If you’re researching teacher cover letter tips and best practices, chances are you are either in the market for a new job or at least beginning to think ahead to your next opportunity.
As you’re well aware, your cover letter is a vitally important messaging document that must be thoughtfully crafted to A) catch the eye of potential employers/recruiters and B) entice them to learn more about you by reviewing your resume.
Well, you’ve come to the right place because — when it comes to teacher resume and cover letter advice — we’ve got you covered.
Designed to apply to both new and seasoned educators alike, this post serves as a guide to writing an effective teacher cover letter that will help you land your next job.
We’ll share key tips and best practices, along with several teacher cover letter examples that you can use for inspiration — plus, a downloadable template you can use to write an A+ cover letter!
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Before we get into any how-tos, it helps to know what the end result should look like. Below are five examples of winning teacher cover letters.
1. This example offers guidance for the first-time teacher, since it can be difficult to write a cover letter without much experience to describe! This letter emphasizes volunteer work, student teaching and college experience.
2. Here, the applicant listed out some of her experiences into bullet points. This is a wise formatting trick, since it’s likely the hiring manager looks at multiple cover letters a day, so the bulleted list makes it easier — and faster — to read.
3. Though it may not apply to every teaching position, some hiring managers like to see applicants back up their claims with hard data. This history teacher offers quantifiable proof of her abilities in her previous position.
4. What it lacks in volume it makes up for in succinct, to-the-point text. This cover letter says just enough while leaving the reader wanting to know more. Be careful with creating generic cover letter “templates” for yourself though — the content of this letter could apply to a wide range of roles and schools, so you’ll want to customize the details to each new position.
5. For a clearer breakdown of the essential parts of a cover letter, this example from Liveabout.com highlights where the applicant mentions her skill set, her unique value proposition and her desire for the position.
A teacher cover letter is much the same as a cover letter for any other position — the structure is fairly standard, with the content customized to the role and your experience. A cover letter should be one page, no more than four paragraphs, easily scannable and include the best way to reach you. The reader should not have to look very hard to find everything they need to know about you.
The best teacher cover letters have the following components:
Why all the brevity? Hiring managers likely sift through dozens of applications a day, especially at competitive schools. You want your materials to stand out for their scannability, so that the reader can see whether you would be the right fit within just a few seconds.
If you include all of the components above, you will have an excellent chance of capturing any hiring manager’s attention and (hopefully) starting a conversation with them.
While most cover letters follow a similar format, with the introduction, body content and conclusion all containing relatively the same kind of information, the body paragraphs are where you can really highlight your uniqueness. The portion of your cover letter where you describe your skills and experience is your oyster — without repeating what’s on your resume, consider including any of the following elements:
Each item should only take one to two sentences to explain. For scannability, you may want to format your skills and experience into bullet points.
Some teaching applicants include a postscript in their cover letters following their signature. While this is not necessary, it is a fine place to put something that doesn’t fit naturally into the body of your cover letter. However, only include a postscript if absolutely necessary (“By the way, I remember competing against Sacred Heart’s epic debate club back in 1998 — if I couldn’t beat them then, joining them now would be the next best thing!”).
Your postscript should add value or personality, or be something the hiring manager absolutely needs to know, otherwise it can look extraneous and unprofessional.
Think of your teaching cover letter like an elevator pitch. Pretend you have 30 seconds to “sell” your skills and enthusiasm for the role — how do you “hook” the reader?
Before you set pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, be sure to research the school you’re applying to. It’s generally good practice to customize your cover letter for every job application, and that means knowing something about the school, department or role you’d be filling. It’s quite easy to tell if an applicant is just copy-and-pasting the same cover letter for multiple job applications.
For example, is the school known for its competitive mathematics team? Does it have an award-winning drama department? Are its standardized test scores consistently in your state’s 90th percentile? If the role you’re applying for relates in any way to the school’s differentiating factor, be sure to acknowledge it in your introduction.
Here are some other ways to bump your application to the top of the pile.
To use another teaching comparison, remember that your cover letter counts for a significant portion of your “grade.” As Christian Eilers writes for Zety, “That means treating it like a crucial final exam instead of an inconsequential pop quiz.”
As a general rule, keep your cover letter brief — no one wants to read your master’s thesis as part of your application. Your cover letter should have a short intro, an explanation of your experience and skills, any significant accomplishments, awards or certificates, and a short conclusion summarizing your interest in the position. Always end with an invitation for the hiring manager to contact you, and sign your name (a signed letter is always a nice touch, even if it’s a digital signature). Leave the longer explanations of your experience and teaching philosophy for your interview.
If you’re making any claims about your effectiveness in the classroom, try back them up with numbers. For example, you may want to say that you were responsible for increasing biology testing scores by 30%, or that attendance improved by 65% while you were a teacher. If you’re currently a teacher considering other schools, be sure to keep track of your own class’s performance so you can cite these metrics in future cover letters. Please note, however, that it is your responsibility to adhere to school, state and federal restrictions concerning specific student data and student privacy.
