Substitute Teacher CV Examples & Tips for 2025

Substitute teaching is an important role these days and is on the rise. As schools across the U.S. face a shortage of regular teachers, many schools turn to sub teachers to take care of their students needs. Substitute teachers must follow lesson plans, demonstrate classroom management skills and ensure student progress.

 

Whether the role is for a short-term or long-term substitute teacher position, a professional CV will show you have the key competencies to fill in and continue student learning while preserving the ideal learning environment of the school.

The best substitute teacher CV will impress a  recruiter with the right qualifications. Therefore, you must establish your skills and experience and an awareness of up-to-date learning theory and teaching practises.

 

It is critical to tailor your CV from a substitute teacher CV example. Whether you’re planning to substitute teach at a  high school, middle school or elementary school, teachers need to have multi-faceted skills like providing student engagement across multiple age groups. The perfect CV for a substitute teacher will demonstrate possessing this expertise and many more.

Regardless of the format you decide to use, your CV is likely to have the same sections that show off your skills, experiences, licences, certifications and more.

The header is always at the top of your CV, regardless of format. This is the first thing the hiring manager sees. It should contain your full name and basic contact information including phone number and email address. It is critical to make it as convenient as possible for a hiring manager to contact you for an interview. It is also suggested that in this section, you add links to any of your job networking profiles like LinkedIn.

Your personal statement or CV objective is one of the main parts of your document and in this section is where you would express your interest and a top skilll that qualifies you for the job. A personal statement is a short, concise overview of your career background and what you can offer the school. This should be no longer than three sentences. Think of it as a tagline supporting your header, providing an overview while highlighting any specialities.

A CV objective is a brief statement that communicates your career goals. If you have less experience as a substitute teacher, then this may be the better option.

Being a substitute teacher is a challenging role requiring a broad skillset. Use your CV skills section to highlight the key hard and soft skills that you can use in this role. Hiring managers should see exactly why you will be an asset to the school.

Consider featuring these skills on your CV :

• Classroom management skills
• Knowledge of relevant learning theory
• Time management
• Specialist knowledge like special education needs
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Special subject areas like social studies, math, language or sciences
• Microsoft Office proficiency
• Lesson or classroom creativity
• First aid/CPR
• Language skills such as English, Spanish, French, German or others

Highlight the skills that will show you have the background knowledge and personality traits to take over the classroom. Schools need to trust that they can take over without compromising teaching quality.

List your previous relevant experience in reverse chronological order in this  section. Briefly describe your responsibilities. Focus on any roles within education, paying particularly close attention to roles within similar grade levels to the job you are applying for.

If you are an entry-level candidate with no previous substitute teaching experience, then list roles with duties that show transferable skills. This may include tutoring or other relatable jobs. Remember, the emphasis is on showing that you have what it takes to  excel in this substitute teaching job.

Education and training requirements vary from state to state for substitute teachers. In this section, you must show you have the credentials to teach students  in a classroom setting. This may include highlighting a teaching licence in addition to your bachelor’s degree. It is your responsibility to know what is required for your state. Many substitute teacher job descriptions will outline what their minimum requirements are for the position.

The best CV will always follow some basic guidelines. Here are some do’s and don’ts:

 

Do:

• Take care to edit and review your CV. Double-check for punctuation and spelling errors and make sure the formatting makes it easy to read.
• Customise your CV for the specific job description. Pay attention to the requirements for the role, and make sure your CV ticks the boxes that the hiring manager is looking for.
• Show an awareness of specialist teaching knowledge. Demonstrate your teaching expertise through the terminology you use. Include anything that may set you apart – if you have experience with special needs children or previously worked as a teacher assistant.

Don’t:

• Fill out your experience section with non-relevant roles. Only include what can show transferable skills and help the recruiter draw a line between your experience and the advertised substitute teacher role.
• Falsify any licences or qualifications. This wastes everybody’s time. Make sure you are eligible to teach before you apply.
• Write your CV without any help. That’s what the CVHelp CV builder is there for.