How To Write a School Bus Driver Resume

To write a school bus driver resume, you’ll need to gather your credentials, certifications, and expertise in things like passenger safety, route planning, and vehicle maintenance. Experienced school bus drivers can include information from their past bus-driving jobs. New school bus drivers may need to rely on transferable skills, such as safety management, in previous roles.

Once you have all the information, combine it to create a well-formatted, easy-to-read resume. This guide provides specific advice for each section of your resume as well as some action verbs and relevant skills you may want to include.

  • Entry-Level
  • Mid-Career
  • Senior-Level
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1. Write a dynamic profile summarizing your school bus driver qualifications

The profile summary is a short paragraph or bullet list that hints at your accomplishments and invites the reader to dig deeper into your resume. Include relevant facts, such as your tenure as a school bus driver, especially if you have a few years or more of experience.

Use this section to align yourself with the mission and vision of the school system in question. Include your commitment to student safety, for instance, and write in a way that demonstrates an approachable, friendly, but professional demeanor.

Senior-Level Profile Example


Trusted School Bus Driver with 10+ years of experience serving local elementary schools. Committed to providing children with safe, smooth transit to and from school locations. Draw on broad knowledge of traffic laws and safety regulations.

Entry-Level Profile Example


School Bus Driver with strong recent experience serving a local middle school. Trustworthy and committed to bringing students to and from school locations promptly and safely.

2. Add a compelling section featuring your school bus driver experience

Approach your professional experience section with a formula that combines action verbs, accomplishments, and relevant skills and knowledge into powerful bullet points. While it’s great to mention you’re experienced in transporting children to and from school, think of accomplishments that might differentiate you from other experienced bus drivers.

For example, you might note specifics about your experience in training other drivers or your work in developing the most efficient routes to minimize the time each child has to spend on the bus.

Senior-Level Professional Experience Example


School Bus Driver, Penn Alexander Elementary School, Philadelphia, PA April 2018 to Present

  • Transport children to and from elementary school on weekdays, following a route of assigned homes and bus stops
  • Took advanced role helping train new bus drivers on their designated route and schedule
  • Facilitate students’ entry into and exit from the bus, maintaining utmost safety at all points
  • Monitor students throughout each trip to ensure proper behavior and safe conduct

Entry-Level Professional Experience Example


School Bus Driver, Student Transportation of America (STA), Minneapolis, MN April 2021 to Present

  • Transport students to and from middle school on weekdays, following a set route of homes and bus stops
  • Ensure children’s safety by carefully following all traffic laws
  • Praised for prompt completion of bus route and friendly interaction with students and parents

3. Include your school bus driver-related education and certifications

Including your education on a resume supports your viability as a candidate, especially because most employers have some minimum requirements in this regard. Ensuring your education and certifications are easy to spot on your resume increases the chance that it’s sorted into the consideration pile when someone vets applications.

If you have any certifications that may help you stand out as a school bus driver applicant, such as a CPR credential, make sure to list those too.

Education

Template

  • [Degree Name]
  • [School Name], [City, State Abbreviation] | [Graduation Year]

Example

  • High-School Graduate
  • Southwest Senior High, Minneapolis, MN | 2020

Certifications

Template

  • [Certification Name], [Awarding Organization], [Completion Year]

Example

  • Certified Transportation Professional, National Private Truck Council, 2020

4. List your key school bus driver skills and proficiencies

Listing relevant key skills that are in demand for your profession has multiple benefits for your resume. First, it helps increase your chance of getting through applicant tracking systems (ATS). These are automated programs designed to pass through only those resumes that meet minimum relevance scores. So, if a school board wants bus drivers with passenger safety and route scheduling experience, the ATS may not pass through resumes that don’t mention those things.

You can also better capture the hiring manager’s attention when you include relevant key skills. The skills below are common on school bus driver resumes, but you can also mine the employer’s job listing for others.

Key Skills and Proficiencies
Cross-departmental collaboration Driving safety regulations
Passenger well-being Passenger safety
Route mapping Route scheduling
Time management Traffic laws
Vehicle maintenance Verbal communication

How To Pick the Best School Bus Driver Resume Template

Start by selecting a template that looks professional. Some basic requirements include consistent fonts, a lack of unnecessary design details, and plenty of organization that separates the summary, education, skills, and work history sections.

Look for a template that you can easily update and customize, which means thinking about the program you’ll need to work in. Many people prefer templates for Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Consider your own technical and software skills, too. If you don’t normally use word processing programs, a simple template you can just click and type into may be best.

School Bus Driver Text-Only Resume Templates and Examples

  • Entry-Level
  • Mid-Career
  • Senior-Level

Mina Sayed
(123) 456-7890
[email protected]
123 Bedford Avenue, New York, NY 12345

Profile

School Bus Driver with 5+ years of experience at local high schools. Service-oriented and collaborative. Build positive relationships with students, parents, teachers, and school officials. Trustworthy and committed to bringing students to and from school locations promptly and safely.

Work Experience

School Bus Driver, Townsend Harris High School, New York, NY
April 2021 to Present

  • Transport children to and from high school on weekdays, following a set route of homes and bus stops
  • Maintain friendly, courteous interaction with students, parents, and teachers
  • Attend meetings with teachers and school administrators to discuss safety and other topics
  • Helped make several bus route updates to accommodate new construction and traffic patterns

Server, TGI Fridays, New York, NY
February 2021 to Present

  • Gained strong customer service and time management skills while taking visitors’ food and drink orders
  • Currently ranked #3 on a 15-person team for overall efficiency

School Bus Driver, Townsend Harris High School, New York, NY
April 2017 to February 2021

  • Promptly picked up and dropped off students at their respective home and school locations
  • Inspected bus interior following each trip to ensure cleanliness and safety
  • Also took students to and from field trips, sports team events, and summer school on an interim basis

Education

Associate Degree
Kingsborough Community College, New York, NY, 2015 – 2017

Key Skills

  • Passenger Wellbeing & Safety
  • Route Mapping & Scheduling
  • Driving Safety Regulations
  • Time Management
  • Traffic Laws
  • Vehicle Maintenance
  • Verbal Communication
  • Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Frequently Asked Questions: School Bus Driver Resume Examples and Advice

What are common action verbs for school bus driver resumes?-

Including action verbs on your resume creates a more dynamic document. It also supports a framework that positions you as an active, helpful participant in your work while ensuring your resume is easy to scan.

Think about action verbs that are related to bus driving, such as “operated,” “inspected,” and “maintained.” Couple these words with your knowledge and skills to create powerful bullet points and sentences that capture the attention of hiring managers. For example, you might say you “navigated rural roads, minimizing safety risks while maximizing route efficiency.”

Some action verbs related to bus driver resumes you can start with include:

Action Verbs
Adapted Coordinated
Delivered Ensured
Facilitated Inspected
Maintained Monitored
Navigated Operated
Performed Prepared
Provided Secured
Supervised Supported
Transported Upheld
Watched Worked
How do you align your resume with a school bus driver job posting?-

Aligning your resume with a job posting helps capture employer interest and ensures a hiring manager sees you as the kind of candidate they’re looking for. Start by reading the job description carefully and writing down employer must-haves, such as a commercial driver's license (CDL) or previous history driving for a school system. Think about your own experience and how you fulfill those employer wants and needs, and ensure that you include that information in your resume.

Job opportunities for bus drivers in general, including school bus drivers, are growing at an average pace and are expected to continue that trend through 2032, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Taking time to customize your resume for each application can make you a more competitive applicant for these positions.

What is the best school bus driver resume format?-

Choose a combination resume format to best show off your qualifications as a school bus driver. This format includes a profile section where you can highlight specific knowledge and traits you have that school systems may be looking for.

The combination resume format also provides plenty of room to include your work history. Typically, you arrange that information in reverse chronological order, ensuring that your most recent bus driving or other relevant experience is listed first for easy perusal by school boards or hiring managers.

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Expert Advice
Include a cover letter with your school bus driver resume

Go the extra mile to add a unique cover letter to each resume you send out. Use this document to point to highly relevant experience you have, such as whether you’ve done commercial driving in the area before.

A cover letter also lets you demonstrate some of your personality so hiring managers can tell if you’re a good cultural fit. Get some ideas for your cover letter by reviewing our cover letter guide.

Jacob Meade Headshot

Jacob Meade

Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, ACRW)

Jacob Meade is a resume writer and editor with nearly a decade of experience. His writing method centers on understanding and then expressing each person’s unique work history and strengths toward their career goal. Jacob has enjoyed working with jobseekers of all ages and career levels, finding that a clear and focused resume can help people from any walk of life. He is an Academy Certified Resume Writer (ACRW) with the Resume Writing Academy, and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) with the Professional Association of Resume Writers & Career Coaches.

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