Substitute Teacher resume skills. The words recruiters search for.
The 17 skills, tools and credentials that come up in substitute teacher job posts, sorted by type, and how to put them in bullets a recruiter believes.
By Nazir Elmurodov, Founder, LaunchCV · Updated
/ The list
Keywords by type. Use only the ones that are true for you.
Hard skills · 10
- Substitute teacher (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Classroom management (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Lesson plans (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Behavior management (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Student engagement (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Long-term substitute (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- K–12 (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Attendance (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Grading (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Classroom procedures (used in Kyle's sample resume)
Tools & software · 2
- Google Classroom (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- PowerSchool (used in Kyle's sample resume)
Licenses & certifications · 2
- Substitute authorization (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- CPR and First Aid (used in Kyle's sample resume)
Soft skills · 3
- Parent communication (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Flexibility (used in Kyle's sample resume)
- Communication (used in Kyle's sample resume)
17 of 17 appear in Kyle's sample resume. See where
/ How to use them
Put keywords in bullets, not just in a skills list.
A skills list tells the software you have a skill. A bullet shows a recruiter what you did with it.
Lesson plans, Attendance, Classroom procedures, PowerSchool
Weak: Skills: Lesson plans, Attendance, Classroom procedures, PowerSchool
Strong: Follow teachers' lesson plans and classroom procedures, take attendance in PowerSchool and leave end-of-day notes on what was covered and any behavior concerns
Long-term substitute, Grading, Google Classroom
Weak: Skills: Long-term substitute, Grading, Google Classroom
Strong: Completed a 6-week long-term substitute assignment in 7th-grade math, grading work and posting assignments in Google Classroom
Classroom management
Weak: Skills: Classroom management
Strong: Requested by name by 12 teachers; keep students engaged with clear expectations and positive classroom management
Parent communication, Communication
Weak: Skills: Parent communication, Communication
Strong: Handled parent communication at pickup and passed concerns to the program director the same day
Strong bullets come from Kyle's sample resume and our substitute teacher bullet examples. Names and figures are illustrative.
/ Use them honestly
Keywords get you found. Proof gets you hired.
Mirror the job post's wording for skills you really have. If a substitute teacher post asks for Substitute teacher and you've used it, say Substitute teacher, in the post's spelling, and show where.
Mirror the job post's wording
If a substitute teacher post says "Classroom management", write "Classroom management", not a near-synonym — as long as it's accurate. Recruiters search for the post's exact term.
Only claim what you can back up
Expect to be asked about every term you list. If you couldn't spend two minutes on Substitute teacher — what you did and what changed — leave it out.
Show it in a bullet
A skills list says you know Attendance. A bullet like the one under Substitute Teacher in the example above shows what you did with it.
No stuffing, no hidden text
Repeating a word or hiding keywords in white text doesn't make you a better match. A person reads the resume in the end.
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/ Questions
Substitute Teacher keywords, answered.
Something else? support@launch-cv.com
How many keywords should a substitute teacher resume have?
There's no magic number. Kyle's sample resume uses all 17 terms on this page, because each one fit that job. Cover what your post asks for that you can back up, each where it fits; repeating a keyword doesn't help.
Should I copy keywords exactly from the job post?
Use the post's wording for skills you really have. If a substitute teacher post says "Substitute teacher", write "Substitute teacher" rather than a synonym, so a recruiter searching for that term finds you. Don't add skills you don't have just because the post lists them.
Where should keywords go on my resume?
In your summary, a short skills section and, above all, the bullets under each job, where you show what you did with the skill. In Kyle's sample, Substitute teacher, Lesson plans and K–12 are in the summary and Attendance shows up in a bullet under Substitute Teacher. Plain text in the body of the page is easiest for applicant tracking systems to read.
Which tools should I list on a substitute teacher resume?
The ones you've used and the post mentions. Common ones in substitute teacher posts include Google Classroom and PowerSchool. Name the tool in the bullet where you used it, not only in the skills list.
How should I list Substitute authorization and CPR and First Aid on my resume?
Spell them the way the job post does, and include both the abbreviation and the full name if you have room. Put licenses and certifications in their own section or next to your education, and only list ones that are current.
Keywords for related roles
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