Prepare

Style and Formatting

Unlike your typical non-teaching resume, you don’t have to keep your international teaching resume to just one page. As previously mentioned, your international teaching resume will include a number of elements that are not often included on non-teaching resumes, such as a photo, demographic information, and two work experience sections, so it’s necessary — and totally standard — for your document to stretch to two pages. That being said, unless you are an extremely qualified teacher with decades of experience under your belt, you won’t want to go over two pages. If you’re having a hard time keeping your resume to two pages, it could mean that you need to condense or rephrase some information for clarity.

Font

This part is simple! As a basic rule of thumb, you want your font to be legible (i.e. not too small and not too big), and neutral to the point that it does not distract from the important stuff, which is your content! We recommend using black, 10-12 point typeface in a font like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri (now is not the time for Comic Sans!). While it’s okay to format your headings a bit differently from your body text (think in bold or enlarged a font size or two), just make sure your heading format is consistent throughout the entire resume. This brings us to our next point on…

Consistency

In addition to ensuring your font style is consistent, you’ll also want to standardize other aspects of your resume, such as bullet point formatting, spacing, and margins. Make sure any bullet points you use are the same size, shape, and color, and aligned at the same margins throughout your document. You’ll also want to review your resume for consistent spacing between sections and within paragraphs. Use just one space between sentences, and scan through your document afterwards to verify that all your section alignment is consistent throughout.

Abbreviations

While you should generally avoid most abbreviations, it’s okay to incorporate some abbreviated phrases and words that are common in the teach abroad world, such as TEFL, ESL, and TPR.

Word Choice

No flowery prose here! Oftentimes, the recruiter or hiring manager reading through your resume will be a non-native English speaker, so you’ll want to choose words that are clear and precise when crafting your resume. Even if your reader is a native English speaker, they still will likely be combing through piles of resumes each day. If yours is unclear or difficult to understand in any way, there’s a strong chance it will be brushed to the side.

Spelling and Grammar

Spell checkers and proofreading tools like Grammarly are a great way to catch common spelling errors and basic grammatical slipups, but they should just be one of many steps in your editing process. In order to avoid oversights such as awkward phrasing, run-on sentences, and unclear subjects, we recommend reading your entire international teaching resume out loud to yourself or a friend. While it might feel strange at first, verbalizing your writing is an effective way to catch typos and inconsistencies that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks. Afterward, share your international teaching resume with a friend or family member for a fresh set of eyes and a second review.

Save as PDF

Whether you typed up your resume on Microsoft Word, Google Documents, or on a digital design platform like Canva, save the final copy as a PDF document before emailing it to your prospective employer or uploading it to an application portal. That way, you can ensure that your resume formatting doesn’t change, even if your viewer is using a different processing software than the one you used to create your resume. Save your PDF file as “[First name] [Last name] Resume” so your prospective employer or recruiter can easily reference it later.

Personal Information

At the very top of your international teaching resume, you’ll include your basic demographic and personal information. Followed by most important element of the header (your name!), you’ll list your contact information which includes your email, telephone number with country code, and Skype contact. If you’re seeking work in person, remember to update your address and add your local phone number once you have arrived in your host country.

As previously mentioned, one of the unique elements of the international teaching resume is the inclusion of a headshot. While you don’t need to get a professionally photographed headshot, you will want to make sure you’re wearing professional clothes and that your photo is well-lit and clearly showcases your gorgeous (smiling!) face against a neutral background.

Along with the header and photograph, you’ll list your demographic information. This includes your citizenship(s) (list all of them if you have multiple); date of birth; gender (as listed on your passport or official travel document); and marital status, which is only necessary to include if you plan to bring along a significant other or dependants to your host destination.

Objective Overview

The primary role of the Objective Overview is to express your goal (obtain an English teaching position), promote yourself (by mentioning your certifications and any applicable degrees), and highlight your most impressive related experience and/or skills. Feel free to use the Objective Overview we have listed here and simply modify your country of choice and experience, or create your own Objective Overview that responds to the three primary points we listed above. If you choose the latter option, just remember that your Objective Overview should be brief — no longer than two to three sentences.

Education

Your Education and Certification section is meant to showcase any academic achievements. List any degrees, certifications, and degrees in reverse chronological order, meaning your most recent experience should go at the top of the list. Following this logic, you’ll want to include your TEFL certificate as the first entry in this section, unless you’re in the midst of completing another degree or program that will finish after you receive your TEFL certification.

When formatting your TEFL certification entry, first write the name of the institution from which you got the certificate (International TEFL Academy), followed by the official title of the certificate (TEFL/TESOL Certificate). In bullet points below, include your course hours (150 hours of coursework for the standard online course and 180 hours of coursework for the online intensive course or in-person courses), practicum hours (20 hours for the standard online course and 10 hours for the online intensive course or in-person courses), and any specialty courses you might have taken with ITA as well. On the right-hand side margins of this section, include your certification location and the date your TEFL certificate was issued. If you took one of ITA’s in-person classes, the location you list will be the location of your class, whereas if you took an online course, write Chicago, IL (ITA’s headquarters). If you are still in the midst of completing your TEFL course, write your expected date of certification (and remember that if you’re completing your course online, you’ll receive your TEFL certificate only after you successfully complete your coursework, submit your practicum assignments, wait the 10 business days to have your assignments reviewed by the ITA team, and then wait another 7-10 business days to receive your official TEFL certificate via email from ITA’s official accrediting body TQUK. Want more information? This article breaks down everything you need to know about receiving your digital TEFL certificate!).

The same logic applies for formatting your degrees: you’ll first list the name of your degree-issuing body, followed by the official degree title, and to the right you’ll include the location of your course and the date of the degree issuance. Include any study abroad programs as a bullet point beneath your degree title, as well as any coursework related to teaching English as a foreign language that you might have taken. If you don’t have a bachelor’s degree, you can list your high school diploma here instead. Feel free to include your grade point average in this section if you’re proud of it, or omit it if you’re not — it’s not a requirement to have listed.

Related Work Experience

The Related Work Experience section is your chance to highlight all the experience(s) you have related to teaching or working with non-native English speakers. These experiences can take the form of paid full-time or part-time work, internships, volunteer work, online tutoring, nannying, you name it! As long as you can show that your experience had you working with learners, guiding students, or explaining information to others, include it!

Just like in your Education and Certification section, you’ll list all Related Work Experience entries in reverse chronological order with your company’s name (if you were working for yourself, write “Freelance” or “Self-Employed”), your official jon title, location (if you were working online, write “Remote”), and dates of work. The meat of your content will be in the bullet points. Here, you’ll detail your role and responsibilities, the students you worked with, the teaching/tutoring methods you employed, and any accomplishments or impressive metrics you achieved. Aim for four bullet points per Related Work Experience entry, and utilize strong action verbs in the proper tense — in other words, if you’re currently working at your position, use the present tense. If you’re describing a past position, use the past tense. Be consistent with whether or not you are utilizing periods at the end of your bullet points, and don’t just copy what you see in this template resume! Instead, utilize the Related Work Experience section as an opportunity to showcase the unique experiences, accomplishments, and skills that set you apart from other TEFL teachers.

Worried you don’t have any experiences to include here? Fear not! All ITA students will have at least one Related Work Experience entry to write about: the practicum. When listing your practicum experience, however, refrain from actually writing “practicum” at any point. Instead, frame your practicum experience as an actual work/volunteer/internship experience, which it is! For example, if you were tutoring a student online via Zoom for your practicum, you would write “Freelance” or “Self-Employed” as your company name, then “English Tutor” or “Private English Teacher” for your job title, followed by at least four bullet points describing what you did and achieved.

Additional Work Experience

In your Additional Work Experience section, you’ll outline all other work experiences you’ve pursued that are not related to teaching. You’ll also format this section in reverse chronological order and include the same information as you did in your Related Work Experience section (company name, job title, location, dates worked, and bullet points describing what you did — you only need two to three this time!). If you have a lot of additional work experience and you’re worried that your international teaching resume might be verging into three page territory, you can curate your entries and only include your most recent or most relevant positions.

Skills

The Skills section is largely self-explanatory (list your skills you want to highlight!), but remember to only include hard skills, rather than soft skills. Hard skills are measurable, specific, and typically related to technical knowledge or language proficiency, whereas soft skills have more to do with personality traits. So while you can list your coding ability or Mandarin proficiency on your international teaching resume, refrain from including skills like “creativity” and “work ethic” — instead, you can detail those strengths in your cover letter or interview!

If you decide to list a language proficiency in this section, we recommend either using the official CEFR levels or the following descriptors to explain your level of proficiency: “Elementary proficiency,” “Limited working proficiency,” “Professional working proficiency,” “Full professional proficiency,” and “Native/Bilingual proficiency.”

Additional Experiences and Activities

In your Additional Experiences and Activities section, write down any other remaining positions or experiences you’ve amassed that you were unable to list in previous sections. Examples of Additional Experiences and Activities entries could include board member positions, sports team leadership, student group positions, and Greek Life affiliations. Skip the bullet points and locations in this section and keep the formatting simple by just listing your position title and dates of experience.

—
And just like that, your international teaching resume is complete! There’s no need for a “References” section to round out your resume — if an employer requests to see your references later on, simply send over that information in a separate file.

Once you have an international teaching resume draft you’re proud of, email it over to your Student Affairs Advisor to review before diving into our next section on cover letters!

Style and Formatting

Unlike your international teaching resume, your cover letter should never go beyond one page. That being said, you’ll want to utilize that one page to the fullest and aim to fill most of the space (or at the very least two-thirds of the page) with meaningful content. Worried you don’t have enough experience to write that much? Stay tuned in Crafting the Ultimate Cover Letter for our best tips on creating content that is purposeful, engaging, and compelling, even if all you have to write about is yourself and your practicum experience.

As for other formatting tips: Just as you did with your international teaching resume, use a neutral font when writing your cover letter. We recommend using black, 10-12 point typeface in a font like Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri. Double-check for stylistic consistency throughout your letter by ensuring that you are using the same spacing between paragraphs and the same-sized margins on the left and right.

Abbreviations

While you should generally avoid most abbreviations, it’s okay to incorporate some abbreviated phrases and words that are common in the teach abroad world, such as TEFL and ESL.

Word Choice

No flowery prose here! Oftentimes, the recruiter or hiring manager reading through your cover letter will be a non-native English speaker, so you’ll want to choose words that are clear and precise when crafting your cover letter. Even if your reader is a native English speaker, they still will likely be combing through piles of cover letters each day. If yours is unclear or difficult to understand in any way, there’s a strong chance it will be brushed to the side.

Spelling and Grammar

Spell checkers and proofreading tools like Grammarly are a great way to catch common spelling errors and basic grammatical slipups, but they should just be one of many steps in your editing process. In order to avoid oversights such as awkward phrasing, run-on sentences, and unclear subjects, we recommend reading your entire cover letter out loud to yourself or a friend. While it might feel strange at first, verbalizing your writing is an effective way to catch typos and inconsistencies that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks. Afterwards, share your cover letter with a friend or family member for a fresh set of eyes and a second review.

Save as PDF

Whether you typed up your cover letter on Microsoft Word, Google Documents, or on a digital design platform like Canva, save the final copy as a PDF document before emailing it to your prospective employer or uploading it to an application portal. That way, you can ensure that your cover letter formatting doesn’t change, even if your viewer is using a different processing software than the one you used to create your resume. Save your PDF file as “[First name] [Last name] Cover Letter” so your prospective employer or recruiter can easily reference it later.

Introduction

Begin your cover letter by listing the date of your application, or the date in which you’ll be sending your resume and cover letter to your prospective employer. We recommend spelling out the full month, rather than using an abbreviation or numerical date format (for example, write out “January 20, 2026,” rather than “1/20/2026”).

Then, draft your greeting. Addressing your letter to a real person is always best, so if you know the name of your hiring manager or the person who will be reviewing your application, include it after the greeting (which is almost always “Dear,”). If you’re not sure who the hiring manager is, try searching the website of your school or company for a staff directory which will list all employees’ names and roles. If you can’t find anything after that, it’s okay to address your cover letter to “Hiring Manager,” “Hiring Team,” or “Recruiting Team.” Refrain from simply writing “To Whom It May Concern,” though, which can come off as impersonal.

Next up? Your introductory paragraph. The point of this paragraph is to simply let your prospective employer know you are, why you’re writing, and how you learned about the position (if you were referred by someone within the school or company, you can include their name here!). Be as specific as possible when explaining your interest in the position and your knowledge about the school. If you don’t know where to start, check the school website. Oftentimes, schools will list their mission and values on their websites, which you can then pull upon to craft a meaningful and compelling explanation of why you want to teach there.

Body Paragraph(s)

The body paragraphs form the heart of your cover letter and offer you the opportunity to elaborate on your most impressive qualifications and experiences. Aim for one to two body paragraphs in total, and refrain from simply restating all the points you listed in your resume. Instead, select a few of your strongest experiences and skills, and describe to your reader how they directly respond to the qualifications listed in the job description. For instance, if your job description states a preference for energetic teachers with experience guiding young learners, showcase one of your past experiences in which you were an energetic or dynamic instructor or interacting directly with young children. Essentially, you want your body paragraph(s) to help your prospective employer visualize exactly how you — with your unique set of strengths, qualifications, and abilities — would be a perfect fit for this specific role!

Two qualifications that you’ll certainly want to pull upon in your body paragraphs are your practicum experience and TEFL certificate. When writing about your practicum experience, refrain from using the word “practicum.” Some employers overseas might not be familiar with the term, so aim for clarity by framing your practicum experience as an actual teaching or tutoring position (which it was!). For instance, instead of writing, “As part of my practicum, I…” you could write, “While working as a student teacher, I…,” or “As a private tutor, I…,” then follow up with a description of important details of your role, such as your responsibilities, students, curriculum approach, lesson plans, and teaching methods. That way, any reader of your cover letter will be able to clearly understand the full extent and impact of your experience and how it has prepared you to take on a new teaching role. Next, be specific when describing your TEFL certificate. A lot of TEFL certification courses lack substantial rigor, hours, and/or hands-on experience, so be sure to include the “International TEFL Academy” name when describing your certification, as well as your course and practicum hours to ensure your prospective employer knows you committed to a serious pedagogical program.

Conclusion

Wrap your letter up in your conclusion paragraph by thanking your reader for their consideration, reiterating your interest in the role and your fit for the position, and expressing your desire to discuss the position in greater depth with the hiring team. Let your prospective employer know that you can start interviewing immediately, and give them a head’s up if you plan to travel to their vicinity to pursue your job search in-person — that way you can begin to arrange an in-person interview. Wrap up your conclusion paragraph by mentioning that your resume is attached, and conclude your letter with a professional sign-off (we like “sincerely”!). It’s not necessary to physically sign your cover letter (typing out your full name is sufficient), but do include your email, phone number, and your messaging application username (that’s popular within the particular country/region of the employer), under your name if enough space remains.

—

And just like that, your cover letter is complete! Don’t forget to scan through your document a few times to proofread everything (read it out loud — seriously! You’ll catch more typos and inconsistencies that way), and share it with a trusted friend or family member for feedback. Once you have a cover letter you’re happy with, email it to your Student Affairs Advisor for review and do a happy dance: You’ve just wrapped up your two most important application components with flying colors!

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What are your interests outside of work?
• Do you speak any foreign languages?
• Tell me about your experiences learning a foreign language.
• What was the most important thing you learned in your training?
• Why do you think you were awarded an A/B/Pass grade?
• Have you attended any additional training or seminars recently?
• Where are you working at the moment?
• What are your responsibilities in your current position?
• What have you learned from this job?
• Tell me about your previous jobs – why did you leave?
• Why are you looking for a new job?
• What interests you about this school?
• What do you know about this school?
• Why do you want to live in this country?

• What are your strengths and weaknesses as a teacher?
• How would you introduce the past simple tense to a group of 10 adult students?
• How would you explain “proud”?
• What would you want to know about a group if I told you I needed you to teach it in 30 minutes?
• What ages and levels of students have you taught in the past?
• Have you ever had to teach without materials? How would you feel about this?
• Can you prepare your own materials and/or develop your own curriculum?
• What experience have you had teaching children / business English / TOEFL prep, etc.?
• How would you feel about being asked to teach this type of class?
• What aspects of your teaching have changed with experience?
• How would your approach with a one-to-one student differ to that with a group?
• What course books do you have experience using? What do you think of them?
• Can you think of a time when you’ve successfully dealt with a difficult student?
• How would you handle with a class of students of mixed abilities?
• Tell me about a time when you felt rewarded or satisfied by something you did in a classroom.
• Have you used multimedia (video, DVD, CD-ROM) in the classroom?

• Have you lived or traveled abroad before?
• What cultural differences did you find difficult to get used to?
• We expect our teachers to be flexible and supportive of colleagues and other staff. Can you think of a time when you’ve been flexible or supportive?
• How much support do you expect from a school?
• How do you feel about working split shifts and weekends?
• Do you think it is important for the whole school to be an English speaking environment (not just the classrooms)?
• Where do you want to be in five years?
• How do you see your future in teaching?

There are some things which you need to be clear about before signing a contract:

• For example, if the school works on Saturdays and this is a problem for you, or if you want the possibility of overtime but it is not included in the offer, you need this information to decide if the position is for you.
• Are they unprepared to put you in contact with current teachers?
• Are they expecting you to accept a job offer without seeing a contract?
• Are they asking you to send them money? (There should be no reason for this).
• What are the working days and working hours? (Do you mind working Saturdays or weekends?)
• How many contact teaching hours will I be expected to do? (20 to 25 a week is common with 12-15 hours of lesson planning. 40 contact hours a week can be common in language schools in Japan but typically no prep time needed.)
• Will I be paid overtime if I teach more than this number of hours? (If so, when is it paid and is it compulsory?) 
• What non-teaching tasks will I be required to undertake? (Administrative, creating materials, marking, placement testing of students) 
• How many days of paid holiday will you receive? (And does this include public holidays?)
• Is there a probationary period where either party can terminate the contract? (A period of up to 3 months is common where either you or the school can end things)
• What is my salary? 
• Will there be opportunities for a raise in the future? 
• When and how is it paid? Is there an end of contract bonus? (What are the conditions under which this is paid?) 
• Is there a dress code and if so, what is it?

Be sure to do your research ahead of time so that you understand the visa process for the country you plan to teach in, and can use that knowledge to ask questions about how your employer will assist you with that process, if possible.

• Will I receive a work visa or a work permit?
• If so, how does the process work, and what will be required of me – will I get my visa prior to my departure or after my arrival?
• If not, how do you recommend I handle working without a work permit/visa?

1. ITA Alumni Affinity Groups
As a member of the International TEFL Academy community, you have access to a large family of almost 50,000 ITA graduates living and teaching all over the world. You can join a number of our private Facebook groups, where you can engage with teachers like yourself who are either job searching or have found work in the industry that may have faced the same challenges as you.

• Website: List of all ITA Facebook Groups
• Relevant Groups: Affinity groups like the No Degree Holders, Mature Teachers, BIPOC Teachers, etc. While our groups are not exhaustive yet, we are working on expanding our list of groups.

Supporting underrepresented populations in the TEFL industry requires access to reliable resources that can provide tailored guidance, opportunities, and networking options. Here’s an updated list of resources that cater specifically to supporting underrepresented populations, such as women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, and others seeking opportunities in the TEFL industry:

2. Teach Away (Inclusive Hiring Resources)
Teach Away is one of the largest global recruiters for teaching positions, and they offer support for underrepresented populations by partnering with organizations that focus on diversity and inclusion. They highlight opportunities that promote inclusive hiring practices and also provide advice on overcoming barriers to working abroad. They focus on creating a welcoming environment for all applicants, especially those from underrepresented groups.

• Website: Teach Away
• Relevant Section: Diversity and Inclusion in Education Abroad

3. The International Teacher Development Institute (ITDI)
ITDI offers online professional development courses for teachers worldwide and places a significant focus on inclusion and representation within education. They emphasize diverse teaching strategies and support for teachers from various backgrounds, including those who are underrepresented in the TEFL community. ITDI’s certification programs also help underrepresented populations gain credentials to be competitive in the job market.

• Website: ITDI
• Relevant Section: Professional Development and Inclusivity in TEFL

4. The TESOL International Association (TESOL)
TESOL is a global professional association for English language educators. They offer a range of support services, including scholarships and grants for teachers from underrepresented groups. TESOL’s initiatives for diversity include research, advocacy, and networking opportunities for teachers who may face barriers in entering the profession.

• Website: TESOL
• Relevant Section: Diversity and Inclusion Programs

5. Colorful Careers in Education (by Teaching Nomad)
Teaching Nomad, a popular international recruitment agency, has launched the “Colorful Careers in Education” initiative to promote the hiring of diverse teachers globally. The initiative includes support for people of color in the TEFL industry, offering job search resources, visa assistance, and advocacy for underrepresented teachers.

• Website: Teaching Nomad
• Relevant Section: Colorful Careers in Education

6. Disability Inclusion in TEFL
While not a single website, many organizations and recruiters are working to promote inclusivity for teachers with disabilities. For example, Teach Away and ESLbase have specific sections and guides to help educators with disabilities navigate the teaching abroad process. It’s important to reach out directly to schools and recruiters to ensure that accommodations and support systems are in place for teachers with disabilities.

• Website Example: ESLbase Disability and Teaching Resources

7. Racial Equity in TEFL (by English USA)
English USA is an association of accredited English language programs in the U.S. They are committed to racial equity in TEFL and have resources specifically designed to support teachers from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds. This includes networking opportunities, advocacy, and initiatives to improve equity within the TEFL industry.

• Website: English USA
• Relevant Section: Racial Equity Resources and Support