Language Teacher CV: What Schools and Platforms Look For

A language teacher CV has one job: to show a director of studies or recruiter, in under a minute, that you are qualified, experienced with the right learners and reliable. That means your teaching qualification, your total teaching hours and the groups you have taught belong at the top of page one, not hidden under a long personal statement. Everything else supports those three points.

The structure that works

Most schools and agencies read CVs quickly. A predictable order makes their job easier:

1. Name and contact details, plus your location and time zone if you work online.
2. Short profile of two to three lines: what you teach, to whom, and your qualification.
3. Qualifications: teaching certificate first (for example CELTA or a TEFL course with hours and teaching practice), then degree, then relevant extras.
4. Teaching experience, most recent first.
5. Specialisms and skills: exam preparation, Business English, young learners, online teaching, languages you speak.
6. Professional development: recent courses, workshops, conferences.
7. References available on request, or named if the employer asks.

Keep it to one or two pages. A third page rarely adds anything a recruiter will read.

Describing experience with evidence

Recruiters see the same phrases in every application. What separates candidates is evidence. Compare these two lines:

Weak	Stronger
Passionate teacher with lots of experience	Around 900 hours of teaching adults from A2 to C1, mainly general English and exam preparation
Taught Business English	One-to-one and small-group courses for staff at a logistics company, needs analysis and progress reports for HR
Good with technology	Taught online since 2022 on a tutoring platform and via my own bookings, managing scheduling and payments myself

The numbers in these examples are illustrations; use your own. If you do not track your hours, estimate conservatively from your timetables and invoices and say “approximately”. Refer to levels by name (A2, B1, C1) without explaining them; schools know what they mean.

Qualifications: be precise

Write the full name of your certificate, the provider, the year and, for TEFL courses, the number of hours and whether it included observed teaching practice. That detail answers the question many schools ask first. If you are unsure whether your certificate will be accepted for a particular market, our comparison of TEFL vs CELTA explains how employers tend to see each route.

Further courses also count. A short section listing recent online CPD courses shows you keep learning, which matters to schools that need to report on staff development.

Tailoring for schools abroad

Applications for jobs abroad often run entirely by email and video interview. Check what the advert and visa process require: a scanned degree, a criminal record check or a photo may be part of the package. Mention any experience of living abroad or working in multicultural teams. Our guide to teaching English abroad covers the documents that typically come up.

Platform profile vs CV

Tutoring platforms do not usually read a CV. They show learners a profile, a headline, a price and a video. The skills are related but the audience is different:

• CV: written for an employer, focused on qualifications and reliability.
• Profile: written for a learner, focused on what they will achieve and what a lesson with you feels like.

Keep both up to date and consistent. The step-by-step guide to becoming an online language tutor covers profile writing and trial lessons in more detail.

The demo video

If you need a video, keep it short and natural:

• Good light from the front, a quiet room and a tidy background.
• A clear opening sentence: who you are and what you teach.
• A short sample of how you explain or correct something, at a learner-friendly pace.
• No music, no heavy editing, no reading from a script.

Think about where the video will be visible. If it is public, our page on social media and privacy for teachers has tips on separating professional and private profiles.

Common mistakes

• A long personal statement before any qualifications.
• Listing duties (“planned lessons”) instead of results or scope.
• Unclear dates or unexplained gaps; a short line such as “career break” or “travel” is enough.
• One generic CV for every job instead of adjusting the profile and specialisms section.
• Spelling or grammar errors. For a language teacher these are especially costly; ask a colleague to proofread.

Checklist before you send

• Qualification, hours and learner groups visible in the first third of page one.
• Experience described with numbers and contexts.
• Specialisms match the job advert.
• File named clearly (for example “Firstname-Lastname-CV-2026.pdf”) and saved as PDF.
• Contact details and time zone correct.

A careful CV will not guarantee a job, but it makes sure your application is read properly. For more on building your career, see the careers section.