Writing a well-crafted resume is a critical step in the job search process. A good resume should provide an employer with a summary of your professional experience and hopefully prompt them to schedule an interview. There are plenty of resources available for job searchers who want to perfect their resume. However, healthcare workers should take a few additional steps to ensure their application materials stand out.
1. Review Resume Examples for Your Profession
While healthcare workers all care for people, each position has its own set of requirements and responsibilities. As such, applicants should match their resume’s language and document structure with other resumes in their profession. A quick Google search will turn up plenty of examples for review. As part of this process, look for any commonalities in the way others refer to their experience and education. You may also find examples of how other people in your field have attempted to optimize their resumes for keywords. While your resume should be distinct, you don’t want it to stand out for all the wrong reasons.
2. Include Only the Most Relevant Information
A good healthcare resume should provide a brief summarization of the applicant’s overall qualifications. This isn’t a forum for a detailed explanation of why you choose your career path. That’s information you can share in an in-person interview. Instead, your resume should include:
A Summary Describing Yourself
Most Recent, Relevant Work Experience
Your Education, Along With Applicable Certification or Licensing Details.
A List of Your Core Skills and Competencies.
Hiring managers do not want to sift through seven detailed pages of your work history. Instead, they’re looking for a high-level glimpse into your qualifications, skills, and experience to help them winnow the field of applicants. So, your document should provide this information without requiring the reader to dig too deep. A good rule of thumb is to limit your resume to only one or two pages.
3. Don’t Forget These Important Items
In an effort to keep their resumes brief, some applicants omit information that could make them stand out among the competition. Examples include:
- Foreign Language Fluency: If you’re fluent — or even partially fluent — in other languages, you could be a tremendous asset to clinics or hospitals treating a diverse group of patients.
- Meaningful Volunteer Experience: While it’s not paid work, volunteer experience demonstrates your humanity and willingness to give back. If you volunteered for a medical charity, you also likely gained valuable experience you may not have earned in a traditional work setting.
- A Professional Headshot: While not all professions expect to see a professional headshot included in your application materials, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals seeking to work in the dermatology or medical spa space should provide a photo with their resume.
Not only do you want to demonstrate your competency to a potential employer, you also want to show they’ll be getting an excellent value by hiring you. By adding additional information that your resume might not otherwise communicate, you’re showing what a well-rounded team member you’ll be.
Industry Staffing Firms Can Also Help
Conducting your own job search is a tremendous amount of work. Fortunately, industry-specific staffing firms can help you refine your application materials and narrow down your job search parameters.
If you’re a physician assistant (PA) or nurse practitioner (NP), Physician Assistant Solutions offers a personalized approach to the job search. We’re physician assistant recruiters who will help you find your next great job that perfectly matches your career goals, medical interests, and personal needs. You can start your job search online, and when you’re ready, create an account so we can start helping. But don’t wait too long! Your next employer can’t wait to meet you.