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How to describe paraprofessional on a resume?

If you want to bag a paraprofessional job, you need to have a paraprofessional resume that justifies your worth as a potential employee.

To put it simply, the key to achieving that is by ensuring that your paraprofessional resume is well-formatted, concise, and presents your noteworthy yet relevant accomplishments.

So, what are the job duties of a paraprofessional?

Paraprofessionals are teaching assistants who help class teachers impart lessons and manage students. They can work in elementary schools, daycare centers, and special needs schools.

And although paraprofessionals do not have a teaching license, they are an integral part of the education system and work under the guidance of teachers to cater to the students’ academic, emotional, and also physical needs.

Read on to learn more about paraprofessional resume and the following related FAQs:

• What is a paraprofessional resume?
• How to write resumes for paraprofessionals?
• How to show professional experience in a paraprofessional resume?
• What are the skills of a paraprofessional?
• What are some paraprofessional resume summary examples?
• How to write a paraprofessional resume objective?

What is a Paraprofessional Resume?

A paraprofessional resume is a formal document that showcases your skills, experiences, and suitability for the job.

Your paraprofessional resume must highlight your most notable achievements and skills in terms of the requirements of the recruiters.

Since your paraprofessional resume is the first thing that recruiters see when you apply for a job, it must be engaging and crisp.

And given that majority of recruiters now use the Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) to select the most qualified resumes, your paraprofessional resume must have plenty of keywords to make it ATS-friendly.

Also, ensure that your paraprofessional resume follows the reverse chronological format as this is the most preferred format by recruiters.

Also read: How to write a stellar teaching assistant resume?

Writing an Impressive Paraprofessional Resume

Now, before you start writing your paraprofessional resume, you must make a master file wherein you can list down all the details about your professional trajectory.

Making a master file allows you to streamline the process of choosing your most relevant and impressive experiences, skills, and achievements that you can include in your paraprofessional resume.

Once you have that sorted, follow the below-mentioned steps to draft an impressive paraprofessional resume:

Choose a Suitable Paraprofessional Resume Template

To make your resume a sight for sore eyes, ensure that your paraprofessional resume template is formatted in the following manner:

• 1” margin on all sides
• Follows a reverse chronological format (since all the recruiters are familiar with it)
• Font size ranging between 10-12 points
• Has clear resume sections (personal details, skills, experience, educational background, etc.)
• Double-space between each section
• Consistent date format and font type
• Use of bullet points without bulky paragraphs

Start with Personal Details

To maintain the unique identity of your document, the header of your paraprofessional resume has to be your full name, followed by your personal details.

Here’s what you need to include in this section:

• Your current designation
• A valid contact number with a “+” sign and ISD code
• A professional email address
• City and state of your current residence
• A link to your LinkedIn profile or a professional site (if any)

Write Your Professional Experience

Although the summary and key skills section usually comes before the professional experience section in a resume template, consider writing those sections after listing down your experiences.

Doing so will give you a better understanding of what you need to highlight in your skills and summary section.

Coming to the do’s and don’ts while writing the professional experience section of your paraprofessional resume, here are some pointers you can follow:

• Present your experiences in the form of one-liners and bullet points. Bulky paragraphs will only make your resume boring and lengthy.

• Use power verbs to begin your one-liners and follow the cause and effect relation while framing your sentences to add weight to your experiences.

• Whenever possible, use figures to emphasize your achievements and responsibilities.

• Focus on highlighting work experiences that demonstrate your potential to meet the recruiters’ requirements. Refer to the job listing to see what exactly the recruiters are looking for.

• Bucket similar bullet points under a heading and highlight important details to draw the recruiters’ attention.

• Avoid overcrowding this section with older and irrelevant work experiences so that your paraprofessional resume is only a page long (the ideal resume length).

• Since the majority of recruiters use the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to select the most suitable resume for job vacancies, include industry-related keywords to make your paraprofessional resume ATS-friendly.

Take a look at the following sample of an ideal professional experience section of a paraprofessional resume:

Also read: How to present your work experience in a resume?

List Your Academic Qualifications & Certifications

The requirements to become a paraprofessional can vary widely depending on your location and school district.

However, the general education requirements for a paraprofessional calls for a high school diploma or GED and an associate degree or two years of college study.

You can list your academic qualifications by simply writing the name of the degree with commencement and completion dates, followed by the university name and location.

If you have a GPA of 3.5 or higher, you can list that too.

And although it is not mandatory to have certifications to become a paraprofessional, it can boost your candidacy.

In case you have taken up relevant certification courses, list those under the certification section in your paraprofessional resume.

Here’s a snapshot of the education and certification sections in a paraprofessional resume:

Add Additional Information

Since paraprofessionals need to bond with students from various backgrounds to provide them with an invaluable learning experience, it’s a plus point if you are multilingual.

Include an additional information section in your paraprofessional resume so that you can list down the languages you speak. Adding additional information like so can help you stand out from other applicants.

List Your Paraprofessional Skills

Besides having a natural fondness for being around kids, an ideal paraprofessional has to possess soft skills like patience and good communication skills.

And since the key skills section is sort of an extension of your professional experience, you can refer to your professional experience section to identify your skills and list them accordingly.

Some of the common paraprofessional skills and abilities that you can include in your resume are:

Child supervision	Mandt training
Behaviour & Needs Assessment	Lesson planning
Classroom Management	Program Administration
Curriculum Coordination	Activity Planning
Report Generation	Progress Reviewing
Personal Development	Crisis Intervention & Support

You can list these skills in the following manner in your paraprofessional resume:

Also read: What skills to put on a resume?

Write a Compelling Paraprofessional Resume Summary

Once you are done writing other sections, summarize your paraprofessional resume in 2-3 lines.

Begin your paraprofessional resume summary by highlighting the years of experience you possess and your most impressive accomplishments.

Try to include achievement figures in your summary and if you are have taken paraprofessional certification courses, ensure that you mention that you are a certified professional.

Also, include industry-related keywords in your summary to support your resume’s ATS friendliness.

Here are some paraprofessional resume summary examples:

Certified paraprofessional with 3+ years of experience in providing teaching assistance to kids with special needs. Armed with a demonstrated track record of developing effective lesson plans that cater to the needs of individual students while supporting their cognitive development. Adept at reinforcing learning concepts to individual students as part of ensuring in-depth understanding of the same.

Also read: How to write a good resume summary?

Paraprofessional Resume Objective

A resume objective for paraprofessional resume is written by candidates who lack professional experience or are fresh graduates.

If you fall under this category, your paraprofessional resume objective must highlight your academic achievements and skills.

And rather than making the objective section about your personal expectations or goals, ensure to showcase how you can leverage your knowledge to benefit the institution.

Given below is a paraprofessional objective sample for your reference:

"Dedicated recent graduate with a degree in Education, seeking to leverage my comprehensive knowledge in assisting teachers in classroom management and activities. Skilled at fostering trusting relationships with children to facilitate an interactive classroom experience and foster cognitive development. Abreast with the latest industry practices to support a healthy and nurturing experience for students."

Also read: How to write a resume objective in 2022?

Paraprofessional Resume Sample

Key Points from the Blog

• Paraprofessionals are teaching assistants who help class teachers impart lessons and manage students in elementary schools, daycare centers, and special needs schools.
• To streamline the process of drafting a paraprofessional resume, compile the details of your professional trajectory in a parent file.
• Select a paraprofessional resume template that is reader-friendly and has clear resume sections, spacing, and 1” margins on all sides.
• The header of your paraprofessional resume should be your full name and must showcase your personal details.
• Present your professional experience section in one-liners that begin with power verbs and include figures.
• Ensure that your paraprofessional resume is ATS-friendly by tailoring it according to the job listing and including industry-related keywords.
• Your paraprofessional resume summary should not be more than 2-3 lines and must highlight your most notable accomplishments.

Want to create an impressive paraprofessional resume without any hassle? Use Hiration’s AI-powered resume builder! You can also reach out to us if you have any questions at support@hiration.com.