As IELTS becomes increasingly popular around the world, lots of people want to become IELTS teachers. I have written before about how to become an IELTS teacher and today I am going to add a little more by telling you how to make a resumé that is suitable for an IELTS teacher.
In this article, I will outline some of the most important things that could make you and your resumé stand out from the crowd and get you that amazing job.
Key Qualifications for IELTS Teachers – What to Include on a Resumé
First of all, you need to prove two very important things:
- You can speak English perfectly
- You know IELTS very well
Honestly, I cannot overstate the importance of these two things. If you just have one of them but not the other, you will not make a good IELTS tutor and you should not bother to apply for any jobs right now.
As such, you need to tell the prospective employer that you have these skills. If you are a native speaker of English, then clearly you meet the first criteria, so you should include your nationality on your resumé. If you are not a native speaker, you will be at a slight disadvantage. This may seem unfair, but please remember that in the ESL/IELTS industry, we are trying to teach people how to speak English properly and that means students need to learn from those with extremely high levels of English.
Therefore, if you are not a native speaker of English, please include your qualifications on the resumé so that the person reading it knows how well you can speak the language. If you have taken IELTS before, then include your results. Really, you should not consider applying for an IELTS teaching position unless you have scored higher than band 8, and preferably you should have gotten band 9. Obviously, you are not limited to IELTS. Any university qualifications, certificates, or relevant experience can help prove your abilities.
As for knowing IELTS, this is obviously much harder to prove, but you will want to impress upon the reader that you have knowledge of this exam. On my resumé, I let them know that I have been teaching IELTS since 2010 and have written 4 books about it. This is true and I would feel confident going into any interview and answering questions to prove my knowledge.
To prove your skills, you will also want to include your education and employment history. These may or may not relate to IELTS or English. Clearly, it would be an advantage to have some history with both of these, but otherwise a generally impressive background in teaching English or related fields would be great.
Here are some qualifications and experiences that might help you:
- A degree in linguistics or English
- ESL teaching experience
- Tutoring experience
- Online teaching experience
- A CELTA or DELTA certificate
Keep in mind that most good jobs will attract many candidates and so you want to put yourself head and shoulders above your rivals. Having a TEFL certificate is probably not going to cut it for any lucrative job. Play up your strengths, qualifications, and experiences, but don’t overlook the fact that you might need to work your way up.
Gaining More Skills for your IELTS Resumé
If you aren’t getting the jobs that you want, then fear not. There is still hope. These days, lots of people teach online and once the word opens back up again, there will no doubt be large numbers of schools seeking native speakers of English. You can always find a new job and build up your experience level.
A good idea for now would be to take on students needing tutoring. If you are willing to work for cheap, there are countless students seeking guidance. By tutoring these people for a few months, you will gain valuable practice, build up your collection of lesson plans, and end up with something real to put on your resumé. You’ll also really help someone else improve their life!
Don’t forget that there are a bunch of courses that you can do. Some of them are not really worthwhile but you can find online courses in IELTS, English teaching, writing skills, grammar, and whatnot. If your resumé looks a bit sparse, then maybe spend a few weeks building it up with these certificates. They might just help you push ahead of a few rival candidates.
How to Write a Good CV
I am no expert on writing resumés, so I will not give much advice here. You can find better advice on websites like Prospects. However, I would recommend finding out about the place that you want to submit your CV to. In the West, we have quite different standards than in Asia. Find out what is and isn’t appropriate before you make yours. I really like Canva for CV templates. That makes it incredibly easy to make a visually appealing resumé in just ten minutes. Of course, you’ll want to draft it in Microsoft Word first, but having a beautiful layout could again be the difference between catching a recruiter’s eye and going unnoticed.