What does a Preschool Teacher do?

Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth. Day to day that includes work like teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills and Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.

What skills should a Preschool Teacher put on a resume?

O*NET rates Instructing, Speaking, Active Listening, Learning Strategies, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Preschool Teacher list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Appletree, Bloomz, Children's educational software, ClassDojo, and Common Curriculum. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Preschool Teacher work?

O*NET records 25 titles for this occupation, including Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education, Montessori Preschool Teacher, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, and Pre-K Teacher. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Preschool Teacher need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 29% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Preschool Teacher role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Preschool Teacher resume example

A resume for a Preschool Teacher needs to show the work itself: instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth. Day to day that means work like this: teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills; establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Montessori Preschool Teacher
Pre-Kindergarten Teacher
Pre-K Teacher
Teacher
Toddler Teacher
Child Development Teacher
Early Childhood Teacher
Group Teacher
Infant Teacher
Nursery Teacher
After School Teacher
Child Care Assistant Teacher
Childcare Teacher
Childhood Development Teacher
Day Care Teacher
Daycare Teacher
Early Childhood Educator

O*NET records 25 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests.
Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
Serve meals and snacks in accordance with nutritional guidelines.
Attend to children's basic needs by feeding them, dressing them, and changing their diapers.
Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and needs, determine their priorities for their children, and suggest ways that they can promote learning and development.
Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, storytelling, and field trips.
Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
Maintain accurate and complete student records as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.

34 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials to meet students' varying needs and interests, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Appletree
Bloomz
Children's educational software
ClassDojo
Common Curriculum
EasyCBM
Edmodo
Email software
Flipgrid
Google Classroom
Google Meet
Intrado SchoolMessenger
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software

20 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Compact digital cameras
Compact disk CD players
Desktop computers
Educational board games
Educational puzzles
Educational toys
Emergency first aid kits
Pegboards
Personal computers
Photocopying equipment
Play structures
Sand tables

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Instructing
02Speaking
03Active Listening
04Learning Strategies
05Coordination
06Critical Thinking
07Monitoring
08Reading Comprehension
09Social Perceptiveness
10Service Orientation

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Education and Training
English Language
Public Safety and Security
Customer and Personal Service
Psychology

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

29%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
17%Bachelor's Degree
12%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Preschool Teacher do?: Instruct preschool-aged students, following curricula or lesson plans, in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth. Day to day that includes work like teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills and Establish and enforce rules for behavior and procedures for maintaining order.
What skills should a Preschool Teacher put on a resume?: O*NET rates Instructing, Speaking, Active Listening, Learning Strategies, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Preschool Teacher list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Appletree, Bloomz, Children's educational software, ClassDojo, and Common Curriculum. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Preschool Teacher work?: O*NET records 25 titles for this occupation, including Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education, Montessori Preschool Teacher, Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, and Pre-K Teacher. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Preschool Teacher need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 29% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Preschool Teacher role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.