Writing a Teacher's Cover Letter

Teaching jobs have been on the rise as of late, and there are many school which have openings for them. What can sometimes be difficult though is writing the cover letter to accompany your resume. Remember, you may have an excellent resume, but a poorly written cover letter can easily make you look inept or poorly suited for their position.

First off, you will want to follow the common format of a business correspondence. In the upper left corner, in this order, write: your name, address, date, and name of the principal/official in charge who will be receiving this letter.

If you are having trouble finding just who is in charge, call the school and ask them. If for some reason there is no one specific (it is very rare to run into a problem like this, but just in case), tell them your reason for calling and ask them who the letter should be addressed/emailed to.

OK, now that we have the beginning portion finished, we're going to move onto the meat and potatoes. The length of your cover letter must NOT exceed one page, and it should be three paragraphs. Exceeding the one page is unconventional and makes you seem like you're trying to buy your way in by talking yourself up too much, or that you didn't know how to write the cover letter so you just winged it. Same for going beyond the three paragraphs.

Your first paragraph will contain the position you are applying for, why you're writing, and how you learned of the position. The first is the shortest and easiest to write.

In the second paragraph, you are going to tell the principal/official why the position interests you (be enthusiastic, but not crazy), your qualifications (never say something like your parents thought you'd be good at this job, but what you have done during college/off campus that would make you ideal for teaching), and if you have teaching experience bring that up as well. If you don't, then talk about how you did during courses and when you were a student-teacher.

Your final paragraph will express interest in an interview (remember, resumes and cover letters help get the job, but they are really so you land an interview), and include any information to help facilitate an interview, such as times you are available and phone numbers that should be called.

Also, since teaching is a job where you need a degree, tell them the college you attended, and how they can obtain your transcripts. Or better yet, tell them that if requested, you can have the transcripts sent over yourself.

And of course, thank them for considering your application. They see this often, but not thanking them is a fatal move.

Now that you know how to write the letter, I hope you get the job.