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Perfect Your Resume: A Guide for Teachers Changing Careers
- Cat Moon
- Oct 27
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
As teachers, you wear many hats! Your skills are so transferable and you're some of the most employable people out there, so you certainly shouldn't sell yourself short when applying for non-teaching jobs.
Full disclosure: I'm by no means a 'resume expert', but I do have an English Language degree and a background in writing. I've made the ideal career change from a teacher into to a non-teaching role, landing 3 interviews in the space of 3 months based off a combination of my resume, cover letter, and my interview.
I've also read many teacher friends resumes over the months who haven't had much luck landing non-teaching jobs. Whilst it's clear they are excellent teachers, their skills don't always translate well into a corporate setting - hence why their resumes aren't getting picked up by hiring managers. It's so important to hone in on what skills the company wants before you apply, because as amazing as you might be as a teacher- the company aren't looking to hire a teacher.
However, even with a well-written resume, it might still take months to land a non-teaching role. With the job market as it currently is, don't expect for it to be a walk in the park. Most importantly, don't give up, and keep plugging away. I highly recommend creating an excel document which keeps tabs on the jobs you apply for so you don't accidentally apply to the same job twice!
Shall I use 'teacher' as my job title?
It's never a good idea to lie on your resume, but using 'teacher' as your job title is a hard no. Reason being that everyone knows (or I should say, thinks they know) what a teacher does on a day to day basis, and by not changing your job title to something more corporate-sounding, you are giving recruiters a reason to pass on your resume! As unfortunate as it is, they won't sit there and think about all your transferable skills. The phrase 'teacher' might also flag up as a key word for lazy recruiters on LinkedIn or job sites who might target you for more teaching roles. In my case, I was getting requests on LinkedIn from international recruiters for teaching roles based in Qatar and Saudi Arabia because they assumed I was looking for a teaching job in another country, based off my previous experience working as an international teacher in Dubai. That was, until I changed my job title to something more corporate sounding.
Here are some job titles you can use instead of 'teacher':
Shall I use the key words from the job ad?
Top Tip: if you can't organically add the key words from the job ad into your resume, copy and paste them into your footer and turn the font white (so you can't see it when printed). Boom! It'll get through resume scanning with the ATS (applicant scanning software) to give your resume a better chance of being seen by a real person.
Do I need a profile summary?
In my own experience, I would strongly suggest a profile summary at the top of your resume- particularly as you are changing careers. State something like:
"Educational professional with 7+ years experience looking to transition into learning and development. Previous experience designing course materials and delivering workshops."
This shows that you're not just applying to random jobs- you're ACTUALLY trying to transition into a new field. The second sentence can be used to highlight the experience you do have (if any).
Should my resume go over one page?
As teachers, we like to make sure we get all the information down. But for the love of God, DO NOT go over one page! Common advice, but so many people disregard this. The recruiter doesn't care about your first Saturday job after college, or that you studied Mandarin in high school. Keep it relevant to the role you're applying to. If you're applying for an instructional design job, and have 10 years of experience using Edtech in the classroom and other learning platforms, 80% of your resume should be about that. The other 20% should be about any other experiences that helps build up your profile around the position e.g. you led whole staff training on a new learning platform, you took a course on instructional design etc.
Should I tweak my resume for every role?
Yes. Is the short answer. Changing your resume for each role is more likely to lead to success than if you send off the same resume without tweaking it- particularly when you're making a career change. Reason being: not every point on your resume will be relevant to every role you apply for. This is where you need to be doing a deep-dive into every job description. Use the language the company uses in their advertisement. A job advert for a Project Manager will use different language to a job advert for a Learning Advisor. Hence, tweak your resume for every role.
Make use of LinkedIn by connecting with local recruiters and networking with others in a role you want to move into. Ask the employee if they wouldn't mind sharing with you the ins and outs of their role, or how they got into it. The worst that can happen is that they don't reply! Some people love helping others if it means contributing to their job success. Companies often post job listings on LinkedIn, but not always on external job sites.
Other blog posts which cover this:
This is where AI comes in handy. Copy and paste your CV into ChatGPT and then type in the prompt: "Tweak my CV for a Project Manager". Even if all the bullet points sound way too farfetched, you'll get the gist for the type of language each role requires, and you can reframe your resume for each role accordingly.
Should I include a photo?
You want a job. Not a date.
Should I reach out to the recruiter?
Top Tip: To maximise your chances of getting through to the interview stage, take the first step and reach out to the recruiter or job poster. This has helped me land job interviews! If you aren't confident in selling yourself or knowing what to say, start with:
"Hi there. I'm interested in applying for x role which I saw it advertised on your site and I wondered if you could tell me more about the position. I'm pivoting from my current career and in my last role I...." (Then tell them exactly how your skills apply and why you'd be an excellent fit for the role advertised).
Most likely, the recruiter will ask you to send them your resume. In the instance that you aren't a fit for the current job you enquired about, the recruiter will have your resume on file and might even remember you for future roles.
It also pays to reach out on LinkedIn to recruiters who are hiring for specific roles. I've landed a job interview which I definitely wasn't qualified for by letting a recruiter know that I'd applied. It felt a bit cringey at the time, but this method gets your name out there, shows that you've made extra effort and you become memorable amongst the other applicants that didn't reach out.
Shall I reach out to employees in the company for more info?
Top Tip: Don't get me wrong, it's crossed my mind many times. But this doesn't always look good, and it can invite pre-judgement. Imagine someone reaching out to you on social media to ask you if you enjoy working at X school. Especially if you don't enjoy it, it's unlikely you'll give an honest opinion anyway to a random stranger as you wouldn't want word getting back to your current employer. You also have to weigh up the positives and negatives about working for a company, as disgruntled employers are more likely to leave a negative review. However, that isn't to say you should disregard negative reviews completely- particularly if there's many of them. That would be a massive red flag for me and I'd think twice about applying.
Found this post useful? Comment below if we've helped you with any aspect of your job search- we'd love to hear from you!
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