My extensive experience and education as a teacher at an international school are described in the attached resume. I’m confident that if you choose to interview me and hire me, I will be a great addition to your team.
I speak Slovak, which is my native tongue, as well as Czech and Russian, fluently. I have also studied Croatian, which I understand fairly well. I have eight years of experience teaching foreign languages, and I have mastered the following abilities:
I would be very interested in meeting with you to discuss your needs and any potential solutions that I could offer as an international school teacher for Company Name.
Although there are many opportunities to do so, a job won’t just fall into your lap. Gaining employment requires creating a cover letter that grabs hiring managers’ attention. LiveCareer is here to help you differentiate yourself from the competition.
Let’s start with the resume
Let’s begin by learning how to create a winning resume. Because it serves as a general outline for your cover letter and lists pertinent work experience, education, and skills, we advise writing your resume first. You’re sure to forget some important information if you try to write your cover letter first!
It’s now crucial to make it clear that the ideal teaching resume isn’t even a resume. Instead, it’s a curriculum vitae, which is short for curriculum vitae and comes from the Latin for “the course of one’s life.”
A CV contains more information and is longer than a standard resume. Because inexperienced teachers frequently lack traditional teaching experience, this distinction is crucial. Writing a CV as opposed to a resume enables you to elaborate on your qualifications as a potential exceptional teacher, such as academic distinctions, volunteer experience, and language abilities.
On a CV, you would never reveal your gender or marital status if you lived in the United States or Canada. Be prepared to get personal on your teaching CV, though, as other nations may not have the same privacy laws or customs as North America. Additionally, your age plays a significant role in determining whether you would qualify for a work visa, so it makes sense that schools would want to be aware of this information up front.
Depending on the country, you might be required to include different information on your CV. Examples include:
- Age
- Gender
- Citizenship and nationality
- Marital status
- Any valid work or residency visas
Some nations, particularly those in Asia, are eager to see what their prospective teachers will look like. Consequently, including a headshot-style photo on your resume is a great way to stand out from the competition. It’s best to have your photo taken professionally. But if money is tight, a friend with a high-quality camera will do.
In the “education” section of your resume, place your TEFL certification first. Note the accredited organization that issued your certificate as well as the number of hours it took to complete.
Include information about your education after that, starting with your most recent institution. A Bachelor’s degree is typically required for teachers in international schools, so be sure to include this information.
Let’s get to the meat of your resume: your work history. List your current and previous positions beginning with your most recent one. Be sure to include the dates of employment, the name of each employer, and the location of each position. If you’re in your early 20s and new to the workforce, don’t be afraid to list volunteer work and less formal jobs like working as a camp counselor, babysitter, or au pair. Any experience you have working with children counts!.
In order to impress your potential employer, be specific about your duties and any awards you may have received. Put a spotlight on any information concerning instruction, child care, mentoring, or even employment in a global setting. These details could give you an edge over the competition.
Skills, awards, and extracurriculars
Consider adding distinct sections for “skills,” “awards,” and “extracurricular activities” to your resume to make it even better. For instance, potential employers are interested in learning if you can communicate in another language, if you have experience working with children or non-profit organizations, and if you have won any awards for your achievements in school or in life.
Any additional details that show you are a self-reliant, all-encompassing candidate are relevant here. You must, after all, be able to overcome any challenges that may arise when you uproot your life and relocate abroad in addition to having solid teaching skills. Show them how ready you are!.
Your next step is writing the cover letter
Now that your resume is polished, let’s discuss your teaching cover letter. You should cover the subjects and information on the following list:
- Lead with the position you’re applying for. You should make it very clear in the first sentence of your cover letter which teaching position you are applying for. Make sure it’s not hidden from the hiring manager or your future boss.
- Ditch the “Dear Sir/Madam” opening. Never assume gender when you’re writing a cover letter. Simply begin with “Dear Hiring Manager” and move on from there if you are unable to determine who to address it to.
- Keep it brief. You should edit your cover letter if it takes up more than one page. There is enough room on one page for everything you need to say.
- Make it personal. Avoid creating a general cover letter and sending it to numerous international schools. Although reusing a cover letter can expedite the application process, it won’t convey to a prospective employer that you are passionate about their company or that you have anything unique to offer them.
- Don’t get flowery. Remember that the person reading your cover letter might not be a native English speaker. So, aim to express yourself in clear, concise language.
- Highlight your relevant experience. Lead with your teaching experience, followed by your knowledge of other countries, such as whether you’ve traveled or lived abroad, and ask yourself, “Why am I the ideal candidate to teach at this school?” then speak about your desire to teach and how their particular school would profit from having you on staff. Make them a pitch they can’t turn down!.
- State your English proficiency. If you are an English native speaker, make sure to mention it in your cover letter. Additionally, some schools want to know your accent (for instance, British vs North American).
- Disclose your availability. Inform your potential employer of your availability to start working at that time. Make those dates clear, for instance, if you’re finishing up your Bachelor’s degree and won’t be finished with exams until May.
Putting on the final touches
Your CV and resume should now appear polished and expert. Before you press the submit button, take these three last steps.
- Check for spelling errors. Make careful edits to your CV and cover letter yourself, using a spellchecker. After that, ask a reliable friend to check your application for mistakes.
- Skip the unusual fonts. Do yourself a favor and press CTRL A to switch to a professional typeface like Arial or even Times New Roman if you typed your application in a non-traditional font. Trust us, it makes a difference.
- See how your application looks IRL. Before applying, print your resume and cover letter to make sure the formatting is correct. You can see exactly how your application will look to a potential employer by having a physical copy. Even if you submit online, the international school will probably print out the applications to review them.
With the help of this guide, we hope you’ll soon be starting your life-changing adventure of teaching abroad. On that note, happy job hunting!
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