CV/Resume
From the ICAL TEFL wiki
Your TEFL Résumé or TEFL CV (Curriculum Vitae) is critical in helping you find work. It is likely to be the first contact between you and a potential employer and thus is it extremely important that it looks good.
There are 2 main ways to write a TEFL résumé: chronologically or thematically. The more traditional way is chronologically and since most of the world tends to prefer chronological résumés, this is the way we recommend doing it.
Contents |
Sample Résumé
Design your résumé in several distinct sections:
Basic Personal Details
| Joe Jones 123 Acacia Avenue |
Be careful about putting an email address of website here which leads to a website with content other than teaching English or which may contain content that will put an employer off. It is sometimes better to have a gmail or yahoo account for this purpose.
In some countries it is not done to include your sex or date of birth; if you are applying for a job in another country however, it may be acceptable there to ask these kinds of questions. If you have a problem with this, then don't apply for the position in the first place.
The reason for the nationality is obvious - it lets the employer know at a glance whether there will be visa issues if they decide to hire you. If you have American nationality, for example, you will find it extremely hard to get employment in the EU.
Qualifications
| BA English, Oxbridge University, 2004 ICAL TESL/TEFL Certificate, ICAL, 2005 |
Put the highest first and lower qualifications after this. This is perhaps the most important part of the résumé; don't put anything here which you can't back up and don't put here irrelevant qualifications. Your high school diploma is not needed since you mention a degree which "overrides" it, for example.
You can also include here any short courses you may have taken in your employment.
Languages You Speak
| English (mother tongue) German (excellent) |
The languages you speak with your MT first followed by the rest in order of skill level. If you can teach another language then by all means mention this as it may well increase the chances of employment (your new school could use you to teach English and another language or if you speak the native language of a foreign country this will help you get work there).
Employment History
| Smallville Language School, Tokyo, Japan (Sept 2006 - July 2007) teaching conversation to all levels of classes |
This is a basic résumé; you can expand on the work you did at each location to let your potential employer know the kind of skills you possess and the kind of work you can do. Put the most recent experience first and don't forget to put down relevant experience no matter how old it is.
Don't, however, include work experience which is not related to the job unless you have nothing else to include here. If there are any major breaks in work experience try to fill them with volunteer work or an explanation (e.g. you were travelling in Asia for a year) because if you leave a long empty space an employer may well think the worse - that you were in jail for example.
Volunteer Work
| English Yes! School, Shellbyville, USA (Sept 2000 - August 2003) during college breaks I worked with the school in helping immigrant workers gain a basic understanding of English; taught beginner and intermediate level students of all ages and backgrounds |
An optional section; it's useful to have things here, especially if it relates to the job you are applying for so that, for example, if you are applying for work in a kindergarten to say you volunteered with young disabled children all helps.
Additional Skills
| computer literate (Windows/Mac, Office applications) sports: blue belt in aikido, enjoy playing football and snooker |
This is more about you which doesn't really fit in anywhere else.
Notes
- Ideally the résumé will come out at about a single page long. The idea is that this isn't a complete history of your life but enough information so that the employer will want to find out more about you.
- Include a cover letter with your résumé and, where requested, a photograph (the same comment which applies to your sex and date of birth applies to the photograph).
- Check spelling! Once you have checked the spelling and grammar, check it again and then ask someone else to check it. Make sure you've spelt grammar with an a and not an e!
