7 Best Resume Objectives for Teachers: Tips & Examples
Craft a teacher’s resume objective that captures the eye
Careers in teaching are considered to be the ones of the most rewarding out there. The statistic says that 90% of the US teachers are satisfied with their jobs. Teaching jobs are valued for the opportunity to change lives, unleash your creative potential and continuous professional growth and learning. Given these reasons, it’s pretty self-explanatory that there’s always a competition for the best teaching jobs.
As you prepare a resume for your next teaching position, pay special attention to the objective section. Since this is the first thing that a reader sees, if written well, an objective sets the right tone for the rest of the document and makes the busy recruiter take notice. If you struggle to craft a catchy objective, today’s guide from our local resume writing service will help you out.
Continue reading to learn more about the following:
• When it’s necessary to use an objective on your resume
• What elements should a catchy teacher’s objective have, and
• The examples of strong objective sections.
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What is a resume objective and who needs to use it?
An objective statement is the first section of your resume where you communicate your personality traits, professional value as well as what you plan on to deliver for the employer if hired. Years ago, objectives were all about what you expect to receive from the company. Now, their focus has changed, and while your objective may make it clear what kind of position you expect to get, it should be written with an employer’s expectations in mind.
As a teacher, here’s when you should be using this section:
• You’re a graduate with limited experience. If you’ve never worked as a teacher before, the employer cannot predict your career focus. You’ll have to make your expectations clear for them, explaining what kind of position you’re after and outlining your career purposes.
• You’re switching careers. Have you worked as an office manager for 10 years but decided that it’s time for a change? Again, since your previous experience lies in a completely different industry, you need to use an objective to explain how the qualifications you already have align with a teaching job and what will help you succeed.
• You want to communicate your professional values and personality. Although resume objectives are considered outdated, they can help you stand out if used right. Your objective can reveal your approach to teaching, professional values, and what you can bring to the table.
Pro tip: The best approach is not to use your objective separately, but to incorporate it into the career summary. You might want to write 2-3 sentences focusing on your strengths and accomplishments, and then add an objective in the end.
The key elements of a strong teacher’s objective
Your objective should be as unique as your career story is. That’s why it isn’t the best idea to simply copy and paste someone’s objective from the internet. When creating an objective statement, make sure it contains the following elements:
✓ Descriptive words
Recruiters typically don’t favor the excess of self-descriptive resume words and see them as buzzwords. However, if you use them sparingly, they can definitely give a touch of your personality and approach to work. 1-3 descriptive words per a resume summary or objective will be more than sufficient. The examples of good adjectives for a teacher’s resume are: creative, innovative, energetic, enthusiastic, disciplined, flexible, and more. The best place to use these words is at the beginning of the sentence.
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✓ Your key skills and professional strengths
Of course, it’s not possible to squeeze everything you’re good at into a few sentences of introduction, so you’ll have to be selective. Choose the skills and capabilities that best describe you and can differentiate you from the competition, and mention them in an objective.
Some examples of skills for teachers that you can use are: critical thinking, student- and parent-oriented communication, patience, active listening, planning and organization, inspiration, developmental theory awareness, and stress management. The best tactic is to give not only the skill name, but also an example of how you made use of that skill.
Not sure you’ve mastered stress management so far? Read our guide for learning how to manage stress in the workplace.
✓ Job-related accomplishments
The summary is a great place to brag about 1-2 your most notable accomplishments. The rules for describing your accomplishments are the same as for writing them in your work experience section. Firstly, they should contain numbers and percentages to give as specific information to the hiring manager as possible. Secondly, they should be detailed so that the reader could evaluate your impact on students and school in general. And finally, they should be relevant to the position.
Here are a few examples of good teaching accomplishments:
• Increased students’ participating in reading exercises by 60%
• Improved SAT scores by 15%
• Saved $3,500 in teaching aid costs by using technology.
✓ Your career goals
One of the goals that a resume objective helps you to achieve is to communicate your goals and attitude towards teaching. Your skills and accomplishments work great, but it often happens that the schools and education centers are looking to hire a specific personality type. And if your description matches their expectation, it will skyrocket your interview chances.
To describe your career goals and values, use the statements similar to those listed below:
• To enhance students’ creative and convergent thinking and help them improve grades
• To leverage student developmental skills and e-learning abilities
• To share a passion for American History and use advancing teaching methods.
Examples of resume objectives
Now that you are aware of the elements of a successful objective, it’s time to create your own. Avoid copying the objective from someone else’s resume. Your resume introduction should be original since the recruiters don’t like cookie-cutter objectives. Use the below examples for inspiration:
- Looking to leverage my teaching experience and student development techniques as a high school teacher to engage at-risk students.
- To obtain a position of head teacher to coach and mentor teaching staff in increasing student engagement and performance and achieving higher job satisfaction.
- Seeking the position of the elementary teacher with the school that offers extensive training and development opportunities.
- Looking for a teaching position with a school seeking improved student performance, individual student approach and extensive use of technology in class.
- To utilize strong organizational, curriculum development and training abilities to boost student performance and grades.
- Looking to contribute the extensive knowledge of e-learning technologies and classroom management skills to improve student comprehension and engagement.
- Seeking to leverage parent relationship building, counseling and conflict management skills and teach students in simple and entertaining manner.
Don’t copy the examples above word for word. Instead, identify what your biggest strengths in the profession are, and write your own example using the same objective structure.
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Top 5 tips for writing a stellar teacher’s resume
The other sections of your resume require much thought and attention as well. Not only the objective must be up to scratch – your work experience, education, and accomplishments should be described appropriately and effectively. Here are a few main pointers for you:
✓ Highlight the exact traits that the employer is looking for
Sounds pretty simple, right? If the job posting requires the extensive use of technology and e-learning, focus on these skills in your summary and work experience. If they expect you to counsel at-risk students and use the individual approach to foster comprehensive, show that it’s something that you can do. If they look to improve student test scores, showcase how you achieved similar results in the past. By following this simple step, you’ll significantly increase your chances for an interview as you’ll look as a perfect candidate on paper.
✓ Include certifications, awards and recognition
Some schools will only consider certified teachers, so you want to place all the relevant certifications you have closer to the top. Similarly, include the ongoing education such as training, courses, workshops, and MOOCs to show your dedication to the profession. And finally, it’s important for a teacher to show that your work was praised by others. If you were awarded Teacher of the Year or similar award or was simply recognized by the school principal for excellent performance, make sure your resume mentions this. These tiny details all add up to your value for a potential employer.
✓ Show technology skills
The familiarity with curriculum development, teaching and tutoring techniques and student counseling are great. But today schools expect you to be a wiz of technology in education. In particular, you are expected to be well-versed in MS Office package, social media, and classroom software like Blackboard, MyEdu, or Khan Academy. Show off your tech skills to demonstrate that you keep up to date with the modern learning practices.
✓ Keep it under 2 pages
Resume space is limited. You should keep the document under 1 page if you have less than 5 years of teaching experience, and 2 pages if your experience spans over this time. To keep the resume short yet informative, remove any dated experience and focus your job descriptions on the core facts from your career history. If you’ve had extensive experience, you might want to remove the daily duties and focus on the results of your work and accomplishments in the first place. Keeping the document short and concise increases the chance that it will be read.
✓ Make it eye-catching
The hiring managers receive an enormous number of resumes these days, and yours needs to communicate your strengths and experience pretty fast. Since the employer will review your resume at first rather than read top to bottom, it has to be skimmable and easy to look through. Use shorter sentences, highlight the key information using color or graphic elements, and leave enough blank space on the page so that the document could breathe. These simple methods ensure that the reader will spend more time reviewing your resume than if it was cluttered and poorly formatted.
Request a free resume critique
Elementary and college teachers, special education teachers, head teachers and adjunct instructors all need to highlight their accomplishments and communicate their career goal through a strong objective. However, it might be hard to create a persuasive resume that will sell your strengths to the top schools out there. To understand if your resume works well, contact our resume makers for a free critique. One of our writers will evaluate the writing style, keywording and design of your resume and recommend the improvements. If you are looking to energize your job search with a professionally done resume, we offer 20% off to all new clients – take a look at our services and prices.