Professor Resume: Sample & Writing Guide [20+ Tips]

You never expected it to happen. But finally, after years of educating the best minds of any generation, you've decided it's enough.

A career change can be both exciting and frightening. But you can ease this process with the right mindset. The right job opportunity. And the best resume.

Worried you don't know how to turn your academic achievements into more relatable accomplishments? Afraid that your professor resume can make recruiters think you live in an ivory tower?

It's OK, professor. We're here to help.

This guide will show you: 

• A professor resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
• How to write a professor resume that will land you more interviews.
• Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a professor resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for a professor to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

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Sample resume made with our builder—See more resume samples here.

This guide is for professors who want to get industry jobs and leave academia behind. Want a better position within academia? You’ll need a curriculum vitae. Switch over to our guide on writing a professor CV. 

Need academic resume examples or other resume advice? Check out our other guides:

• Research Assistant Resume
• Teacher Resume
• Tutor Resume
• Writer Resume
• Professor CV
• Academic CV
• PhD Resume
• Scholarship Resume
• Environmental Science Resume
• The Best Resume Examples for All Jobs

Professor Resume Sample

Here’s how to write a professor resume so organized it’ll make Marie Kondo blush.

1. Choose the Best Format for Your Professor Resume

You held college professor jobs for years but want to transition out of academia.

You’ve looked at a ton of different academic resume examples—they’re great. But none will work for you.

Why?

The business world is cut-throat. Every minute means lost resources. It’s why recruiters only spend a few seconds per resume.

Your resume is policy brief, not a thesis. Less is more.

You need to modify your college professor resume to fit private-sector research jobs.

Start by following some simple formatting rules:

• Lead with a professional resume header that holds your resume contact information the right way.
• Be sure to divide your professor resume into easily navigable resume parts.
• Choose the ideal format for your resume. Focus on your achievements and professional experience by using a reverse chronological resume template.
• Pick the best fonts for your resume. Don’t choose anything too fancy.
• Space it out. Don’t squeeze all your information but embrace white space (You’re not writing for a paper journal ca. 1998.)
• Make sure to put your resume in PDF format. Only use MS Word file if the employer asks specifically.

2. Write a Professor Resume Objective or Summary

Start your professor resume with a bang—a short introduction paragraph of your professional profile.

Choose between a resume objective or a resume summary.

What’s the difference?

For those with more than 2 years of professional experience, a resume summary works best. It focuses on your professional experience and key achievements.

As a professor with (scare quotes!) “no real working experience”, a resume objective might be more suitable.It highlights the skills you’ve learned, ignores irrelevant accolades, and shows how you will achieve the goals of your next position.

Add numbers to show your true impact in your resume profile.

Pro Tip: Finish your professor resume before you write the resume profile. It’s easier to summarize once you have something to summarize!

3. Create the Perfect Professor Job Description for a Resume

Look:

It’s important you know how to write about work experience in a resume. The hiring manager’s main concern?

Professors are all theory, no practice.

But you will prove them wrong—

How?

Highlight your relevant skills and experience by tailoring your resume to the job offer:

• List your most recent job then go back in time.
• Put your job titles, company names, locations, and dates worked.
• List your responsibilities and achievements for a resume with bullet points. Have 6–7 bullets for each position.
• Start each bullet with resume action verbs, such as managed, coordinated, monitored, performed, etc.
• Make sure to only present experience relevant to the job, and quantify it with numbers and percentages.

Pro Tip: Recruiters have a weak spot for academic titles like Ph.D. Don’t forget to put those magic three letters after your name.

4. Make Your Professor Resume Education Section Great

As an academic, you know how important it is to list where you received your education from.

So, be sure your resume education section stands out:

• Candidates with more than 5 years of professional experience can stick to listing their degree, school name and location, and graduation year. That’s it.
• Candidates with no experience may want to include extracurricular activities, academic achievements, and relevant coursework.

Increase the visibility of your professional certifications and licenses by listing them in a separate section.

5. Highlight Your Professor Skills

Most academic resume examples underplay skills. It’s easy to forget what you’re capable of.

And it’s not easy to translate academic skills to skills that contribute to the bottom line.

But you are in luck. We have a cheat sheet:

Professor Resume—Skills

• Analytical Skills
• Teamwork Skills
• Communication and Listening Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Decision Making Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Problem Solving Skills
• Time Management Skills

Don’t list every skill you have. Only list your key skills.

Here’s the best way to do it:

• Start with a master list of all your job skills (soft skills, hard skills, and technical skills).
• Check the job add and see what skills are transferable.
• Now look at your list and pick out the skills mentioned in the job posting. Got them? Good!
• Highlight the best ones and put them in your professor resume under a key skills section. 
• Your entire professor resume should be seasoned throughout with your skills. Add those skills to your resume profile and job description sections as well.

Pro Tip: Match the skills you put on the list with the type of position you’re after. A professor resume may also highlight your leadership skills.

When making a resume in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check. Start building a professional resume template here for free.

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When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Professor Resume

As an academic looking for other jobs, you want to show your recruiter more than just your professional side. 

Let’s add the following sections to your professor resume.

• Language skills
• Achievements and awards
• Volunteer experience
• Hobbies and interests

7. Attach a Professor Resume Cover Letter

Should you include a cover letter?

Absolutely.

More than half of recruiters expect you to include a cover letter in your application. Even if they don’t read it (kind of like reviewer #3.)

The good news? Only half of the candidates abide, so you have a leg up on your competition.

Make sure you join them by using the tips below to write a flawless cover letter:

• Choose the optimal format for a cover letter.
• Set the right tone with your cover letter intro.
• Show the impact you’ll bring to the employer.
• Make sure your cover letter conclusion has a call-to-action.

How long should you make your cover letter? Don’t let it go past one page. Check out this academic cover letter guide for more help. 

Pro Tip: Follow up on your job application to boost your chances. The recruiter will know you’re a serious candidate.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

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See more cover letter templates and start writing.

And that’s it!

You know how to make a job-winning professor resume to transition out of academia. Good luck!

If you need further help, drop me a line and I’ll offer some expert advice. I’d love to hear from you, leave your comment below!