Teaching Assistant Resume Examples and Templates

Overview

Few careers are more rewarding than teaching. It’s a line of work that allows you to make a real, meaningful difference to the day-to-day lives and long-term futures of young people. And if you’re hoping to build some experience in the field before pursuing a more specialized teaching career, there’s no better way to do it than working as a teaching assistant.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that job growth for teaching assistant roles will hold steady at 5% over the coming decade. This means that job opportunities for would-be teaching assistants will remain consistently available for some time. Plus, you can expect a median annual salary of over $29,000 – not bad for an entry-level role requiring only two years of college-level education!

But if you want to access the opportunities these roles offer to build experience in teaching, you’ll need to build a competitive application package. That means making sure your resume is up to scratch. Thankfully, the VisualCV team is here to help you out – we’ve compiled this in-depth guide to building a teaching assistant resume, so you can look for your first teaching assistant job with confidence.

Read on for advice and examples that will help you build your first resume!

What is a Teaching Assistant?

Teaching assistants are vital members of any classroom! They aren’t fully-trained and licensed teachers, so they don’t take responsibility for the overall direction of lessons or teaching. Instead, they work with teachers to offer additional support and attention to students.

Most teaching assistants work full-time, although part-time arrangements are sometimes possible. They usually don’t work during the summer months, when schools are closed.

From day to day, teaching assistants might work alongside students with special educational needs, or students who need extra help to take in the content of the lesson – or they might take a more ad-hoc approach, identifying students in need of extra attention as each lesson progresses. They may also assist with routine classroom administrative tasks, such as taking attendance, collecting and checking homework, or grading tests. And as teaching assistants need to be familiar with the content of each lesson so they can adequately support students, they’ll usually need to spend some time reviewing lesson material in advance.

Needless to say, teaching assistants need excellent communication skills, with the particular ability to communicate well with children. They need to be highly organized, with strong research skills and an understanding of pedagogy. And of course, they need energy and enthusiasm enough to get through long, unpredictable days at work!

You’ll also need the right training in order to find work as a teaching assistant. Most schools will require you to have at least two years of college education – for instance, an associate’s degree in a relevant field. You’ll also need to obtain a teacher’s assistant license from the state in which you want to work.

How to Write a Teaching Assistant Resume

If you want to work as a teaching assistant, your resume needs to demonstrate two things. The first is that you have the qualifications and license needed to work as a teaching assistant. The second is that you have all the skills you will need to thrive in the role.

When you don’t have much work experience, writing a resume can feel pretty daunting. But remember, not all relevant experience comes from paid work! Volunteering, internships, and even college extracurriculars can all give you opportunities to build experience and hone your skills.

Provided that experience is relevant to the job you’re applying for, you can and should include it on your resume. If you’re not sure whether it’s relevant, check the job description! If it allows you to demonstrate a skill mentioned there, then it’s probably safe to include.

In general, a teaching assistant resume should contain the following:

• A summary
• Your education, including your teacher’s assistant license
• Any experience you have
• Your skills

The Best Format for a Teaching Assistant Resume

When choosing your professionally-designed teaching assistant resume template from our selection, think about what hiring managers want to see from you. Your resume format can direct the reader’s attention to your strongest assets, while minimizing your weaker areas. Because teaching assistant jobs require a broad combination of education, skills and relevant experience, you may not need a resume format that prioritizes one element over another.

But if you don’t have much prior work experience, you may want to consider foregrounding your education and skills on your resume, rather than your experience section. Later in your career, once you’ve acquired more direct work experience as a teaching assistant, you can consider a format that balances all sections more equally.

It’s also important to remember that many hiring managers use an applicant tracking system (or ATS) to sift through resumes. Although this helps companies streamline and speed up the hiring process, it does cause some frustration for applicants – many of whom submit great resumes which are never seen by a real person. If your resume doesn’t make it past the ATS software, which usually looks for specific keywords based on the job description, it will be put aside.

That’s why all of VisualCV’s resume templates are built to beat ATS software. When you use one of our templates, you can be sure that your resume’s layout won’t confuse the software and undermine your chances of success. All that matters is the strength of your resume.

3 Teaching Assistant Resume Summary Examples

Most resumes begin with a summary – a short, to-the-point encapsulation of your best qualities. It’s the first thing a recruiter will see about you, which makes it a golden opportunity to put your best foot forward. Your summary should reflect the requirements of the job description, so you will need to tailor it to every role you apply for.

Since you don’t have much work experience behind you, your summary should focus on your skills and educational achievements. Later in your career, you can refocus your summary on your past experience – and, of course, the qualities you demonstrated through that experience.

How Not to Write a Teaching Assistant Resume Summary

Your summary needs to be clear and concise, with a focus on what you have to offer in the role you want. Don’t let your summary become too wordy or personal! If you want to tell a recruiter more about you, you can do it in your cover letter instead.

It’s worth noting that not all recruiters agree that a summary on your resume is necessary. If you’re struggling to write a summary that gets to the point, don’t worry too much: you can always choose to leave it out.

Do You Need a Resume Objective?

We’ve talked at length about your resume summary – but what’s a resume objective?

Simply put, it’s a single-sentence statement about your long-term career goals. It’s shorter than a summary, with a more prescribed and specific purpose. While it’s usually considered unnecessary later in your career, it’s much more useful when you’re applying for entry-level roles.

That’s because it gives recruiters a clear sense of what you want to do in the longer term. When you have more experience behind you, it’s easy to get a sense of your career trajectory by looking at your resume. An objective is a smart way to share that information with recruiters, even when your experience is thin on the ground. Teaching Assistant Resume Objective Example:

• Licensed teaching assistant with an associate’s degree in Education, hoping to build experience before training as a teacher.

How to Describe Your Experience on Your Teaching Assistant Resume

When you don’t have much experience, this can feel like the most intimidating section on your resume. But remember, you can use experience of all kinds – not just paid work! Any internships or volunteer placements you’ve completed can be included on your resume, as can any relevant college extracurriculars.

Describe Your Experience Effectively

Even if you’re writing about experience that doesn’t come from direct employment, you should make sure you approach it in a way that reflects the effort you put into it. Don’t just list the tasks you carried out – that doesn’t tell hiring managers anything new about you! Instead, write about what you actually accomplished while carrying out those tasks.

As a rule, recruiters look for hard facts about your success in any given role. Think about what you’ve done in the past that made your work stand out. If you can show that you were able to succeed in the past, recruiters are more likely to believe that you can do it again.

How Not to Describe Your Experience

The worst thing you can do when describing your experience on your resume is write a simple list of the tasks you performed. Hiring managers are likely to know what you did in your previous role! It’s on you to show that you were able to do it well – and you can’t do that by listing tasks with no further context.

How to List Skills on Your Teaching Assistant Resume

If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to listing skills, check the job description! Most job descriptions will include a list of skills that will be advantageous when you apply. Try to include as many of those as you can.

For general information about skills on your resume, check out our resume skills guide here!

Top Teaching Assistant Resume Skills in Demand

Teaching Assistant Hard Skills	Teaching Assistant Soft SKills
Knowledge of pedagogical methods	Communication
Lesson planning	Empathy
Research skills	Organization
Classroom management skills	Time management
Technology skills	Leadership
Special education support skills	Creativity
Marking and grading	Motivation
First aid skills	Active listening

Professional Certifications for Teaching Assistants

Certifications can be a great way to help your resume stand out. They show hiring managers that you can have the initiative necessary to further your career, and that you take your work seriously. In fact, you will need to obtain a license to work as a teaching assistant – so finding the right certification program is a necessity!

Wherever you live, take the time to do some research into relevant courses in your area. You can find a wide range of options that will meet your needs – some schools may offer online classes, while others may allow you to learn in person. Just make sure that the course you’re considering meets the requirements of your state, or you may not be able to work legally.

The Most Important Soft Skills for Your Teaching Assistant Resume

Hard skills are vitally important, but don’t count out your soft skills! These skills will help you out during your day-to-day work as a teaching assistant, and will give you an easier time as you perform your regular tasks. And if you’re slightly lacking in work experience, soft skills are further evidence that you can do the work required for the job.

Here are some of the most important soft skills to include on your teaching assistant resume!

Communication

Teaching, as a field, is all about imparting information in accessible ways to a young and impressionable audience. If you want to be effective as a teaching assistant, you’ll need to hone your communication skills – particularly since a big part of your job will involve helping children to really grasp the content of each lesson. If that sounds like an insurmountable challenge, this may not be the line of work for you.

Empathy

When working with children, empathy is a must. It’s no secret that children can be challenging, particularly under the high-stress conditions of a school environment. As a teaching assistant, you will need to be patient, compassionate and understanding as you respond to upheaval in the classroom – for all they can be difficult, children are people too, and you need to respect that if you want to succeed in this field.

Organization

Any teaching assistant will tell you that organization is absolutely crucial when working with children! Educational settings can be chaotic, and countering that chaos with your own organizational skills will be a huge help in keeping your work as efficient and effective as possible. Plus, an organized classroom means minimal disruption to children’s learning – so it’s in everyone’s interest for you to be as organized as possible.

Teaching Assistant Salaries

Teaching is considered to be a respectable and stable career path, and it can lead to a steady and consistent salary as you progress. But how much can you expect to make as an entry-level teaching assistant?

Indeed reports hourly salaries ranging from $10.78 to $19.65, with a mean average salary of $14.56 per hour. Over time, however, you can expect to see your salary increase as you build more experience in the role. And remember, if you decide to progress into a career as a teacher, you’ll be paid more for that, too.

Final Thoughts

Teaching assistants make an incredible difference to the lives of children everywhere. They make a difference to teachers’ lives, too, by providing support and back-up from day to day in the classroom. It’s an incredibly rewarding role, and an amazing springboard into a lifelong career – so if you’re considering becoming a teaching assistant, don’t hesitate!

When the time comes to start applying for jobs, VisualCV will be there to help you out. You can give your resume an extra competitive edge with a VisualCV Pro membership, which will allow you to customize every aspect of your resume. We’re here to give you the tools you need to thrive, whatever you decide to do.