INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Preschool Teacher positions are at a 18% growth rate, which is much faster than average. With that said, there are currently 469,600 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 86,400 to 556,000 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Preschool Teacher jobs was $31,930 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $21,900, and the highest 10% more than $58,230.
Our conclusion? The Preschool Teacher job market is wide open for candidates.
Top preschool teacher sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
Things to remember when writing your preschool teacher experience section
Preschool Teacher Experience Section Checklist:
- Keep it short: use no more than 4-6 bullet points per position;
- Go for short, easy-to-read sentences to keep recruiters engaged;
- Focus on relevant job experience that will enhance your application;
- Describe your experience using the C-A-R (challenge, action, result) methodology;
- Ditch buzzwords and go for power words instead.
To illustrate it more clearly, we’ve collected some of the best experience section examples from real Preschool Teacher resumes. Check them out below!
- Dedicating my time to helping children learn fundamental development skills in a supportive environment
- Help students reach individual goals
- Maintain subjective records on each student's behaviors and educational development
- Developing a well-managed, child-oriented learning curriculum
- Excellent oral communication with children and parents
- Creating a caring, cooperative school environment to promote cultural values and support positive relationships and respectful interactions
- Provide an environment that allows children to learn by doing
- A healthy balance of child-directed and teacher-guided activities as well as time for children to work individually, in small groups and in large groups
- Assist children with their personal hygiene: washing hands, using the bathroom, and changing diapers
- Creating a caring, cooperative school environment to promote cultural values and support positive relationships and respectful interactions
- Provide an environment that allows children to learn by doing
- A healthy balance of child-directed and teacher-guided activities as well as time for children to work individually, in small groups, and in large groups
- Assist children with their personal hygiene: washing hands, using the bathroom, changing diapers
- Supervised children and encouraged social interactions for children ages 2-5 years old
- Created a supportive learning environment for children to explore
- Gave comprehensive feedback to the parents on a daily basis
- Held 3 Different positions during my employment at this organization.
- Working as a part time teacher with school age children in the afternoon and preschoolers and kindergarteners in the mornings.
- Taking care of all the disinfecting logs and cleaning routines.
- Giving positive guidance to the school age children during conflicts.
- Making program plans independently based on children’s interest.
- Organizing clubs for school age children based on their interest. Actively participating in sports and dancing with the children.
- Develop and implement creative and enriching lesson plans for children ages 3-4
- Create curriculum focusing on varying stages of child development including social, large/fine motor and language skills
- Support and maintain relationships between parents, children and teachers to create a positive and nurturing environment
- Manage and oversee the food supply ordering and prepping for the entire school
- Received the Early Childhood Education and Care training and was hired by the academy.
- I Integrate twenty preschool students into social and academic world by teaching social skills, personal hygiene, phonics and math.
- I collaborate cohesively and enthusiastically with fellow teachers as a team, to ensure students excel in future education.
- Gained patience through working with difficult kids
- Improved communication skills
- Learned how to take care of others and help with learning process
PRO TIP
In writing your Preschool Teacher resume, you will no doubt want to list your previous duties - as you should. But steer clear of just listing your duties, instead of your achievements. Make your resume stand out by communicating what you have done, and not merely what the job needed you to do.
Action verbs for your preschool teacher resume
Recommended reads:
The Best Way to Write Your Preschool Teacher Resume’s Skills Section
Preschool Teacher resume: Skills section checklist
- Scan the job advert for keywords worth including in your resume;
- List both hard and transferable skills;
- Leave room for discussion: include some of your skills in other sections of your resume;
- Focus on skills that prove your expertise and leave the irrelevant ones behind.
Top skills for your preschool teacher resume
MS Office
Google Docs
Mac OS
Page Layout
Quickbooks
Windows
Prezi
Early Childhood Development
Early Childhood Intervention
Spreadsheet Capabilities
Communication
Leardership
Empathy
Problem solving
Team work
Listening
Influencing
Mentoring and coaching
Motivating
Emotional intelligence
PRO TIP
When picking skills to feature in your resume, make sure they'll be relevant to the position you’re applying to. The point of listing skills is for you to stand out from the competition. Stay away from repetitive, meaningless skills that everyone uses in their resumes. Or else, they’ll backfire and make you look like an average candidate.
Preschool teacher resume header: Tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your preschool teacher resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Preschool Teacher resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
Writing a strong preschool teacher resume summary
Preschool teacher resume summary checklist:
- Mention your position and total years of experience in the field;
- Highlight 1-2 of your top achievements;
- Go for shorter sentences and keep them to the point – don’t include anything that doesn’t support your application;
- Add 2-4 keywords present in the job description.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary should act as an elevator speech, briefly promoting how you will benefit the employer if hired. Pitch your strengths in the summary and expand on them in your Preschool Teacher experience section. Give examples like how your work benefited each employer.
Recommended Reads:
Adding education, courses, and certifications to your preschool teacher resume
Education section tips and tricks:
- Add info about your highest degree level, incl. year of graduation, place of study, and degree subject;
- Mention some education-related awards you’ve received;
- Share a bit more about your certifications (if they are relevant);
- Entry-level applicants: Tailor your education section by including classes that are relevant to the position you’re applying for.
Top certifications for your preschool teacher resume
Pre-School Skill Building Techniques and Academic Management
Make your school the best place for pre-school children
Technology Observation in Early Childhood Education and Care
Ideas for Parents, Preschool teachers, Kindergarten teachers, and Early Primary School teachers.
Speech and Language Disorders in Preschool Children
Basic Training Course for Preschool teachers to identify and stimulate children with speech and language disorders
Integrate Technology in Early Childhood Education
Teaching and observation methods for Preschool, Kindergarten and Early Years Primary teachers
A Motivational Course For Teachers 31 Days of Teacher Praise
A Course Dedicated To Inspiring And Motivating Educators
Recommended Reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Preschool Teacher. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
The best format for your preschool teacher resume
Choosing the right format for your resume might seem difficult, regardless of whether you’re a newbie or a master. In short, there are three basic resume formats for you to choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
The choice you make depends on your level of experience and the company you’re applying for.
The reverse-chronological resume format is great for you if you have at least 10 years of experience, no employment gaps, and are not looking for a career change. Here, you are expected to list all your previous jobs in a reverse-chronological format, starting from your most recent position and going back to the oldest one. It’s perfect for experienced individuals who are looking for a straightforward way to highlight their expertise.
The functional skills-based resume format, on the other hand, is great for recent graduates or professionals with large employment gaps. It focuses on skills and education, rather than experience. This makes it ideal for showing you’re the right fit without putting too much emphasis on your lack of (relevant) experience.
If you’re looking for something a bit more creative, go for the combination resume format. It’s a mix of the reverse-chronological and the functional skills-based formats, which makes it ideal for all types of applicants. What’s more, it’s considered modern and innovative, and isn’t this what you want your application to feel like anyway?
After choosing the right format for your Preschool Teacher resume, it’s time to perfect the layout and style.
- Go for traditional 1-inch resume margins;
- Choose a simple resume font, sized 10-12p;
- Make sure that the length of your resume matches your applicant profile: try to fit in a one-page template; two-page templateare suitable only for candidates with over 10 years of experience.
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid issues around formatting and unauthorized editing.
Looking for more ways to make your application stand out? Read this article!
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
If you feel that you don’t have high chances in a particular company, due to lack of relevant experience, then you can still consider using a creative layout. That might help you get noticed and invited for an interview, as most of the other applicants will have boring resume designs.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company, your position, and your general desire to experiment and showcase your creative side, you might want to add some additional sections to your resume. Some examples include:
Creating a memorable preschool teacher resume
You want your resume to put you in front of other candidates even when the competition is high, right? Right!
One of the easiest ways to do this is by adding a drop or two of creativity. You can choose a colorful and out-of-the-box template, or maybe even put a ‘what my typical days look like’ section at the bottom of your resume
It’s totally up to you. Just make sure to match the level of creativity to the industry, the position, and the company.
What makes a great preschool teacher resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
