Heyyyyy new teachers! You're about to graduate and super excited about looking for that first job! It is such an exciting time as you start the job hunt, full of anticipation for getting your own classroom.
Most school districts have online portals that you will use to submit your application. Some will ask for a resume, a few may not. Regardless, you need to have a high-quality, professional looking resume at the ready to upload for applications or to print and hand out at interviews and career fairs.
But what exactly do you put on a teacher resume when you have no experience?
Been there, done that. Jobs want people with experience but you can't get experience without a job. It's a lousy circle that just keeps going. Never fear, even as a brand new teacher, there ARE things you can list on your resume for experience!
1. Any actual, paying jobs, working with kids.
Did you pay your way through college by working at a childcare center? Go home every summer to work day camp? Put those experiences on your resume! You can add that you were responsible for a group of X children, supervised field trips, created an activities schedule, etc. Whatever is applicable to your role!
2. Student teaching
You didn't get a degree in education without student teaching. That experience is what you will draw from the most in interviews, so be sure to include it on your resume under experience. You can specify what you did such as: "responsible for teaching five 7th grade social studies blocks per day", "planned and facilitated reading intervention groups", "assumed all classroom responsibilities for 23 second graders", "contributed data to IEP case conferences" and so on. Think back to all you did during the student teaching experience to choose the best highlights for your resume.
3. Field Experiences / Practicums
Most teacher preparation programs include many hours of pre-service work, classroom experiences before full student teaching. These can also be added to your new teacher resume!
"100 hours of 2nd grade field experience in which I was responsible for leading a math center each week that targeted fluency skills".
There you have it! 3 things you can put on a resume when you're looking for your first teaching job and don't have experience! Remember: keep the resume to 1 page and print on high quality paper!
Good luck on the job search!
