Substitute teaching means stepping into someone else's classroom and keeping the day on track. Schools that book subs want to know which grades and subjects you cover, how often you work, how you handle a class you just met, and whether teachers ask for you again. Most of that work comes as dozens of 1-day assignments, though, and listed one by one they can look scattered. Presented well, they add up to steady work that schools trust.
How to Write a Substitute Teacher Resume - Key Takeaways
- Put your newest role first on a single page, with 1 entry per district or agency instead of 1 per school.
- Open each entry with the days you work in a school year, the number of schools and the grade range you cover.
- Show that schools want you back: requests by name, preferred substitute lists and long-term assignments.
- Put your substitute permit or teaching license at the top of Certificates, under its exact state name, with the issuer and date.
- Name the classroom systems you used, such as Google Classroom or Schoology, in Skills and again in a bullet.
- Run your resume through an ATS resume checker, since district hiring systems search for permit, grade and subject keywords.
What schools look for in a substitute teacher resume
A principal or substitute coordinator reads your resume for 3 things: can you legally sub in their district, which classrooms can they send you to, and will you show up and keep order. O*NET lists following lesson plans designed by absent teachers, enforcing school and class rules, taking attendance and supervising students at recess, lunch and on field trips as core tasks for substitute teachers. Your bullets should show those tasks with the volume behind them: days, schools, grades and class sizes.
Reliability is the second test. A school that books you again, adds you to its preferred list or gives you a long-term assignment is telling the next reader you can be trusted with a class, so write those facts down with numbers. Build the page from these sections:
- Name, headline (for example, Substitute Teacher, Grades K-8) and contact details
- A short summary of 2 to 3 lines under your name, printed without a heading
- Work Experience: 1 entry per district, charter network or staffing agency
- Certificates: your substitute permit or teaching license first
- Skills, with the classroom software you used
- Education
- If space allows: Languages, Interests, and either a Key Achievements or a Volunteer Experience section
Best format for a substitute teacher resume
Use the reverse-chronological resume format: newest role first, each with your title, the district or agency, where it sits and the month and year you started and left. Group every short assignment under the employer that paid you, and name the schools, grades and long-term roles in the bullets. 20 separate 1-week entries look like job hopping; 1 district entry with 150 days a year looks like what it is, a steady job.
- Best for most substitute teachersReverse-chronologicalYour jobs, newest first, with your results under each one.Best for: A steady work history in your field
- FunctionalSkills grouped up top, with a short work history below.Best for: Gaps or very little experience
- CombinationA skills section first, then your full work history.Best for: A career change with strong skills
Keep it to 1 page. A second page only makes sense for a retired teacher with a long classroom career before subbing, or for someone with several long-term assignments and a teaching license, as long as your permit and current district sit on page 1.
| Setting | What to use |
|---|---|
| Length | 1 page; 2 only with a full teaching career behind you |
| Job entries | 1 per district, charter network or agency, with schools named in the bullets |
| Job title line | Title plus grade range: Substitute Teacher, Grades K-8, or Long-Term Substitute, Grade 3 |
| Dates | MM/YYYY; a school year reads as 08/2024 – 06/2025 |
| Typeface | Calibri, Arial or a similar standard font, 10.5 to 12 pt in the body |
| Photo and ID details | Rare in the US and Canada; skip your age, marriage details and SSN too |
Most US and Canadian resumes carry no photo. Districts usually ask you to fill in an online application beside the resume, so keep your dates, permit name and references identical on both: a coordinator who sees 2 different start dates will ask why.
Substitute teacher resume summary vs. objective
The test is 1 school year. Once you have subbed, taught or worked as a classroom aide for a full school year, write a resume summary with your years, grade range, how often you work and 1 sign that schools trust you. Before that, write a resume objective that names the grades you want, your permit status and your best experience with groups of children.
Substitute teacher resume summary formula
Title with X years in grade range or subjects, working days a week or a year. Proof that schools trust you, with a number. Permit or license, plus the next step you are working toward.
Example
Substitute teacher with 5 years in K-12 classrooms, the last 4 in grades K to 8, working 4 to 5 full days a week. Trusted with long-term coverage in middle school science. Holds a California Emergency Career Substitute Teaching Permit and starts a teaching credential program in 2027.
Don't
Reliable and flexible substitute teacher who loves working with children of all ages.
Do
Day-to-day substitute with 3 years in grades 6 to 12, working 4 days a week across 3 middle and high schools. Requested by name for 30 math and science assignments last year and finishing a teaching credential in 2027.
The rewrite gives a reader the grades, the workload and a reason to call you first.
How to write substitute teaching bullets with numbers
Under your current district or agency, write 3 to 4 bullets; older roles get 1 to 3. Start with coverage: days a school year, schools and the grade range, since every other number reads against it. Then add the facts that show trust and skill, such as requests by name, long-term assignments or students with IEPs you supported. The general rules for how to list work experience on a resume still apply.
| Area | What to count | Example bullet |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Days a school year, schools, grade bands | Worked 140 days in the 2025-26 school year across 5 schools in grades 3 to 8. |
| Repeat requests | Teachers who asked for you, preferred lists | Requested by name for 38 of 140 assignments by 11 teachers. |
| Long-term assignments | Weeks, class size, units taught, grades entered | Taught a 28-student 5th-grade class for 9 weeks during a parental leave and finished 2 math units. |
| Classroom management | Office referrals, incidents, routines kept | Kept office referrals to 3 across 85 middle school days by using each teacher's seating chart and routines. |
| Special education support | Students with IEP or 504 plans, accommodations | Followed IEP accommodations for 6 students in a resource room, including extended time and read-aloud tests. |
| Short notice | Same-day calls accepted, early start times | Accepted 45 same-day assignments posted after 6 a.m. |
If you are a building substitute, assigned to 1 school every day instead of taking calls across a district, say so in the title line and count the classrooms and teachers you covered there.
Work Experience
- Cover 150 to 160 days a school year in 9 elementary and middle schools, in classes of up to 32 students.
- Added to the preferred substitute list at 6 schools, which now book 2 of every 3 assignments in advance.
- Taught a 7th-grade science class for 8 weeks during a medical leave, grading 2 lab units and posting work in Google Classroom.
- Worked 118 days in 4 districts in a first school year through the agency, from kindergarten to 12th-grade history.
Don't
Followed lesson plans left by the teacher.
Do
Taught from the regular teacher's plans in 120 classes, leaving a written note on what was covered, who was absent and which students needed follow-up.
Every sub follows the plan; the note left on the desk is what teachers remember.
Don't
Substituted at various schools in the district.
Do
Covered 3 elementary schools 4 days a week in grades K to 5, including 22 kindergarten days.
Substitute teacher skills and classroom software
Pick 6 to 8 hard skills from the posting and keep only those a bullet proves. For substitutes, the soft skills carry unusual weight, because a coordinator is hiring you to walk into an unknown room and keep it calm; prove them through numbers such as referrals, requests and long-term roles, not adjectives.
Hard skills for substitute teachers
- Classroom management
- Delivering lesson plans from notes
- Attendance and record keeping
- Small-group and 1-on-1 tutoring
- IEP and 504 accommodations
- Behavior intervention
- Recess, lunch and field trip supervision
- Emergency drill procedures
- Grading and feedback
- Reading and math support
Soft skills schools value in a sub
- Adaptability
- Calm authority
- Building rapport quickly
- Punctuality
- Clear written handoff notes
- Patience
List the classroom systems you used with your skills, and show each one again in a bullet. O*NET flags Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office and Microsoft Excel as hot technologies for substitute teachers, and also lists learning platforms such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Instructure Canvas and Seesaw, plus Nearpod and Google Meet. Write each name the way the district does; a sub who posted assignments in Schoology during a long-term role has a bullet ready-made.
How to list a substitute permit, license or certificate
Each state sets its own rules, so the credential has a different name almost everywhere, and some districts add requirements of their own. Write it under the exact name your state or district uses and list certifications on your resume in the Certificates section, permit or license first, each with its issuer and date. If you hold a full teaching license, it goes first: the BLS says all states require public school teachers to be licensed or certified for the grade level they teach, so a full license shows a district you can stay with a class past a permit's day limit.
| Credential | Issued by | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit (California) | California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) | A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited school and fingerprinting; allows up to 30 days for any one teacher a school year, 20 in special education. Valid 1 year, renewable. |
| Emergency Career Substitute Teaching Permit (California) | California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, applied for through your district | A bachelor's degree and 3 consecutive years of day-to-day subbing, at least 90 days a year, right before you apply; allows up to 60 days for any one teacher, 20 in special education. Valid 1 year, renewable. |
| Substitute Teacher certificate (Washington) | Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) | A current or past regular Washington teacher, administrator or educational staff associate certificate. |
| Emergency Substitute Teacher certificate (Washington) | OSPI, at the hiring district's request | Started by the employing district and finished by you; valid for up to 2 school years and not open to full certificate holders. |
How to write a permit that renews every year
Some substitute permits, such as California's, last 1 year and renew. List the permit once, with the month it was first issued, rather than a line for every renewal; the district confirms it is current on its own. When you move up to a different permit, list the new one first and keep the older one only if it shows years of service the new one depends on. A CPR or first aid card belongs here too when a job ad requires one, with its issuer and date.
Certificates
- Emergency Career Substitute Teaching Permit, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 08/2025
- Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit, California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, 08/2021
Substitute teacher education: degree requirements and how to list them
Requirements range widely. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 40% said it requires a bachelor's degree, 35% an associate's degree and 10% a high school diploma. California's 30-day permit asks for a bachelor's degree in any subject, which since 06/2024 also meets the state's Basic Skills Requirement. So your degree belongs on the resume even when it has nothing to do with education.
Your Education entry follows the standard way to list education on a resume: degree, major, school, city and the month it was conferred, since permit offices check that date. Add a teacher preparation or credential program with its expected date, and a GPA only if it is 3.5 or higher and you graduated in the last few years.
Education
Entry-level and career-change substitute teacher resumes
Many people start their school career as a sub, often with no classroom history yet. Lead with your permit or its status and the grades you want, then give the experience that shows you can manage a group of children or teens. The entry-level resume layout works if this is your first job of any kind.
- Tutoring or homework help: students a week, subjects and grade levels, as a Work Experience entry if it was paid.
- Camp counselor, youth coach or after-school staff: group size, ages and the weeks or seasons you worked.
- Classroom aide or paraprofessional work: a full entry with the grade, the class size and any IEP support.
- Student teaching or practicum: 1 line under Education with the grade, the school and the weeks.
- Church, library or reading programs: under Volunteer Experience, with the number of children you worked with.
Don't
Seeking a substitute teaching position where I can gain experience working with students.
Do
Psychology graduate with a California Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit issued 09/2026, seeking day-to-day work in grades K to 6. Brings 2 summers as a day camp counselor for groups of 15 children.
An objective with a permit date, a grade range and a group size gives a coordinator something to act on.
If you are changing careers, stay newest-first and put your permit, license or alternative certification program at the top; the BLS reports that every state offers an alternative route to teacher certification for people who already hold a bachelor's degree. Under earlier jobs, hold on to bullets that carry into a classroom, such as training staff, scheduling, presenting or handling complaints, each with its number. The career-change resume examples show that layout, and a short letter explains the move: the substitute teacher cover letter examples give you wording for it. Retired teachers returning as subs can follow the retired teacher resume examples, with the license and final teaching role near the top.
Substitute Teacher resume FAQ
How do I list multiple schools on a substitute teacher resume?
Put them under 1 entry for the district or agency that employs you, with 1 set of dates. Name the schools, or their number and grade levels, in the first bullet, and give any long-term assignment its own bullet with the school, grade and weeks.
Do I need a teaching license to be a substitute teacher?
Not in every state. California issues a substitute permit to bachelor's degree holders without a teaching credential, and Washington lets a district request an emergency substitute certificate. A full license helps for long-term roles, since the BLS says all states require public school teachers to be licensed for their grade level.
Can I be a substitute teacher without a degree?
In some places, yes. In O*NET's survey, 10% of substitute teachers said the job requires a high school diploma and 35% an associate's degree, but California's 30-day permit requires a bachelor's. Check your state education agency and the district before you apply, and list the highest education you have.
How do I list a long-term substitute assignment?
As a bullet under your district entry, with the grade or subject, the school, the number of weeks and what you were responsible for, such as planning, grading or parent conferences. If the assignment ran a full semester or more, it can have its own entry with the title Long-Term Substitute.
How do I list substitute work through a staffing agency?
Name the agency as the employer, since it paid you, and the districts or schools in your bullets: Substitute Teacher, then the agency, its city and your dates. A reader then sees 1 continuous job instead of a list of short placements.
How long should a substitute teacher resume be?
1 page for almost everyone, including subs with several years in a district. Use 2 pages only if you taught full time for many years before subbing and the long-term roles and licenses would not fit, with your permit and current district on page 1.
Should I mention my background check or fingerprint clearance?
Only if the job ad requests it. A state permit often requires it: California's substitute permit needs fingerprinting before it is issued, so the permit line already implies clearance. The district will run or confirm its own check after you apply.
What skills should a substitute teacher put on a resume?
Classroom management, delivering another teacher's lesson plans, attendance and records, small-group support and IEP accommodations, plus the learning platform you used, such as Google Classroom or Schoology. Back each one with a bullet: a skill no bullet proves reads as filler to a coordinator.
How do I use substitute teaching to get a full-time teaching job?
Treat your subbing as classroom experience. Put the schools, grades and long-term roles in bullets with numbers, list any teacher preparation program with its expected date, and name the teachers or principals who requested you as references once they agree.
What is the average substitute teacher salary?
The BLS reports a median annual wage of $41,670 for short-term substitute teachers in May 2025, or $20.03 an hour. Pay varies by district and by assignment; leave it off your resume.
Next steps
Choose a sample that matches your grades and your route into subbing, copy its order, and fill in your own days, schools, permit and requests. Our resume builder and templates take care of layout; add a brief letter naming the grades you hope to cover.