If you are pursuing a career as a teacher assistant, an effective resume can help you stand out from the competition. Here are tips on how to research and write that resume.

Determine what you need for a teacher assistant position. Are there any particular education or certification requirements needed? If you don't have the needed qualifications, contact your local school board to find out where to go to get them. If you do have them, make a note so you can include that in your resume.

Make a list of job duties. When you look at similar jobs, take note of the job requirements. Are there certain skills and abilities that are mentioned often? An enjoyment of children, an ability to multi-task, flexibility, patience and a strong sense of teamwork are some competencies that may be useful for the job.

Match your experiences to the needs of the job. If, for example, you have retail experience, you could show how your customer service background demonstrates an ability to assist individuals big and small. Your skill for juggling a big departmental sale could indicate an ability for juggling the demands of several teachers as well as show strong teamwork.

Organize your resume. If you have recent, related experience in teaching, you may want to use a chronological resume, which lists the most recent positions first. However, if you are making a job change from an unrelated career, you may want to use a functional resume, which pulls out skills from a variety of your experiences to match the needs of a teaching job.

Add buzzwords that are specific to teaching. For a teaching assistant job, recruiters may look for keywords such as certification, childhood education, curriculum or teaching. By looking at other job descriptions, you'll notice similar phrases or jargon being used. Adding these to your resume in appropriate places will catch the eye of the recruiter (or computer scanner) and add to the professionalism of your resume.