For qualified high school teachers, a desire to share their knowledge and passion for working with teenagers is a valued skill set. But you can’t share your qualifications and love for guiding youth into adulthood unless you land that coveted first interview.
To ensure your resume template stands out, you need to showcase your experience and passion for this demographic. This includes noting improved learner retention, how you help with college preparation, and experience overseeing school clubs or events.
We’ve helped many educational professionals with building resumes and writing cover letters to secure fulfilling positions as high school teachers. Included are suggestions and high school teacher resume templates to highlight your unique strengths and abilities.
Related resume examples
What Matters Most: Skills & Past Work
Teaching high school requires different skills than for elementary and middle school. Students in this age group rely on your guidance and ability to hold their attention when relationships, social activities, and the pressures of becoming an adult often take precedence over schooling.
Keeping high schoolers engaged requires innovation, creativity, and an understanding of their unique trials. Experience crafting curricula and lesson plans that capture students’ attention while incorporating real-world examples and hands-on activities to further their engagement is a desirable skill that should be acknowledged.
Excellent communication skills are also necessary for instruction and setting expectations for academic growth. While you don’t need experience as a guidance counselor to teach high school students, being compassionate and fostering a community within the classroom can aid in their retention.
9 desirable skills for high school teachers
- Interactive lesson plans
- Safe classrooms
- Actionable feedback
- College test prep
- Classroom discussions
- Google Classroom
- Skyward Gradebook
- Class management
- Parent communication
Sample high school teacher work experience bullet points
High school teachers are expected to create or adapt curricula to engage students. This includes incorporating real-world examples and hands-on activities to introduce new or complex themes and concepts.
Using constructive, actionable feedback in your grading system showcases your commitment to helping high schoolers learn while also improving their standardized test scores.
College preparation is another critical role for high school teachers, as is facilitating activities outside the classroom to foster a sense of community. Whether you run extracurricular group activities, coordinate school events, or coach a school team, adding these activities to your resume shows a passion for leading this age group and helping them prepare for the future.
Here are some bullet points with measurable activity from some of our best resume examples:
- Taught History to 80+ 11th-grade students and AP History to 15+ 11th graders
- Reviewed practice test problems and solutions with10th graders and provided a real-world testing environment in advance of the PSAT to improve their scores for the Math section by 11%
- Recruited, cast, and directed musical performances each semester to raise a minimum of $3,000 for the school’s theater and music programs
- Collaborated with other teachers to create an after-school study program that improved overall student AP test scores by 24% during my tenure
- Used themed literature and open classroom dialogue with 9th-grade students to foster a community environment and improve their ability to analyze texts and develop critical arguments by 36%
Top 5 Tips for Your High School Teacher Resume
- Detail the classes & number of students you teach daily
- This showcases your ability to manage multiple curricula while meeting the needs of both traditional and accelerated classrooms.
- Share your approach to forming creative lesson plans
- Detail how you use lesson plans to teach complex topics and engage students.
- Incorporate specific details about test score improvements
- For example, cite statistics, such as the percentage of improvement in standardized or AP test scores
- Note your experience creating or revising curricula to meet class needs
- Share how you collaborated with other teachers within your school, community, or outside your district, if applicable.
- Highlight your communication & problem-solving skills
- Explain how you provide actionable feedback within your grading system and specify how you foster collaboration in the classroom.
Specialized positions may be an easier match for your skills and experience, but this shouldn’t prevent you from applying for general positions using the same approach. Highlight key achievements within your specialty, but also note your knowledge in other areas, such as substitute teaching in other subjects, tutoring for college exams, and overseeing school clubs or events.
Certifications for skills like computer software and project management are valuable, even if they do not reflect your teaching background. Including professional certifications in your resume reinforces your commitment to learning and highlights the real-world experience you bring to the classroom.
Working with high school students often continues after the last bell rings. Adding a “Projects” or “After-School Activities” section will highlight your leadership abilities without distracting from your classroom accomplishments.
