If you have ever taken time to read through resumes for the corporate world, you will notice that a key difference is the sharing of metrics on a resume. Teachers who are transitioning out of the field of education often enter the job search not being sure of how to tailor their resume for a role in the corporate world. Adding metrics on a resume is an impactful way to make your resume stand out.

There are important differences between resumes for the education sector and those used for corporate positions. Last week’s blog focused on the need to stay adult-focused on your resume – since in the corporate world you will be working with adults and not students. (And, no, it is not as simple as referring to your students as “customers” – because your students are not customers.)

Another key difference between resumes for teaching positions and those used in the corporate world comes down to the simple idea of “show, don’t tell.” How? Use metrics!

How to Use Metrics On a Resume

On corporate resumes, you will often see job applicants sharing evidence of their applied skills. They don’t just share what skills they have and how they applied them; job applicants make a point to share what the results were.

From a teaching perspective, you may be used to this idea when thinking about student data. For example, you might have a bullet point that reads, “Implemented a supplemental reading curriculum, employing differentiation to meet the needs of a diverse class of students.” The next question to consider is, what were the results? So, you might expand that bullet to say “…resulting in an average growth of 1.75 years on statewide reading tests.” That’s your evidence.

How do you do this if you are staying adult-focused?

You must start gathering data on your interactions with adults as well as with students.

For example, let’s say that you are the technology coach at a school, and it is your job to ensure that teachers are aware of and trained on the many different EdTech platforms available to them. You send out a weekly email with a tip or two to support your teachers. Maybe you could consider sending a two-question survey once a month asking your teachers, “On a scale of 1-5, how helpful are the weekly tips?” and “What can be improved to support you even more?” Then you can use this information to tweak the work you do for a greater impact in your school.

What if you are a new teacher and don’t yet support other teachers? Is there a way you could employ the same idea with the parent newsletters that you send out?

The important thing is to always reflect on this question: How can I show the impact I am having?

A warning here. I have seen more than a few people advise teachers that it is ok to make up “realistic” data. They suggest turning your current bullets into data points such as, “Facilitated learning sessions using high leverage practices, resulting in a 90% increase in student engagement.” Sounds great, right? As a hiring manager, my very next question to you would likely be “How did you measure that?” If you didn’t measure it, don’t say you did.

This is the perfect time of year to start reflecting on how you interact with adults and how you can measure the impact of those interactions. It will not only give you great data to add to your resume, but it will also provide you with insight into the work you do with adults in your current position – and how you can be even more impactful right where you are.

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Want more help with your resume? Check out my On the Hunt course to help navigate the transition to a position outside of the classroom. You can also subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you never miss a blog post.