5 Tutor Resume Examples & Guide for 2024

With the popularity of tutoring increasing, there is a growing demand for experienced tutors specializing in a range of subjects. The most requested subjects today include STEM subjects, coding and computer programming, standardized test prep, and music and arts education.

If you are searching for a new tutoring position, you’ll need to update your resume to reflect the skills and experience listed in the job post. To do this effectively, you need to be aware of the common issues and challenges tutors face when updating their resumes.

In this guide, we’ll use real-world examples from professional tutor resumes that demonstrate how to:

• Effectively highlight communication skills, emotional intelligence, problem-solving skills, and other soft skills that are crucial for tutors to better understand their students’ needs and design personalized lesson plans.
• Create a focused resume that targets a specific age group and subject matter that lines up with the job requirements.
• Show evidence of student progress and development by including a portfolio link that demonstrates student progress stories, academic achievements, articles, books, and lesson plans you developed, and other tutoring accomplishments.
• Highlight personal development through continuing education courses, teaching seminars, workshops, and other development programs.  

By the end of this guide, you will have developed a targeted tutor resume that quantifies specific metrics and highlights necessary skills that will put you at the top of the call sheet.

If you are looking for a more specific type of tutor resume example, check out some of our related tutor resume guides:

• Math tutor resume
• Private tutor resume
• Online tutor resume
• Freelance tutor resume
• Tutor cover letter

Before we get into adding your work experience, education, and various technical, teaching, and interpersonal skills, we need to make sure your resume is formatted correctly.

How to format a tutor resume

The proper format can make or break your chances of getting an interview, especially when it comes to resumes. Not only do you need to know the correct document settings, you need to be familiar with which sections to include and how to best format your skills, experience, and education.

The standard resume format settings include:

• One-inch margins on all sides
• A standard black font color
• Line spacing set to single-space
• A white background color

If you are building a resume from scratch, these are the same settings as any new Word or Google Doc, so you typically don’t need to worry about setting these.

If you want a jumpstart on your resume building, use our online resume builder to get started.

One decision you’ll need to make when creating your resume is the type of style or layout. There are several different themes you can choose from:

• Traditional: This is the more common choice for resumes. It has a classical, cleaner look that is simple and easy to read.
• Modern: Offers a more visually pleasing resume by using different colors, backgrounds, and icons to help you stand out.
• Creative: This theme is a bit more unconventional and can include graphics, QR codes, and photos, and is best for those in the creative industry.
• Simple: A basic resume template that offers an organized layout that is efficient and streamlined and draws attention to your professional qualities and achievements.

These templates and other Enhancv resume templates are accepted by applicant tracking systems.

Some other important formatting tips you need to consider:

• Page limit: The max page limit is two pages. Any more than that, and it likely won’t be read.
• Single or double-column formats: A two-column layout allows more experienced tutors to add more information on a single page and is accepted by applicant tracking systems.
• Resume file type: When you submit your resume, send it as a PDF document (.pdf). This is the most widely accepted document type for all resumes and will maintain the look and feel of your tutor resume.
• Font choices: Only use a serif or sans serif font, like Exo 2, Lato, Montserrat, Railway, and Volkhov. Avoid any decorative or script fonts.

Enhancv resume templates come with a wide selection of acceptable fonts that you can use.

Want to see how your resume stacks up with others? Run it through our resume checker for an in-depth analysis and tips on how to improve it.

Let’s take a look at the must-have sections that you’ll need to include:

To help you get started, we gathered a list of the most sought-after experience and qualifications that recruiters expect from new hires:

Now that we know what to focus on, let’s jump in and add your relevant tutoring experience. If you are looking for your first tutoring position, we’ll show you the types of jobs and experience recruiters like to see from first-time tutors.

How to write your tutor resume experience

The resume experience section is where you’ll add any professional tutoring experience. This can include freelance tutoring jobs, short-term tutoring assignments, private family tutoring jobs, and part and full-time tutoring jobs in a teaching facility.

There are a couple of different ways you can format this section. Each format has its benefits, and which one you choose depends on where you are in your tutoring career:

• Chronological: For tutors with over 5 years of tutoring experience. This format highlights your most relevant work experience and skills. If you are applying for a tutoring position that requires Standardized test prep, you want to list those jobs where you taught those subjects first.
• Reverse chronological: For those with 1-5 years of professional experience. You will include all tutoring experience, no matter the subject specialty, starting with your most recent work experience.

When adding each job entry, you want to include the job title, company or family name,  dates of employment, subject matter specialty, and 4-8 bullet points detailing your tutoring experience.  

Be careful when adding your work experience. Many tutors fail to take full advantage of this section and properly list their experience in a way that demonstrates their tutoring abilities and successes.

Let’s look at a real-world example of a tutor's resume experience to demonstrate how to best format each job entry.

 The main goal of the resume experience section is to answer the following question: How well can you tutor our students in the subjects they need to learn?

Does this example do this? Not really. They list the job requirements, but they fail to demonstrate the effect they have on their students, which is something recruiters and parents will look for.

This example also falls short of using relevant keywords that applicant tracking systems will search for and highlight your resume as qualified for the role. Nor does it list any information about the subjects they taught.

Let’s see if we can improve this example by adding more details.

We now have a very impressive answer to our question. Notice how this person included the specific subjects they taught and their accomplishments. This is important to include because most recruiters need to know which subjects they have experience in.

Other things this example does well include:

• Creates a targeted resume by including specific subject matters.
• Highlighting the number of students taught.
• Quantifies multiple tutoring metrics.
• Details their creation of engaging lesson plans that motivate students
• Demonstrates their ability to adjust teaching plans based on student interest and performance.

If you are unsure how you can quantify your tutoring accomplishments, we’ll show you some other examples of how to include this crucial information next.

How to quantify impact on your resume

To make your tutoring resume stand out, you need to do more than list the duties, responsibilities, and lesson plans you created. You want to include the effect you had on your students and other accomplishments, like the number of subjects you mastered and increases in test scores. How?

Using numbers and percentages in a resume allows tutors to quantify how they helped their students learn and improve their grades and self-esteem. Which tutoring metrics can you quantify? Let’s take a look at some real-world examples of resumes that quantify various metrics:

• Number of students tutored: “Tutored 25 college students in English Language and Literature, with a 100% subsequent pass rate with an average test score above 90%.”
• Number of group sessions led: “Led 8 summer workshops for 20 creative writing students, which helped students produce a 30-page short film.”
• Percentage of student’s improvements in test scores and grades: “Implemented personalized student strategies to improve standardized test scores, resulting in a 25% increase on SAT, ACT, and other college prep tests.”
• The age range of students taught: “Assisted students ranging in ages from 13-18 in understanding course materials and answering student questions, resulting in a 30% increase in student engagement.”
• The number of subjects mastered: “Mastered 6 college-level subjects ranging from JavaScript, Python, C++, and other AI coding programs.”
• Duration of longest tutoring relationship: “Private tutor for the Sullivan family for 10 years, in which all children excelled in junior high and high school and graduated with top honors.”
• Number of lesson plans developed: “Created and implemented 47 lesson plans covering all high school subjects, produced classroom materials based on student feedback, and created 10 mock SAT exams that produced a 20% average increase in test scores.”
• Number of educational materials created: “Developed 6 new interactive lesson plans covering STEM subjects that base follow-up questions on the correct or incorrect answers to previous questions.”

While you don’t need to quantify every bullet point, you do want to focus on the keywords in the job post. If it focuses on improving foreign language skills, you want to quantify your accomplishments in tutoring students in a specific foreign language.

How do I write a tutor resume with no experience

Writing the resume experience section when you have no tutoring experience does present a challenge for first-time tutors. You want to show that you have real-world work experience, but do you really need to include that summertime lifeguard job?

Not unless you taught new lifeguards about lifeguarding procedures or taught swimming on first aid, CPR, or other life-saving lessons.

Demonstrating your transferable skills from unrelated jobs is one of the main issues that tutors need some help with. Tutors can come from a wide range of industries, including:

• K-12 and higher education teachers
• Research scientists
• Computer programmers
• Healthcare professionals
• Business and finance professionals
• Artists

The type of jobs you’ll list will mostly depend on the subject matter of the job you are applying for. You want to only include those jobs where you have the skills and subject matter expertise listed in the job post.

Take a look at this job post for an entry-level academic tutor.

From this post, you can gather they are looking for a tutor with experience developing literature and math lesson plans, and that is what you want to feature on your resume.  You’ll also want to highlight your experience with:

• Experience with leading one-on-one and small group sessions.
• Experience with behavior management systems like Class Dojo and Classroom Management System 7.
• Working with teachers to create an engaging, safe, and healthy classroom.
• Experience collaborating with team members or teachers.

Now, let’s spend some time discussing how you will list your tutoring skills, computer software knowledge, and other relevant skills.

How to list your hard skills and soft skills on your resume

Tutors need to demonstrate a wide range of technical, creative, and personal skills to show they have what it takes to have a positive impact on their education. There are multiple ways that you can add your skills, but first, a little explanation of the difference between hard and soft skills.

Hard skills cover what you learn through college courses, teaching seminars, workshops, and continuing education classes. They cover essential skills, such as proficiencies in math, English, science, and other STEM subject matters, foreign language mastery, knowledge of online teaching tools like Kahoot and Quizlet, and other technical and subject matter mastery.

Soft skills are those personal skills that you pick up naturally by interacting with friends, family, and peers. These skills include emotional intelligence, excellent communication and listening skills, conflict resolution, and being able to adapt to any teaching scenario.

Take a look at this list of hard skills as an example of what recruiters like to see the most.

Pay close attention to which soft skills you add to your resume. This is another area where tutors don’t fully demonstrate their experience with these skills.

You don’t want to include every single skill you have in one section. That wouldn’t look very good and would create a resume for too long. You can include subject matter mastery under Enhancv’s technical skills section.

List the subject matters that are listed in the job post first.

For your soft skills, Enhancv has several different sections where you can include these skills. The talent section is where you can add important soft skills and experience using them.

Our passion section is a good place to list those traits that make you a passionate tutor.

The next must-have section for your resume is the education section. This is where you will list any accredited degree or certification program through a university or online organization, like the National Tutoring Association.

How to list your certifications and education on your resume

Today’s tutors come from diverse educational backgrounds and hold bachelor's degrees in computer programming, business administration, healthcare, psychology, and many other fields.

If you have a degree that is not typically associated with education, you will need to include any formal teaching certificate if you want to work as a tutor.

Parents and private tutoring gigs may not require any specific degree, but you still want to include any post-secondary education, teaching certifications, and any continuing education courses.

When listing your education, you want to include:

• Degree name and subject
• School name and location
• attendance/graduation date
• 4-8 bullet points listing courses taken

If you don’t have enough work experience or are going for your first tutoring job, include the bullet points. Those with 5 or more years of experience can leave them out.

Your tutor resume education section will look something like this.

For your certifications, workshops, and other specialized training, you can include the name of the certificate or training and the organization that provided it.

Here are some of the certifications you can apply for if you are looking to advance your career.

This next section is where you will include a personal statement about your intentions that includes details found in the job requirements.

How to write your tutor resume summary or objective

If your resume is the key to the door, your resume summary or objective is your greeting. So, what’s the difference between a resume summary and a resume objective, and which one should you use?

A resume summary is for tutors with 5+ years of experience and a stable career history specializing in certain subject matters. You will summarize your career to date, quantifying specific achievements and demonstrate why you would be a good fit for the role.

A resume objective is for those who are fresh out of college and looking for their first tutoring position or those with only a few years of tutoring experience. You have no career to summarize, so you will list your career objectives and some key skills that will help you get there.

Let’s take a look at another real-world tutor resume summary example.

Here is an example of how the majority of tutor resume summaries look. It’s not bad, but it lacks the oomph and pizzazz we want.

You want to avoid vague terms like “various levels of learners.” You can be more specific here and really show some of your accomplishments.

We can see how adding some specific details can really improve a resume summary. We now have a better idea of this person:

• Specific area of subject mastery
• The number of students taught
• The age range of the students
• Number of lesson plans developed/implemented
• Experience with a number of essential soft skills
• A commitment to learning

When you summarize your career, keep in mind your page limit and keep it to 3-5 concise sentences.

If you have just a few years of experience as a tutor and are looking for your next gig, your resume objective will look something like this.

Be sure to scan the job post for specific keywords so that you can include them in your personal resume statement.

Additional sections for a tutor resume

Throughout this guide, we’ve discussed the main sections of your resume and how best to format them. If you did not get to include all of your relatable skills or accomplishments, there are some additional sections where you can put this information.

Two of the more popular sections for tutors include your tutoring philosophy and tutoring references.

Including past work references is an excellent way to give recruiters and private families a better sense of your experience and abilities.

Always make sure you have permission to list a past employer if you can use them as a reference and which contact info you can use.

Some other sections that you should consider adding include:

• Foreign language
• Volunteer tutoring gigs
• Testimonials/references from teachers and parents
• Technical proficiencies in business software
• Achievements and awards in tutoring

Adding a portfolio link to your resume

Tutors need to show that they are current with the latest technical and teaching tools while demonstrating their effectiveness in teaching students. One of the better ways to do this is by having an online portfolio.

Website portfolios allow tutors to showcase student successes, feature online learning modules they created, awards, publications, and other career highlights. You can also add links to a professional social media account or media channels where you develop lesson plans, like:

• LinkedIn: A business social media site where tutors can share accomplishments, tutoring news and information, and other related content.
• YouTube: Many tutors have a YouTube channel where they create learning videos for their students.
• TikTok: One of the latest tools for tutors. You can create 60-second video clips as learning tools and interact with your students on a platform that is more popular with the younger generation.

Where can you add a portfolio link? Use the header section and instead of adding a social media link, swap it for a link to your portfolio:

If you have multiple learning channels but don’t have a website portfolio, you can add this information under the social media section with links to the page.

Key takeaways

In this guide, we showed you some of the common problems tutors face when updating their resumes and how to take your resume from an average C to an A+.

You now have a tailored resume that includes all relevant information as well as:

• Demonstrates essential soft skills, highlighting your communication skills, emotional intelligence, and adaptability in creating personalized learning plans.
• Details relevant work experience and quantifies various tutoring metrics, like higher test scores, number of students taught, and number of subjects mastered.
• Showcases student achievements and tutoring accomplishments through an online portfolio, YouTube channel, or other social media account.
• Highlights your passion for learning and any current courses you are taking.