Education Resume Builder. Your resume made professional

For public school jobs, spell out your certification near the top: the state that issued it, the grade band it covers and the subjects you're endorsed to teach. The BLS reports that all states require public school teachers to be licensed or certified for the grade level they teach, while private school teachers typically aren't required to be licensed. If you're in an alternative-route program, which BLS says all states offer to bachelor's degree holders without education coursework, name the program and your expected certification date.

In child care, where some states and employers ask for a national credential, list your Child Development Associate (CDA) and its renewal date. New graduates can give student teaching its own entry with the school, grade, subject and units planned, and college faculty searches may ask for a CV listing courses taught and publications.

Then show what changed for your students: class sizes and sections taught, growth on benchmark or state assessments, reading levels, attendance, and how many students with IEPs or 504 plans you supported. For example: "Moved 6 of 28 fourth graders up to grade-level reading by spring through daily small-group guided reading."

• How do I list a teaching certification or license on my resume?

  Copy the credential's name exactly as your state's record shows it, then add the subject or grade area and the date it expires. A California teacher might write "Preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, California, valid through 06/2029." The stage matters too: California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing says a preliminary credential is valid for five years and can't be renewed, so it has to be upgraded to the clear level. Still finishing your program? Write "Certification expected May 2027" and list the exams you've passed. Licensed in two states? List both, one line apiece.

• How do I put substitute teaching on my resume?

  List the district, or the staffing agency that placed you, as the employer with one date range, instead of a separate entry for each school. Underneath, say how many schools and grade levels you covered and about how many days a year you worked. Then pull out long-term assignments as their own bullets: the subject, how many weeks, and whether you planned lessons, graded work or met with parents, since that is closest to the full-time job you want. If your state issued you a substitute permit or license, add it to your certifications.

• How do I list teaching assistant or paraprofessional work?

  Use the title your district gave you, whether paraprofessional, instructional aide or teacher assistant, and name the setting: a general classroom, a resource room or a self-contained class. Next, show that you meet the hiring rules. Under federal rules, a paraprofessional giving instructional support in a Title I-funded program (federal aid for schools with many low-income students) needs two years of college study, an associate's degree or a passing score on a formal state or local assessment, so list whichever applies to you. Finish with the support you gave, such as small-group reading, tracking IEP (individualized education program) goals or a behavior plan. See Special Education Paraprofessional examples.

• Moving from teaching to vice principal: what goes at the top of the resume?

  Lead with your leadership training. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says principals typically need a master's degree in education leadership or administration and several years of teaching, most states require public school principals to be licensed as school administrators, and assistant principals can advance to principal. So put that degree and license, or the month you expect to finish them, near the top of a Vice Principal resume. Below, keep the path in order: a Student Teaching Practicum entry with the school, grade and supervising teacher, then each Teacher role with classroom results. Inside those roles, list leadership work such as department chair, testing coordinator or a discipline committee.