How to Market Your Student Teacher Experience To Win Job Offers

As a student teacher, you should be aware of the stiff competition you may be up against in the job application candidate pool. Many other practicum students are looking to be hired and seasoned teachers with anywhere from 5-35 years of experience. When scouting potential school districts, see what their values and beliefs are and research the “type” of teachers they like to hire.

Some schools prefer experienced teachers, while others are looking for fresh new faces with innovative and groundbreaking ideas. Once you have found a suitable district that meets your criteria, follow these steps to ensure that you have an outstanding, attention-grabbing resume on hand.

1. Build a Resume Profile

As you may notice, a typical resume highlights education, credentials, teaching experience, professional affiliations, volunteer work, etc. But what do you do when you have minimal hands-on instructional experience? First, start with an informative profile summary that leaves a good impression on the reader. Briefly discuss your passion for education, methods for assisting learners, and drive to instill a love for students’ learning. Give the reader a solid idea of who you are and the combination of passion and skill you would bring to the classroom.

2.  Demonstrate Competencies

Next, a list of areas of expertise or core competencies can really bring your unique skills to light. Focus on buzzwords and innovative methods you learned in school, for instance, Multiple Intelligences, Differentiated Instruction, Multicultural Units, Assessment Techniques, etc. Craft a list based on the things you incorporate into your philosophy of teaching or your practice as a new teacher.  This list of traits will catch the reader’s eye right away and make them aware that you are not just any teacher but a well-rounded and creative individual with effective methods to maximize student learning.

3.  Highlight Education and Credentials

After your list of skills, including your education and credentials, instead of jumping right into your teaching experience, emphasize your program, major, and minor, if applicable. Highlight your high-grade point average, scholarships, honors programs, and internships that have prepared you for your teaching career. Add any other features of your academic career you are exceptionally proud of and feel would impress potential employers.

4.  Now Address Your Experience

Now for the teaching experience part. Most candidates focus on the years they have been teaching. Since your experience is limited, focus instead on the effective techniques and methods you employed during your student teaching practicum or internship.

List all relevant accomplishments with precise details; this is no time to be vague. If you can demonstrate your achievements using a measurable metric, that’s a great way of showing employers that you are a candidate who can affect positive change in the academic careers of their students.

For example, “Incorporated literature-based units and readers workshops to raise students’ reading levels by at least 1 ½ grade levels”. Or “Introduced a reward program for class attendance and participation; thus achieving a 100% attendance rate year-round” are great ways to list your achievements in a way that a potential hiring manager can quantify.

They can see that you have done demonstrable good work in the past, which sets you up to discuss how you can continue demonstrating positive outcomes with their district.

If you are going through an alternative certification program or have just started your internship, you can create a general area on your resume specifically for teaching techniques and instructional methods. This section of your resume is an excellent place to list learned, utilized or future strategies you have or will employ in your career as a teacher. Use bulleted points to allow for easy reading.

Wrapping it up!

Remember, regardless of the type of position you are seeking or the amount of experience you have under your belt, make sure you have an eye-catching and professional-looking resume. Simple borders, a little color, a relevant graphic, or bolding key points can go a long way for making you stand out among the numerous other candidates.  Don’t hesitate to be in touch if you would like to make sure that your resume stands out for all the right reasons.