s at least 3.8 and you’re recently out of school. If you have a master’s degree or higher, eliminate your high school diploma.

Other items to consider to boost your academic standing:

• Professional development. Especially if you have developed or led any sessions, but any classes relevant to the English teacher role you seek.
• All your teaching certifications and endorsements. Consider a separate section if you have several or break these out if your employment history section is short.
• Publications. Academic writing regarding pedagogy or English.

Pick the right resume layout and design for an English teacher resume

How do you present yourself to your class? The image you choose to create to your students is the one you should exemplify in the design of any resume for an English teacher. However, even if you’re an eccentric English professor, keep in mind that legibility rules. 

But if you’re straightforward and want a subdued, linear layout, try one of our simple design templates. Those who are more eccentric and are suited to a (small) splash of color may pursue the modern style templates.

There’s no need for you to start from scratch when there are expertly-designed resume templates at your fingertips that can be personalized to fit your style. But ff you do want to do your own designing, here are some tips to guide you:

• Design follows legibility. The most eye-catching resume won’t get you an interview if the background distracts too much from the text.
• Your name should be the focal point of your header.
• Leave margins of no less than one-half inch, although an inch is preferable.
• Always proofread before you send.

Even when you apply through an ATS, you will most likely be asked to upload a PDF of your resume, so don’t think that the format and the design don’t matter. These uploads get printed out and handed around the HR office once the ATS has done the initial sort.

 English teacher text-only resume example

English teacher job market and outlook

There are about a million English teachers in the United States and that number is predicted to stay stable over the next decade, the US Labor Bureau predicts.That doesn’t mean there will be no job opportunities. Retirements and attrition will provide about 67,000 openings.

If you are interested in working as a postsecondary English language or literature teacher, the odds are better, although you may need a higher degree. MyFuture projects 12 percent growth in this field through 2031.

What type of salary you can expect as an English teacher

Teacher salaries vary widely by state. They are also dependent on whether you are teaching in an elementary, middle or high school and your level of education.

Key takeaways for building an English teacher resume

1. Resume writing and essay writing have some of the same principles, but there are key differences.
2. Include at least one item of importance to principals in your summary.
3. Blend your literature expertise with your enthusiasm for teaching in your skills section.
4. Create a professional look with help from our resume builder and go out there and get the teaching job of your dreams.