When trying to land a teaching job in a British international school, a strong online presence is a must-have.
In this blog post, we’ll give you all the info you need to create the perfect LinkedIn profile. You’ll learn what to include in each section and get hints and tips along the way.
Before we begin, you need to make sure you switch off the option to share your LinkedIn profile updates with your network.
Profile updates switched off? Let’s get stuck in.
1. Intro
Upload a profile and background photo
Choose a professional headshot to use as your profile photo. Staff in British international schools will be searching for a teacher who looks friendly, approachable and well-presented, so choose a photo that shows this.
Make sure your profile photo is visible to people outside of your close network. Go to settings, and select the option that reads ‘All LinkedIn Members’.
To boost the appearance of your LinkedIn profile, upload a high quality background photo. Stick to something quite neutral and professional e.g. an artistic shot of pen and paper, a school classroom, or, if you’re an avid hiker, maybe something like a picturesque landscape. And don’t worry, there are plenty of free stock photos you can use if you don’t have any high quality pics of your own.
Create a striking headline
Write an eye-catching headline that quickly communicates your skills and teaching experience.
Include keywords, be specific and sell yourself. An example teacher profile might read something like, ‘Talented Secondary School Maths Teacher | 10 years experience in education’. Keywords are a great way to boost your profile’s visibility by making sure your profile appears in LinkedIn’s search results when staff in British international schools search for teachers.
If you want to, you can add a voice note to help with name pronunciation – just be aware you can only add this via the mobile app.
Select an industry
Select the relevant industry e.g. ‘Primary/Secondary Education’. This will make it easier for staff and teachers in British international schools to find you.
2. Tell schools a bit about yourself
In your ‘About’ section, introduce yourself to British international schools and tell them what they’ll gain by hiring you.
Briefly sum up who you are, your aspirations, your skills, your work experience etc in a way that’s creative and engaging. Just try to avoid sounding like you’ve swallowed a thesaurus.
Detail what makes you different from other candidates without using clichés – most teachers are ‘passionate about teaching’, so be specific – what aspect of teaching are you passionate about?
3. Build your featured wall
Pin posts you’ve created or shared to your LinkedIn profile. Simply click on the plus button on the ‘Featured’ tab in your profile and select which posts you’d like to add to your wall. They should help British international schools learn more about you, so be selective and choose wisely.
Articles – If you’ve published any articles on LinkedIn that are relevant to teaching, add them to your featured wall to show schools you know what’s what in the world of education.
Links – You can add external links to websites, presentations, videos or documents that show off your work and teaching experience. So, if you recorded online lessons during the pandemic or perhaps created online educational resources for your pupils, make sure you include the links to these on your profile.
4. Background
Add any relevant work experience
Add your current and previous job roles as well as any work experience you have.
Write a concise description for each job/experience to highlight what the role involved e.g. the tasks you managed, skills you developed etc. And go into more detail about your teaching-related jobs/experiences.
Include your education background
- Degree – Degree title, university, start and complete date.
- Teaching qualifications – Add your PGCE/PGDE, QTS, university/qualification provider, start and complete date.
- Activities and societies – List any societies you joined during your studies that have relevance to teaching and education.
- Dissertation – Include the title of your dissertation proposal. If the title doesn’t sum up your project very well, include a couple of sentences explaining the topic.
- Educational highlights – List some of the key modules you studied e.g. quantitative and qualitative research methods.
- Add any licenses or certifications to your LinkedIn profile e.g. first aid qualifications to help you stand out from the crowd.
List any volunteer experience
If you’ve got volunteering experience, flaunt it. Let schools know what you did, what you learned, why you loved it etc. Volunteer work shows a whole bunch of transferable skills, like teamwork, organisation, time-management – you name it. Plus it shows commitment, something British international schools really value and look out for in candidates.
If you’ve not got any volunteering experience and you’re looking for a way to boost your employability, consider volunteering for a charity related to education and teaching e.g. Save The Children.
5. Show off your skills
LinkedIn allows you to add up to 50 skills to your profile, so get clicking! Focus on adding skills related to teaching before the more generic stuff.
Request endorsements – It might feel a bit cheeky, but getting previous colleagues and employers to endorse your skills is a great way to boost your profile and build credibility. Plus, you can endorse their skills too so it benefits you both.
6. Accomplishments
Publications
If you’ve got any published work, add it to your profile to show off your research and writing skills.
Courses
Add any extracurricular courses you’ve completed e.g. courses in languages, writing, or perhaps a Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course you completed. Listing courses is a great way for British international schools to see that you’re willing to learn and develop new skills.
Projects
If you’ve run any projects, pop them in your profile. Insert keywords to help boost your profile’s visibility, and add any team members who took part to highlight your teamwork skills.
Honours and awards
Impress British international schools with any awards you’ve received e.g. the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award or academic awards you achieved at university.
7. Request recommendations
Get in touch with your previous colleagues, employers, lecturers etc. either via email, phone, or text, and ask them if they’d be happy to write you a recommendation on LinkedIn. If they don’t mind writing one, just follow the simple steps below:
Final Tips
Display your interests
Let British international schools know a bit more about you by adding your interests.
Follow pages, groups and companies related to education e.g. Department for Education, universities, Ofsted.
Customise your URL
Customise your LinkedIn URL to make it easier for British international schools to find you. Delete the string of numbers and replace them with your name. And don’t worry if your URL name has already been taken, just play around with a few similar alternatives until you spot one that’s available.
Start networking
Go to ‘My Network’ and start scrolling through LinkedIn’s recommendations of people to connect with. Add your friends, friends of friends, colleagues, employers, lecturers and anyone you share mutual connections with. To make your profile look more complete and authoritative, aim to have at least 200 connections.
Expand your network by connecting with people who have similar titles or roles within the teaching/education community. Just make sure to send a personalised message with your request and say why you want to connect e.g. ‘Hey, I’m Matteo, I’ve recently completed my PGCE and I’m looking to connect with British expat teachers. I’d love to connect 🙂 Thanks, Matteo.’
Be more active on LinkedIn
Get liking, sharing and commenting on LinkedIn posts. This’ll help to widen your network and make your account more visible to British international schools.
Check your spelling and grammar
Remember to look out for any spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. Teachers in British international schools may not understand British colloquialisms, so stick to plain English throughout your profile.
Make sure your profile’s visible
Go to your settings and check your profile is visible to all LinkedIn members. Teachers/staff in British international schools need to be able to view your full profile without connecting with you.
Achieve an ‘All-star’ profile status
Make sure your profile reaches ‘All-Star’ status. There’s a progress bar which displays how polished your profile is, so just make sure you complete all the necessary steps to achieve it.
Turn profile updates back on
Once you’ve finished updating your profile and you’re happy with it, switch your profile updates back on.
View your profile on all your devices
Give your profile a final look over on your phone, computer, tablet etc. Double-check you’ve completed each section and corrected any spelling errors. And make sure both your profile photo and background photo are visible and top quality.
Ready to spruce up your LinkedIn profile?
With our top tips, you'll find your dream job in a British international school before you know it. We can't wait to help you find your dream international teaching role. Happy updating and job-hunting!