When trying to obtain a special education teaching position, your resume’s format and its content are critical to getting selected for an interview. Few job seekers like writing their resumes; it can be tedious and tiresome. It’s important to remember your resume is the next thing a prospective employer sees after your cover letter.
If you have a lackluster resume, you can jeopardize your chances of obtaining the position you desire. That is why writing a focused resume to submit to special education teaching positions is so important. Make the resume targeted towards that job title.
Special Education Resume Writing Tips
When trying to obtain a special education teaching position, you need to write a quality resume to highlight your relevant experience and qualifications for the job.
Hiring committees are looking for a reliable, knowledgeable person when hiring Special Education teachers.
Below are a few tips to help write a resume to secure a special education teaching job interview.
Open with a Strong Objective – the Title of the Position(s).
Job professionals seem to be divided as to whether a resume should have an objective or not. Include the title of the position you are targeting at the top of the resume, followed by a strong resume profile.
A well-written, sincere resume profile is your first opportunity to demonstrate your specific interest and passion for special education as a teaching field.
While it is widely known that it is easier to get jobs in special education because it is specialized, schools do not want to hire people who have selected the profession simply because there were strong job prospects. A special education teacher is charged with creating and implementing individual education plans to help students facing a diverse array of challenges succeed.
School districts want to make sure they select someone who can live up to this responsibility. If you open your resume by stating that you are interested in special education because you are interested in the students you serve and the work you will do, you will immediately put your best foot forward.
Resume Content Should be Specific and Detailed
When listing your previous teaching or related experience, be sure to list any specific disabilities or issues that you have worked with within the past.
Frequently, schools will have a specific list of needs that they want to meet, and they will be looking for candidates with strong experience supporting students with those specific needs. They will likely want to select someone who has experience with those disabilities, so the teacher they hire is already mindful of appropriate accommodation strategies.
Listing your experiences with specific needs and explaining how you could support students with those needs to ensure their success is an excellent way to help your candidacy stand out.
Mention Special Certifications
Create a section where you list any special certifications that you have. Be sure to include the date when you earned the certification and any specific information about the certification.
Some schools require teachers to have certifications such as reading endorsements and will filter out resumes of candidates who do not list those certifications. If you hold one of these certifications but fail to mention it on your resume, you could miss out on getting a job for which you are actually very well qualified. Don’t lose a potential job by overlooking the little details.
Use Special Education Keywords
While you don’t want your resume to be an unintelligible mess, be sure to demonstrate you can comfortably use special education keywords by utilizing them in your resume.
Even administration deals with special education students, so don’t feel you can’t mention IEP’s or 504 Plans without throwing them for a loop. If you use the terms fluidly, it will demonstrate to the hiring committee you are comfortable with the terminology and well versed in your field.
Consider using both the full term and the acronym; the hiring committee could be using an applicant tracking system to filter for one keyword and not the other.
While it is undeniably much easier to obtain a special education job, it is important to remember that you still need to stand out as the best candidate for each job for which you apply.
Some individuals hold the qualifications necessary to teach special education and are jobless. Unless you want to be one of them, be sure to create a resume to convince employers you are the teacher for their school.
