And how to fix them.
1 Gaps in service
In teacher application forms, any gaps in career history is a red-flag for safeguarding and therefore a big no-no for education.
Teachers therefore apply the same principal to their CV and list every role or break in career history, irrespective of whether or not the listing is relevant. The result is a long CV filled with disjointed information that is not adding any value to their application.
Gaps in service within a CV is perfectly fine. Make your CV relevant to the post you are applying for – not everything you did previously is going to ‘fit’.
2 Sounding like a teacher
Of course, you are going to have teaching experience and all the duties / skills associated with a career in education. And that is brilliant – if you still want to apply to be a teacher! However, if you are writing a CV for job applications, there is a very strong likelihood that you are not applying to be a teacher (almost always done through application forms). If you sound too much like a teacher, it will leave the recruiter wondering why you applying and / or how your skills fit.
Make sure you get rid of the teaching acronyms and ensure your experience is in transferable language. Be explicit in how your knowledge is a fit for the role you are applying for.
3 Lack of evidence
Teachers are completely familiar with data in the classroom, but somehow are able to write an entire CV with no evidence whatsoever to quantify their impact. For example, “helped support colleagues in my year group.” Erm, sorry but so what?
Show how you have impact by giving it a tangible outcome. For example, “raised standards by 20% as a result of mentoring colleagues.” Any recruiter in any industry will be able to understand the success of this achievement.
Writing a CV is a bit of an art form to really master it well. You have options when it comes to your CV.
1 Have a go yourself. Get it out there. If you get offers for interviews, your CV is doing its job. If you don’t get offers, then you should get a CV review as maybe you haven’t quite got it right. I offer free CV reviews for teachers and school leaders.
2 Book a professional CV writing service so that you can focus on job searching and leave me to weave my magic, so that you find the role you want knowing your professional CV will help you stand out from the crowds of amateurs.
Contact me today.
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