Section 7: Preparing for the Job and Going Abroad

Chapter 37: Writing Your Resume

Something that is often discussed in the ESL job community is how to go about writing your resume. Usually for your first job teaching English you do not need to stress much over the contents of your resume. Your resume should be one page and to the point, short and sweet. In addition to the usual resume points (job or internship experience and your other general information) you should also make sure to list your nationality, that you are a native English speaker (if you are), and that you have completed your B.A. degree (A.A. in certain countries) as well as a TEFL certification course. As long as you list these main things on your resume you will open up English teaching jobs for a majority of schools abroad. In addition, you should also have professionally done passport style photos so you can send them to the schools you apply to along with your resume, as most places require a photo along with your resume in order to get an interview. Many schools are just looking for a native English teacher, so make sure to keep your resume simple and list everything that you believe is credible experience towards getting that job. Make sure you keep your focus on your resume towards teaching English abroad, as having a generic resume can sometimes give mixed results from English schools that are abroad.