Tutor Resume Done Right (Expert Tips + Free Templates)

A professional tutor will be able to use their expertise in at least one subject to assist students in their studies. They are different from a teacher in that they are often hired independently from the school by the parents to help individuals or small groups work through topics and subjects that may pose a challenge.

It is common for tutors to specialize in one specific subject or one age group, though some tend to teach multiple subjects. Some tutors may even help with entrance exams, such as SAT or ACT preparation.

A tutor will have several skills to ensure they can do the job well. You must be punctual and dedicated as a tutor, providing an excellent example to the students you work with. Updating to the latest teaching methods would be best, and a current teaching certificate can be useful as well.

You will need to create lesson plans tailored to the student’s learning ability while completing assessments that monitor the student’s progress. You will be expected to share these findings with the student’s parents.

A resume will help showcase your skills and experience to a potential employer. You can list your skills, educational background, and past work experience to show that you are a suitable candidate for the open position. In addition, your resume should show the potential employer why you would be the best person to take on this role and help the student reach their academic goals.

You need to consider having different skills on your resume to make it more likely that an employer will hire you. The resume should be no longer than a page. Most resumes will have on average 326 words or less, making them lower than a page for most.

Note: According to Indeed.com, tutors earn an average of $23.92 an hour. There can be variations to this based on experience and education.

This article will guide you if you want to create a professional and effective resume as a tutor. This article will provide a list of important skills required of a tutor and information about the layout and content of an effective resume.

A resume for a tutor should be professionally formatted and contain all relevant information.

The following section provides a detailed guide on the essential components of a resume: 

Your detailed contact information

You must include your contact information on the tutor’s resume. Start with your name, which should be the most prominent text on the page and at the top of the page. Then add information about your address. You do not need to include your exact home address. Mentioning the city and state is sufficient. You should also include a professional email address (not your personal one), a phone number, and a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one. 

Example 

Jonathan Mason
Lincoln, NE
[email protected]
222-111-4444
www.linkedin.com/in/j2mason 

Objective or summary statement targeting the potential clients 

To help your resume stand out from the others, you should include an objective or summary statement for your potential employer. An objective statement is useful for tutoring professionals with limited experience in the field. This allows you to focus on your qualifications and future goals when you do not have much work experience as a teacher or tutor.  

A good objective statement will show what subjects you would like to teach, along with the age group you are familiar with, the relevant educational background that makes you a suitable tutor for teaching these subjects, and your motivation for applying for the open tutoring position.

All this information needs to be summarized in a few lines so that the hiring manager can quickly decide about your suitability for the position.  

Example

Tutor with 2+ years of experience teaching English and Math to students in middle school. Possess a BA degree in English and a teaching certificate. Seeking a tutoring position for middle school students to work through challenges they may face in English and Math classes.

You can also choose to write a summary statement. This is slightly different from the objective statement because it will help summarize your tutoring experience into one to three sentences.

If you have more than three years of tutoring experience, you should use a resume summary at the top of your tutoring resume. As you write this summary, list relevant skills and experience based on the job description. 

Your goal here is to mention your extensive professional experience and use it to impress the hiring manager. Make sure that the summary statement is written clearly and concisely. It should highlight some of your top skills and work experience relevant to the tutoring job to demonstrate why you are the perfect candidate for the position.

Example

Dedicated tutor with 11+ years of experience tutoring students ages 8 to 11 in math and science. helped students increase their test scores by 25% and created personalized educational plans to aid each student. 

Detailed section of relevant education 

Your tutor resume should also include any relevant education to help you demonstrate why you are the best candidate for this position. If you have attended college and have a bachelor’s degree, then you must mention it.

Some of the information that you should include under the “education section” on your resume includes:

• The name of the school you attended
• You can include the month and year that you completed your degree (if you have substantial work experience, then you should omit to mention your graduation date to avoid age discrimination). 
• The name of the degree you received.
• Any academic awards you have received.
• Your GPA if it is higher than 3.5.
• Any thesis, dissertations, or academic projects that you completed.
• Extra certifications you received.

Example:

BA in Early Childhood Education
The University of Omaha, in Omaha, NE
2018-2022
Valid Nebraska Teaching License 2022

Tip for you: If you have recently graduated from college, you may want to put the education section at the start of the resume to draw attention to your credentials. As you gain more work experience, you can move it to the top of your resume and cut down on the education section to shift the emphasis. You can list your educational details in reverse chronological order, putting the highest-ranking degree at the top. And if you still have not graduated, you can include your expected graduation date. 

Employment history details with statistical information

As a tutor, you will need to mention your employment history to let the potential employer know that you have been successful as a tutor in the past. It may appear that mentioning extensive experience in the resume will be beneficial, but what is important is to focus on the most recent and relevant experience if you can.

As you write out your employment history, take the time to support it with concrete details like data and statistics. Include the name of the institute and the date of employment. Mention the duration of your employment, how much you were able to help improve test scores and grades, and how many students you assisted.

This will assure the hiring manager of your competence and your ability to help the students in your new position. 

Example

Oakwood Middle School, 2020-2022

–Taught Mathematics to students by helping improve testing average for students by 13%.
–Provided after-school tutoring in Algebra and Geometry for 25 students over three years.
–Assisted in assessments and daily lesson plans for classes of 23 students for five years. 

A section on potential skills 

No matter which subjects you choose to specialize in and teach as a professional tutor, you need to have several soft skills to do well as a tutor. Soft skills are more about how you can connect and relate with your student. And no matter the subject you teach, you need to relate well to them, or they will never learn the material.

There are several soft skills you can add to your resume, including:

Hard skills are acquired through experience or education. You can consider your strengths as a tutor and then add those hard skills to your resume since an English tutor’s skills will be different compared to those of a Math tutor.

For example, it could include skills like the following:

• Languages
• Command on Algebra and Geometry
• SAT preparation

Example:

• Five years experience in tutoring 30  grade 3 students.
• Raised one student’s SAT scores from a combined 1000 to 1400.
• Improved state standardized testing scores by 15% over three years.

Tip: When you add your skills, you want to focus on hard skills relevant to the job. Soft skills are more complex to prove than hard skills, and hiring managers like to see actual results. Make a list of all possible soft and hard skills, and then choose the ones that stand out the most for this open position. Consider listing six to 10 skills and writing them in bullet points to make them easier to read.

List any additional certifications

While there are no official requirements to become a tutor, certifications from some organizations can demonstrate that you have the experience and education to teach specific subjects.  For example, you can get a paraprofessional tutor title from the National Tutoring Association or become an ATA Certified Tutor through the American Tutoring Association. 

None of these certifications is mandatory to begin your career as a professional tutor. But adding them to your resume will impress the potential employer and make it more likely that they will hire you than someone else because these certifications demonstrate your professional competence and commitment to your work. 

Example 

Received ATA Certified Tutor certification through the American Tutoring Association. 2022 

Other than these elements, here is an overview of must-haves for your resume.

Creating your first tutor resume can seem challenging. You may be uncertain about what information to add to the resume to make it appear professional while showcasing some relevant skills and qualifications.

This website is useful when you need help with writing your resume as a tutor. This website provides free, downloadable, and customizable templates to help you easily add your information and have a professional tutoring resume ready.   

Do’s and Don’ts 

It is a good idea to ensure that you include the relevant information and omit unnecessary information.

Presented below are some essential guidelines for writing an effective resume; 

• Include only relevant information: While you may have an impressive background with skills and past work experience, not all of them will be relevant to the position you plan to apply for. Consider the most relevant experience to this specific tutoring position and include those on the resume.  

• Create an ATS-friendly resume: Many hiring managers will use an ATS to help them filter the different resumes they receive. ATS, or applicant tracking system, is software that a recruiter can use to help them scan, organize, and rank applications. The inclusion of relevant keywords is essential here. Review the job description and company website to see which keywords should be added to your resume to ensure that it is shortlisted by the ATS. 

• Use action verbs: As you highlight your achievements and background to the recruiter, you should focus on utilizing action verbs as much as possible. Action words draw more attention to your achievements. For example, “formulated,”  “identified,”  “educated,” and “developed” are suitable action verbs to help you showcase your skills and how you can do a great job in your new role.  

Below are the things that should be avoided in writing an effective resume;

• Do not list generic skills: Although there are different skills you are expected to have as a tutor, do not just list generic ones. There needs to be a reason that all the skills are listed on your resume, so try to give specific examples and link them with a skill. For example, rather than saying that you are good at teaching, describe specific aspects of teaching that you excel at. For example, you can write that you have experience tutoring elementary mathematics or have previously worked with high school children. 

• Do not send without proofreading: Always take the time to proofread the resume before sending it. It is not professional to send a resume for a tutoring position that contains multiple grammar and spelling mistakes. Use spell check or have someone else review the document to ensure it is error-free. 

• Do not get wordy: While you want to ensure you include adequate information about yourself as a tutor, you do not want the resume to get too wordy. When your descriptions get too long, it can make the resume appear cluttered and lose the interest of the hiring managers. Keep every section of the resume brief and relevant. Use data and statistics to support your credentials.