How to tailor a teacher resume to a job description
School postings name the subjects, age range, curriculum and responsibilities they need. Here's how to mirror them on your resume or CV and show the impact of your teaching.
What school leaders look for
A teaching application is checked for fit first: your certification or qualified teacher status, the subjects and grades or key stages you can teach, and experience with the curriculum the school follows.
Then heads of department read for practice and impact: how you plan, differentiate and assess, and what happened to your pupils' progress. Tailoring means opening with the subject, age range and approaches the posting names.
Keywords that usually matter
Pull these from the posting itself, and only use the ones you can back up with real experience.
- Certification: state teaching licence, QTS, PGCE, or the qualification the posting requires.
- Subject and level: for example KS3–KS4 science, grades 9–12 English, early years.
- Curriculum: Common Core, IB, AP, GCSE, A level, the national curriculum.
- Classroom practice: lesson planning, differentiation, formative assessment, behaviour management.
- Inclusion: SEN or special education, EAL or ELL support, IEPs.
- Technology: Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, interactive whiteboards.
- Wider school: pastoral care, clubs and trips, safeguarding training.
Where each keyword belongs
Subject, age range and years of teaching, plus your certification — in the posting's terms.
Certification or QTS, your degree and any subject-specialist training, with dates.
The classes you taught, the approach you used, and the result for pupils.
Leadership, clubs, safeguarding and pastoral roles — schools often ask for these specifically.
Before and after: one bullet (example)
Before: "Taught science to secondary students." After, for a posting asking for KS4 chemistry and differentiation: "Taught KS4 chemistry to mixed-ability groups, using differentiated practicals and weekly low-stakes quizzes to close gaps before mock exams." Only mention results you can evidence with your school's data, and never anything that identifies a pupil.
Tailor it in about a minute with JobTailor
The same method, done for you — with every change shown for your approval.
- Open the posting
Open the job on LinkedIn, Indeed or a company careers page with the JobTailor extension, or paste the link into your dashboard.
- Check the match
See your ATS match score and the keywords the posting uses that your resume is missing — like "formative assessment" or "SEN".
- Review the rewrite
JobTailor proposes tailored bullets as tracked changes. Accept the ones that are true, reject the rest, then download a PDF or Word file.
Frequently asked questions
Resume or CV for teaching jobs?
Schools in the UK and many international schools ask for a CV or an application form; US districts usually ask for a resume. The tailoring is the same either way: mirror the posting's subjects, levels and curriculum.
Should I include pupil results?
Yes, if you can evidence them and they're appropriate to share — progress measures or exam results for your groups. Never include anything that identifies individual pupils.
How do I tailor for a different age range?
Lead with transferable practice — assessment, behaviour management, differentiation — and any experience with the new age group, such as cover lessons, tutoring or placements.
Tailor your teacher resume to the next posting
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