Teachers are constantly in demand in the UK and the career outlook of teachers is very good.
The average teaching salary in the UK sits at around £32,000, with slight variations based on whether you are (or want to be) a primary school teacher, secondary school teacher, early years teacher or a specialist.
Whether you’re fresh out of university and want to teach or you are already an established teacher, you can never go wrong with optimizing your CV.
Given the ongoing COVID-19 situation, teachers’ skill sets are set to change with time. Based on WE Forum, the pandemic has resulted in over 1.2 billion students leaving their classrooms, with 186 countries shifting to online learning.
This gives young and tech-savvy teaching job candidates an upper hand, given that we are bound to use digital devices for education for some time. But, how do you optimize your CV in order to successfully land a job in the education sector and kick-start your career as a teacher? Let’s discuss just that in the following paragraphs.
Adopt a LLL Approach to Your Development
The first thing to note is that there is always competition to think about when it comes to landing a job you want. Other candidates such as yourself will likely want to become teachers and apply for the same positions as you. You can shift the odds in your favor if you adopt a life-long-learning (LLL) approach to personal development.
While you want schools and teaching institutions to get back to you, you can take up teacher training courses to enhance your skill set. These online courses can help you add different certifications and diplomas to your CV in order to make employment easier. There’s no reason to sit idly and wait for an answer – be proactive and learn.
Write your Personal Statement
While different teachers may share similar backgrounds when it comes to formal education, their personalities will always differ. As such, you can include a short personal statement in your CV, indicating who you are as an individual.
Keep things simple and limit your statement to 1-3 sentences, hitting on major points about your persona. It’s like writing a biographical signature in a paper you just wrote via Grammarly or Hemingway for a dissertation discussion chapter or an academic publication. Add your personal statement next to your photo and bio details to allow for quick glances to and from other writing.
Formal Education & Credentials
One could argue that formal education matters the most when it comes to building a career in education – that isn’t a universal rule, however. Many educational institutions are open to hiring teachers with extensive experience in STEM, engineering, or other fields based on professional merits alone. It is essential that you pay close attention to this segment of your CV writing as it can make or break your application.
From top to bottom, list your formal education, teacher training credentials, and any state or government issued certification you’ve acquired. Various online courses can always add to your prospects of being hired, don’t shy away from them. From there, you can move onto previous teaching and teaching assistant positions you’ve held and their details. The more practical teaching experience you have, the better your odds will be at piquing the school board’s interest in your CV.
Informal Experiences & Seminars
A teachers’ job is never done, and your CV will benefit greatly from informal experiences, seminars, conferences, and other development points. For example, you can list all academic projects, publications, and assistant roles you had so far in your career. Volunteering and NGO work can also add to your gravitas as an education professional.
As a teacher, you will have to communicate not only with your students but also colleagues and school board, making confidence building courses worthwhile. Don’t stop at formal development and preparation for your career in education – go beyond that and write about other experiences you’ve had so far.
Format & Proofread Carefully
It may sound obvious, but proofreading your CV is important. It’s especially important if you want to build a career in education and want to submit your documentation to school boards for review. Before you proceed with applications, take your time to format the CV properly and go through everything you’ve written.
Make sure that you are satisfied with your wording, terminology, abbreviations, and other writing elements which may need further explanation. Aim for a concise but approachable writing style which doesn’t require the reader to know about your area of expertise intimately. Once you’re satisfied with your CV, you can proceed to apply for potential teaching positions in whichever formal/informal institution you desire to pursue.
Reformat the CV based on the School
No two educational institutions will have the same priorities when it comes to hiring new teachers or assistants. Don’t send the same generic CV to every educational institution. As such, you should take time to do background research on each school or academy you plan on applying for.
This can give you a better indication of which skills and CV elements that particular institution favors over others. It is clear then that a one-for-all approach to writing a teacher’s CV won’t work in your favor. You should reformat and restructure your CV based on individual job positions to appear more professional and self-aware.
In Summary
Being a teacher is undoubtedly a noble and selfless calling since you will have the privilege of passing down knowledge to others around you. Treat your CV with the same care and dedication as you would your students and write it properly before applying for a job.
Make sure to hit all the requirements and notes listed in the job opening to avoid misunderstandings – the rest is out of your hands. Your interviewers and potential colleagues will quickly determine your viability for the position by the way in which you wrote the CV. While not every school or academy will have a positive response for you, those that do will open the door for your career in education.