Teacher Resume Writing Services 
by Melissa Pontow, Master Resume Writer

By having you read a few select chapters from  my books YOU ACTIVELY LEARN WHY MOST TEACHER RESUMES DON'T WORK!  AND THIS KNOWLEDGE  PUTS YOU FAR AHEAD OF OTHER TEACHERS COMPETING FOR THE TEACHING JOB YOU WANT!  This process also helps you understand why I create the resume the way I do, and why I will ask the questions I ask!

You can rest assured, that as  I write your teacher resume,  I will be applying all of these strategies and my knowledge of having written over 10,000 resumes to  create a highly effective Teacher Resume for you!!

A STRONG TEACHER RESUME SETS YOUR IMAGE ... BEFORE INTERVIEWS
Getting your strengths down on paper 'sets' your image with a district hiring official or principal before you ever walk in the door. That's why strong teacher resumes are so important. Many teachers do not have the confidence, knowledge of interviewing strategies, or a full grasp of their own skills and abilities--to be able take their image from a low point during an interview--and elevate it substantially. That's a good reason why you don't want to walk in the door with a weak teacher resume ... and that's if you can land the interview!  Many teachers do not understand this critical point. If they do land interviews they're very disappointed when they don't get the job. They then flounder around trying to improve their interviewing skills. Yet, what they often need to do is step back and take another look at the image they have created in their resumes.

This happened to Scott, a substitute teacher I worked with. He had landed nine interviews plus several second and third interviews. Yet, he was never offered a teaching position. He was extremely discouraged because he could no longer survive on the money he was making from temporary teaching assignments. He told me he was ready to try anything. He said his wife was pushing him to take a training job with a bank. But, he didn't look happy telling me this. So, I asked him what his dream was and what he really wanted to do. 

With tears in his eyes Scott replied, "Well, I've spent the last six years completing a Masters Degree in Education because I love teaching children. It really hurts to think I'm not going to make it, but I've got to do something. We can't keep going like this financially." Knowing that teaching was really his dream--not working for a bank--was his dream ... I scanned through his resume and it was immediately apparent to me as to why his interviews were going so poorly. Scott wanted a position teaching grades 1-6 but his resume had these sections in it:

Since Scott was landing interviews, he thought there wasn't any real problem with his resume. However, in reality it was causing him many problems. For one, it set an image of him as having only taught 1st graders and Sunday School classes. Since many teaching positions require teaching a range of grade levels, Scott's before resume made his experience look quite limited. It also presented Scott as not having any long term teaching experience within an elementary school and that his predominant work experience was as a custodian. Over half of his resume was devoted to unrelated work experience when this space should have been devoted entirely to any and all teaching skills and experience he possessed.

Scott's history of landing 2nd and 3rd interviews, but no job offers, proved that he, like most job seekers was unable to overcome these problems and turn a weak image into a strong image during his interviews. In Scott's case, his resume needed a complete overhaul in order to set an image of him as being well qualified. Scott also needed to gain a new perspective of his skills so that he could market himself effectively during the interview process. Now let's look at a section from Scott's new resume below which describes all of the substitute teaching assignments he had completed.

SCOTT'S AFTER RESUME

1st, 2nd and 4th Grade Substitute Teacher Taught students of varied academic, socioeconomic, cultural and age levels. Substituted physical education classes of up to 60 students. Adapted to a variety of teaching situations on short notice. 1st Grade - Primary Teacher Organized a parent helper system for extra tutoring help, reading assistance, math enrichment, and classroom organization. Developed an innovative literature-based/Whole Language reading program that gave students of all reading abilities relevant choices of reading material and projects. Taught math using manipulatives, focusing on problem solving, computation, and math awareness in everyday life. Teamed with other first grade teachers to develop curriculum and share materials. 1st & 2nd Grade Student Teacher Used multi-age and cooperative learning techniques to integrate two grade levels. Integrated computers into the curriculum using Jostens/MECC, introduced students to Windows and word processing, and started a class computer lab using surplus computers. 3rd Grade Instructional Practicum Tutored students one-on-one in math and observed a Spalding demonstration classroom. Oversaw students during recess. 6th Grade - Church School Teacher Taught small groups of up to 12, on a weekly basis.

Scott's new resume paved the way for interview success by showing that he had taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th grade students. It also showed his tutoring, reading assistance, math enrichment, student computer lab, curriculum development and classroom management experience. Describing the range of students he had taught along with the diverse teaching methods he had been responsible for, immediately boosted Scott's image and made him look well qualified. As Scott's new resume demonstrates, the layers of information that Scott needed to share about his teaching abilities was much too complex for him to communicate effectively in a short interview (and before writing the new resume he himself didn't fully grasp and appreciate the full range of teaching skills he possessed). Within seconds of reading Scott's new resume the depth of his experience is conveyed in comparison to the before resume. Scott's after resume laid a strong foundation of his qualifications without Scott having to verbally convey such details in an interview. This automatically moved Scott's interviews to a higher level. In only three weeks Scott landed a permanent teaching position, making his dream finally come true (this is a true story, not his real name, but a real student that I worked with as a Job Placement Specialist with the University of Washington, Bothell campus).

DESCRIPTION OF MY RESUME WRITING SERVICE
As a Professional Resume Consultant, I originally spent 2 to 2 1/2 hours with each client that I met with in person. During this process the bulk of my time with a client was spent asking questions and writing their entire resumes with them. I continue to apply this process in writing resumes for clients via the internet. Once I review your resume, 2-3 job ads that represent the range of jobs you are seeking, and 2-3 short paragraphs describing your career and salary goals, then I go directly into your resume and begin asking  you many questions to identify your top skills and to develop content that sells you in the strongest light. 

Once I Receive Your Resume Writing Order
Once I receive your resume, I will review it, the teacher job ad(s) you send along with your comments and the salary you want.  Based on this information I then go directly into your resume and begin asking you dozens of questions to pull out information so that we can create changes in your resume similar to the before   Once you return your answers, I generally revise the first job in the resume and send it back to you for review and comments.  Then when you return the file with your comments or changes, I proceed to complete the rest of the body of your teacher resume and send it back again for review.  You then return the file and I complete the summary.  In this way, we work together to create your resume and you are able to provide feedback as the resume is being created.  Generally this process takes 5-8 BUSINESS DAYS, however, I can sometimes expedite and shorten this time frame to deliver a resume to you more quickly.

This is a much different process than many services provide which state: "We create your resume entirely from your notes." Since most job seekers do not understand how to pull out and highlight their best skills to match each teacher job ad, write powerful sentences, or format their resumes for maximum impact - services that work solely from a teacher's original notes usually result in the creation of a weak resume. That's why sending your resume back and forth, with me actively asking you questions about your skills, experience and achievements is so important.

Formatting of Your Resume
Your resume will be edited and formatted in MS Word and sent to you as an attachment that you can save to your computer hard drive or floppy disk.  You can then edit or make as many copies of your resume as you would like.  I also write cover letters ($50) and can convert your resume to ASCII (scannable/computer format) for $75.