Employers are able to derive a lot of information from a candidate’s application letter. Oftentimes, the job opportunity is affirmed or ends before the candidate’s qualifications get checked at all. A good application letter must reflect the best skills and qualifications that make a candidate exceptional, and the best fit for the job. We explain in this article, all you need to know and how to write an application letter for a teaching job like a professional.
In addition to learning how to write an excellent and catchy application letter for a teaching job, we have prepared sample application letters for teaching jobs in elementary, secondary and college level to help you practice, and get your desired job.
There are a few things to consider for a good application letter:
- Firstly, it is essential to understand that the hiring committee is looking into your application letter in the interest of the school. Whatever you write must show how you can help improve the school with the job position you’re applying for.
- Grammatical error is not acceptable: an application letter with too many typographical errors and bad grammar will not improve your chances with the human resource department or hiring team. Take your time to proofread your letter carefully. We have described briefly some applications and softwares to help improve your letter before submission at the end of this article.
- Highlight your experience and achievements. Improve your chance of employment by showing your experience and achievements that are relevant to the job opportunity. Place emphasis on how the school can benefit from what you have. Experience and achievement may include:
- Years of teaching experience, or student-teacher experience for fresh graduates.
- Teaching awards
- Award of students you taught or their top grades
- Leadership responsibilities in previous jobs.
- Highlight your professional training and certifications if you have them. Many international schools require teachers with a good number of certifications.
- Include related non-teaching skills and work experience that can strengthen your chance of employment. You can show that you volunteered or participated in community service and how your experience from such activities can help the school.
Guidelines on How to Write An Application Letter for a Teaching Job
- Use our application letter samples only as guides to prepare your letter, please avoid taking the contents of our letter word for word. Our application letter samples serve as good layouts to help you write your letter. They show the elements of a letter such as introduction, body, and closure statements. Our samples also help you to know what kind of contents you should use in your writing.
- Your application letter must sound genuine, and the tone must be appropriate for the job you are applying for. Organize the content of your letter to smartly accommodate your work history and your interest to work with the new school.
Sample Format of Application Letter Templates for Teaching Jobs
Job Candidate’s Name
Job Candidate’s Address
Job Candidate’s City, State, Zip Code
Candidate Phone Number
Candidate Email
Date:
(leave a space between the job applicant’s address and the employer’s address)
Name of Contact Person
Name of School
Address of School
City, State, and Zip Code
Dear {Mr./Ms./Mrs.}{Name of Contact Person},
Paragraph 1: Introduction and explanation of the purpose of writing.
Paragraph 2: Experience and Skills
Paragraph 3: How experience and skills can be of value to the school
Paragraph 4: Conclusion. How you look forward to working with the school.
Sincerely,
{Your Name}
Mobile No. : {Your mobile number}
Email: {Your email ID}
LinkedIn: {LinkedIn profile URL}
Sample of Application Letter templates that you can work with
87 Macintosh Street,
Ikeja, Lagos
080-xxx-xxxx, 070-xxx-xxxx
May 31, 2024
Human Resource
Smithfield High School
Main Road,
Ikeja, Lagos.
Dear Mr. Dilly,
I hereby write this application letter for the Mathematics teacher position at your prestigious school. As a new term begins in June, I wish to send out this application in the hope that you may find it worthy of your consideration, if a vacancy opens up at any point during the course of this academic session.
I graduated from the University of Maiduguri in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics. I proceed to complete my B.Ed. program from University of Ibadan and cleared the TRCN certification last year.
I am familiar with the recent national teaching syllabus and comfortable with teaching classes across Primary and Secondary School sections. Although I do not have years of experience as a classroom teacher, my enthusiasm for Mathematics is ardent enough to make me a good teacher for this tough subject!
I hope to find an opportunity at Smithfield High School in the near future, and promise to be a worthy candidate if chosen. I have attached a detailed resume to this email and added my contact details below. Thank you for your time.
Yours sincerely,
{Your Name}
Mobile No. : {Your mobile number}
Email: {Your email ID}
LinkedIn: {LinkedIn profile URL}
Sample on How to Write A Job Application Letter for a Part-time Teaching Job
20 Atiku Street,
Lokogoma, Abuja
080-xxx-xxxx, 070-xxx-xxxx
May 31, 2024
Human Resource
Simpson High School
Main Road,
Ikeja, Lagos
Dear Mr. Dilly,
Dear Sir/Ma’am,
I am writing to you with reference to the opening for a part-time Mathematics teacher at Simpson High School. I came across an advert for the job position on SchoolGist portal and found my qualifications, experience, and current work schedule suitable to be considered for the position.
I am delighted to find out that your school is offering a Home Tutor program as an after-school activity for interested students. I have been involved with home-schooling for over a decade now. I have served as the coordinator of my college Tutorials as well as the director for my religious society tutorial in college, completed a full-time Postgraduate Diploma course in {Subject} from {Name of Institution}. I have also taught aspects of this {Subject} to a number of young students both as a volunteer and a hired instructor. I am well-versed with the basics and nuances of street theatre, stage productions, and theatre appreciation, and bring with me an innovatively designed programme which incorporates essential elements of these for the benefit of your students.
I have my curriculum vitae and portfolio attached with this email, containing more detailed information about all the aforementioned points. I humbly request that you go through the documents as part of my application.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Mobile No. : {Your mobile number}
Email: {Your email ID}
LinkedIn: {LinkedIn profile URL}
Sample Four (4) with a different format
Candidate Email Candidate Phone Number Job Candidate’s City, State, Zip Code
(Manager’s Name)
HR Manager
Company Name
Company Address
Date
Dear Mr. /Mrs. /Ms. (Manager’s Name),
I was pleased to learn about your need for a mathematics Teacher. I have ample experience in implementing teaching and assessment techniques. I also design and develop educational objectives and prepare teaching materials. I am prepared to apply my skills and experience to immediately add value to your organization.
The following are highlights of my skills and accomplishments:
Presently working at Topways High School as an Mathematics teacher entrusted with the responsibility upon to assess and look after 60+ students throughout the session. I’m able to communicate complex information in a way that students can easily comprehend. I’ve Prior experience of improving students’ ability by adopting distinctive teaching techniques, documenting all lessons, organizing healthy group discussions, and mentoring under-performing students.
Here at Topways High School I successfully increased the writing and reading comprehension test scores by 21.3 % over the past two and a half years.
My strong initiative and exceptional organizational skills, combined with my ability to work under pressure, allows me to play a crucial role in a fast-paced teaching environment.
I have my curriculum vitae attached. I welcome the opportunity to discuss with you in an interview how my skills and strengths can best serve your institution.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Finally,
Job applicants often confuse application letter with cover letter. Although the two letters are used to express interest in a job opening at an institution, the two letters differ from each other, and are used differently. However, there are situations where they are used together in a job application process.
A cover letter is medium dependent. It’s used to support other documents, for example you submit curriculum vitae with a cover letter. An application letter on the other hand is often used independently. The application is used with a cover letter you apply for a job via email. The message you write in your email becomes the cover letter, and the application letter, curriculum vitae arte attached to it. Other documents like certificates may then be annexed to it.
Example of this scenario includes:
I write to apply for the abc job position, as specified in your advert on LinkedIn. Please see my attached application letter (the document that states my intentions and expectations), as well as my CV/resume (the document that summarizes my skills and experience).
Kind regards, yours truly
Applications That can Help Improve your Letter
- Grammarly was founded in 2009. It’s a very popular technological company in America, and currently one of the best proofreading softwares available. Grammarly is suitable for any writing type: whether you’re writing a book, a blog article, an email, or a Facebook post, this tool can be very useful. Grammarly is designed to easily work with Firefox, Chrome, and Safari, allowing you to seamlessly edit and improve your writing on thousands of top websites. It also has mobile apps, and desktop apps for Windows and Mac OS.
- Ginger was founded in 2007, some recent updates have made Ginger one of the best proofreading software available. For a more measurable analysis, Ginger’s free Chrome extension has a 3.72 star-rating after 1,388 reviews.
- Hemingway App stands apart from the other tools in this list. It’s goal is to make your writing “bold and clear,” and isn’t to catch misspelled words or grammar mistakes. If you’ve heard about the American adventurous writer, Ernest Hemingway’s unique style. Hemingway will strengthen your writing by helping you avoid relying on too many adverbs, slipping into passive voice, being overly wordy, or writing complicated sentences that are hard to read. Unlike Grammarly or Ginger, Hemingway generally doesn’t make specific suggestions. It just points out problematic areas in your writing and nudges you in the direction of stronger alternatives.
Now that you have all that is required to write a good application letter, you should consider reading and carefully applying our format to further boost your chance of landing your dream teaching job.
