Tips for Writing an Impressive Teaching Assistant CV

It is essential that you have a professional and informative CV when applying for Teaching Assistant jobs.

While there's no obligation for your CV to look a certain way, we recommend keeping to 1 page and beginning with a nice looking template from a free service. This way you can convey your personality more clearly and stand out from other TA applicants.

Here are our top 6 tips for writing a great CV for Teaching Assistant jobs!

1. Start with your personal details

At the top of your CV, write your name, followed by your phone number, email address, and your current location. You can just include your town, city or region instead of your home address. You can also consider adding a link to your professional networking profiles, online portfolio, or personal website, if applicable.

Ensure that you feature your contact information prominently in the document. One way to do this effectively is to use a larger font or bold text so that it’s easier to read. It’s important to add your personal details and information to help recruiters and hiring managers contact you.

2. Add your summary/objective statement

A professional summary/career objective statement should highlights your skills, achievements, and goals can come right after the top section. This is important as it gives the school or recruiter an overview of your profile and ensure that your application aligns with the job opening. To keep it snappy, it's a good idea to keep this to 4 sentences or less.

A well-written professional summary can increase the chances of your job application getting noticed. To impress, you should focus on your commitment to helping young people achieve their goals through your role as a Teaching Assistant.

3. Describe your work experience

List all the relevant professional work experiences that you think accurately demonstrate your skills for the job of a teaching assistant. You can start with your current or last job and then list all past experiences in reverse chronological order.

Make sure you include your job title, the name of your employer, the dates of employment, and three to five bullet points explaining your most notable responsibilities. If you are applying to a particular school, then ensure you use the person specification they have provided to really hone your skills for the job they have advertised.

Any work you've done upskilling in SEN is super relevant to Teaching Assistant roles - if you have SEN experience, don't forget to mention this!

4. Include your educational qualifications

Having suitable educational qualifications and training can be very beneficial when applying for the role of a Teaching Assistant. Although some schools and other education providers may not require a specific degree or qualifications and may accept candidates with relevant work experience, others might have more stringent conditions. Present all the necessary information to explain your degree, certification, or diploma in a separate section. You should include the name of the degree or diploma, the institute or university, and the graduation date.

5. Highlight your relevant skills

In addition to work experience and educational qualifications, it’s important to highlight relevant skills that make you suitable for the role of a Teaching Assistant. These skills could include communication skills, organisational skills, time management skills, problem-solving skills, and more.

6. Use bullet points effectively

Bullet points are an effective way to present information clearly and concisely. Use bullet points to list out responsibilities, achievements, and other important details in each section. This makes it easier for the employer to score your CV positively against their list of criteria for being a teaching assistant.