Structure (1-2 pages)
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Header | Name, email, phone, city/country, optional LinkedIn; work rights or visa status where relevant |
| Profile (2-3 lines) | Qualification, years, learner types and levels, specialisms, delivery (face to face, online) |
| Qualifications | Teaching qualification first (CELTA, CertTESOL, Delta, PGCE, MA TESOL) with grade and year, then degree |
| Teaching experience | Reverse chronological; role, school, city, dates; 3-5 bullets with numbers |
| Other experience | Relevant transferable roles (training, tutoring, management, volunteering) |
| Professional development | Courses, conferences (IATEFL, TESOL), workshops given, observations |
| Skills | Exam preparation, materials writing, technology, languages spoken (with level) |
| References | "Available on request" or two referees, at least one from a teaching context |
Bullet formula
Action verb + what + for whom/level + scale + result.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Responsible for teaching English classes | Taught 24 hours a week to adult groups (8-14 learners), A2-C1 |
| Duties included exam preparation | Prepared 30 learners for IELTS; 80% reached band 6.5+ |
| Helped with materials | Wrote 12 supplementary B1 reading lessons now used across the school |
| Taught online | Taught 200+ hours online (Zoom, Wordwall, Google Docs) to groups and individuals |
| Worked with kids | Taught 6-9-year-olds (Pre-A1-A1) using songs, TPR and stories; classes of 15 |
Action verbs: taught, planned, designed, adapted, prepared, assessed, mentored, trained, coordinated, led, introduced, improved, created, delivered, evaluated.
Tailoring
| Job | Emphasise |
|---|---|
| Young learner school | Ages taught, classroom management, safeguarding training, songs/games, parent communication |
| Exam centre | Exams, results, familiarity with criteria, examiner status if any |
| Business English | Corporate clients, needs analysis, ESP course design, one-to-one |
| University / EAP | EAP experience, academic skills, MA, research-informed practice, Delta |
| Online platform | Online hours, platforms, tech skills, flexibility, reviews/ratings |
| Senior teacher / DoS | Mentoring, observations, training sessions, timetabling, Delta |
Regional norms (general guidance; check local practice)
| Region | Usually expected | Usually left out |
|---|---|---|
| UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, NZ | Contact details, qualifications, experience | Photo, age, date of birth, marital status, religion |
| Much of Europe | As above; some employers welcome a photo | Religion, marital status |
| East Asia (e.g. China, Japan, Korea) | Photo, nationality, sometimes date of birth; visa eligibility (degree, criminal record check) | |
| Middle East (e.g. Gulf states) | Photo, nationality, degree details, visa status; often age range requirements in adverts |
Never invent qualifications or experience; many employers verify certificates with Cambridge or Trinity.
Cover letter (250-350 words)
- Which job, where you saw it, one-line summary of why you fit.
- Two or three matches between their needs and your experience, with evidence (numbers).
- Why this school or country (specific, researched).
- Availability, visa/work rights, request for interview.
Interview and demo lesson
- Expect questions on: a lesson that went wrong; mixed-level classes; classroom management; teaching a grammar point (with CCQs); giving feedback; using technology.
- Demo lesson (often 15-30 minutes): clear aim, short lead-in, one focused language point or skill, learner interaction, quick check of learning; bring a plan with aims and stages; keep teacher talk low.
- Prepare questions about class sizes, contact hours, materials, observation and CPD, contract and housing.
academic-english-eap-course-planner
Plan English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses: pre-sessional, in-sessional, foundation, IELTS preparation and discipline-specific EAP, with syllabus strands (academic reading, lecture listening and note-taking, essay and report writing, paraphrase, summary and synthesis, referencing and plagiarism, seminars and presentations, academic vocabulary, critical thinking), a 10-week pre-sessional outline, exit assessment, IELTS-CEFR alignment and academic style (formality, hedging, cohesion, reporting verbs). Estimates study hours and weeks to close an IELTS gap from overall or per-skill scores (IELTS rounding, minimum per skill, priority skills, feasibility before a deadline), and checks learner texts for contractions, informal words with academic alternatives, unhedged claims, 'you', And/But/So starts, rhetorical questions and missing citations.
actfl-proficiency-curriculum-mapper
Map world language curricula to the ACTFL framework: proficiency levels (Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Distinguished with sublevels), functions, contexts, text types and accuracy, proficiency vs performance, the three modes of communication (interpretive, interpersonal, presentational), the 5 Cs World-Readiness Standards, backward-designed thematic units with Integrated Performance Assessments, typical programme targets and FSI time estimates. Looks up approximate ACTFL-CEFR-ILR equivalences with what each level can do, and checks a unit map for missing modes, rehearsed skits mislabelled as interpersonal, translation or word lists as interpretive tasks, and units without an integrated performance assessment.
adult-literacy-esl-lesson-builder
Build lessons for adult ESL learners who are developing literacy (LESLLA learners: pre-literate, non-literate, semi-literate, literate in a non-Roman script): learner profiles and sensitive initial assessment, principles (oral language first, known to new, systematic phonics with adult-relevant text, repetition, classroom skills, respect for experience), a lesson routine (oral warm-up, review, new grapheme, blending, segmenting, decodable text, writing, functional literacy, Language Experience Approach), a phonics sequence for adults, sight words, functional literacy targets (forms, signs, medicine labels) and portfolio assessment. Checks whether a reading text is decodable with the letter-sound patterns and sight words taught so far, catching untaught digraphs, listing non-decodable words with the untaught part, and suggesting the most useful next patterns.
authentic-material-lesson-adapter
Turn authentic material (news articles, podcasts, videos, songs, menus, timetables, adverts, social media posts, forms, infographics) into language lessons by grading the task rather than the text. Selects texts for interest, relevance, exploitability, coverage, cultural load and rights; finds the 4-6 words to pre-teach, words to gloss on the page and words learners can ignore, plus names and cultural references to explain, with reading time by level; and builds a lesson shape (lead-in, pre-teach, gist or scanning, graded detail task, language focus on chunks and register, response) with task ideas per material type and level from A1 to C1. Covers copyright, fair dealing and fair use, Creative Commons and attribution.
can-do-statement-writer
Write and review can-do statements for language courses, units, lessons and learner self-assessment, CEFR or NCSSFL-ACTFL style: action (observable verb) + text or situation + level-specific conditions, learner ('I can') and descriptor ('Can') versions, progressions of one activity from A1 to C1, and coverage of reception, production, interaction and mediation. Includes a verb bank by mode and level and condition and text-type banks. Lints statements for teacher-centred phrasing, knowledge instead of use (learn, know, understand the passive), missing context, two skills in one statement, vague quality words, grammar items as outcomes, overlong statements and missing modes in a set.
cefr-aligned-syllabus-builder
Build language course syllabuses aligned to the CEFR (A1-C2, plus levels, Companion Volume 2020): entry and exit levels, guided learning hours and course length (with an L1-distance adjustment), syllabus type (topic, functional-notional, task-based, skills-based, multi-strand), unit-by-unit can-do outcomes, grammar from a core inventory by level, vocabulary, functions, pronunciation, balance of reception, production, interaction and mediation, recycling and assessment points. Checks a syllabus for units without can-do statements, core grammar for the level not covered, items above the course level, skills missing from most units and units with no vocabulary or functions.