Becoming a Teacher: What Your Resume Says About You (page 2)

Most potential employers want to know the same basic things about you: your name, address, education, certification, and work experience. You might also include your specific job objective, the professional organizations you belong to, and your professional references.

Even if you choose to hire a professional resume writer or resume preparation service to create your resume, he or she will require the majority of this information in order to do a good job creating a resume on your behalf. The same holds true if you purchase off-the-shelf resume creation software for your computer. Keep in mind, the majority of these resume writing tips and strategies apply to traditional printed resumes as well as to electronic resumes that you submit online.

The first section of any resume includes information about how a potential employer can contact you. The details you will want to provide include contact information, job objective(s), work/employment history, and references.

Contact Information

• full name _____
• permanent street address _____
• city, state, zip _____
• daytime telephone number _____
• evening telephone number _____
• pager/cell phone number (optional) _____
• fax number (optional) _____
• e-mail address _____
• school address (if applicable) _____
• your phone number at school (if applicable) _____

If you live at school or if you are thinking of moving soon, include a permanent address as well as your current information.

Do not include personal information in the resume. You could endanger your chances of getting hired if you include information about your religion, marital status, race, or other personal details.

The following questions will help you pinpoint the specific types of information that needs to go into the various sections of your resume and/or cover letter. By answering these questions, you will also get to know yourself better, so you can find the job opportunities you will prosper in and that you will enjoy.

Job Objective(s)

Many resumes begin with a career goal or objective. It doesn't have to be profound or philosophical; just list the job you want to obtain. The purpose of the objective is to assure potential employers that they are about to read a relevant resume.

In the space that follows, write a short description of the job you're seeking. Be sure to include as much information as possible about how you can use your skills to the employer's benefit. Later, you will condense this answer into one short sentence.

What is the job title you're looking to fill (e.g., elementary teacher)?

Personal/Professional Ambitions

Take some time to reflect on the questions in this section; your answers to many of these questions can help you not only in the preparation of your resume but also in your broader career planning activities.

For your personal and professional goals, what are five smaller, short-term goals you can begin working toward achieving right now that will help you ultimately achieve each of your long-term goals?

Using the information in the previous questionnaire, you should be able to begin piecing together content for your resume. Whatever you do, however, never simply copy your resume right out of a book. Use the sample resumes provided in this book and in other resume books as a guide, but be sure the content is 100% accurate and customized to you.

Power Words

The following short list contains examples of skill-related words and phrases you could incorporate into your resume (assuming they are skills you actually have):

analyzing	designing	record keeping
coaching	innovating	researching
communicating	motivating	scheduling
consulting	negotiating	supervising
coordinating	organizing	teaching
counseling	performing	training
creating	planning	writing
data entry	public speaking