Nine Resume Strategies for Teachers and Educators

Education and its related career paths are showing steady growth, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's projections. Experts anticipate this growth will continue through at least 2008.

What's more, education has changed. When we talk about education professionals, we're no longer referring to just classroom teachers. Specializations and sub-specializations like special education, corporate training and education administration have proliferated.

To take advantage of these opportunities, you must be an educated job seeker. That means knowing what you want in your career, where the hiring action is, what qualifications and credentials you need to attain your desired career goals and how best to market your qualifications.

It is not enough to be a talented teacher, librarian, administrator or training and development professional. You must also be a strategic marketer—able to package and promote your experience to take advantage of this wave of employment opportunity.

Career Summary. Think of your summary as the master plan of your resume. It summarizes all the components of your professional skills and experience that contribute to the success of a school, a classroom or a corporate training and development center.
Professional Experience. Professional experience is analogous to the courses and curricula that you might teach. Your professional experience demonstrates how you put all of your capabilities to work.
Education, Credentials and Certifications. Think of this section as your accreditation—the third-party validation of your qualifications, knowledge and expertise.
The "Extras." (Public speaking, honors and awards, technology qualifications, professional affiliations, civic affiliations, foreign languages, personal information). These make up the extra-credit section of your resume, the "extra stuff" that helps distinguish you from others with similar qualifications.
In addition, educators need to know the nine core strategies for writing effective and successful resumes:

1. Clarify who you are and how you want to be perceived.
The very first step is to identify your career interests, goals, and objectives. You cannot write an effective resume without knowing, at least to some degree, what type or types of positions you will be seeking.

2. Sell it, don't tell it.
You are the product, and you must create a document that powerfully communicates the value of that product.

3. Use key words.
These are words and phrases specific to the education industry. When you use these words and phrases—in your resume, in your cover letter, or during an interview—you communicate a familiarity with the relevant issues.

4. Use the "big" and save the "little."
Give a broad-based picture of what you were responsible for and how well you did it. Then, save the "little" stuff—the details—for the interview.

5. Make your resume "interviewable."
Your resume should lead the reader where you want to go and presents just the right organization, content and appearance to stimulate a productive discussion.

6. Eliminate confusion with structure and context.
Try to make it as easy as possible for readers to grasp essential facts from your resume. Be consistent and make information easy to find.

7. Use function to demonstrate achievement.
A resume that focuses only on job functions can be dry and uninteresting. You'll create a more powerful resume when you translate your functions into achievements.

8. Remain in the realm of reality.
Don't push your skills and qualifications outside the bounds of what is truthful. You never want to be in a position where you have to defend something on your resume.

9. Be confident.There is only one individual with the specific combination of employment experiences, qualifications, achievements and educational credentials you have. Use this to position yourself as a commodity in the job market.