There is no doubt that a job in healthcare is one of the most rewarding roles out there and there will always be a high demand for healthcare workers. However, despite the urgent need for healthcare professionals to fill the multitude of roles in the healthcare sector, the competition for jobs is still fierce. As such, you will need a solid resume to secure your ideal position. Whether you are a seasoned professional in the industry looking for a new opportunity or a recent graduate looking for an entry-level position, we are confident that you will find this article useful. You can also check out our tailored resume examples for additional guidance.
Healthcare covers a wide range of roles and responsibilities. Many ailments and issues can affect a patient, and each of these needs to be taken care of. Some roles that would require a healthcare resume include:
While each section listed is important for a professional resume, here are a few additional tips to help you stand out from other job seekers:
Resume writing is a skill, and just like any other skill, it needs to be refined over time. Recruiters will often receive hundreds of resumes for a single position and will often spend a matter of seconds scanning a resume before making a decision.
Don’t give them an excuse to discard your resume, and make sure your formatting and fonts are standardized and professional. Do not try to be too fancy; a resume is a professional document and should be treated as such.
There are several key sections that a hiring manager will expect to see on your resume.
A header at the top of the page will contain your basic contact information, including your name, contact details, and location.
A professional resume will always contain a resume objective or resume summary. Though they are often used interchangeably, they serve slightly different purposes.
If you are an experienced healthcare professional, use a resume summary to state your areas of expertise and your years of experience. If you are newly qualified or a first-time job seeker, then you will use a resume objective to highlight your key skills, the type of role you hope to secure and the areas you have trained in.
In your skills section, you will provide a snapshot of your skills gained over your training and work experience. You should include both soft and hard skills.
Soft skills are abilities that can be transferable across any role and sector. In the medical field, the soft skills a recruiter would be expecting to see might include communication skills, compassion and work ethic.
Hard skills are those that are specific to a given role. They are skills that other employees can be trained in. Hard skills in the healthcare sector might include:
You might also wish to include a technical skills section where you would include training in any industry-specific software or procedures.
In your work experience section, you will list your professional experience. Each entry should include the job title, the institution or company name and the dates you worked there. You may also choose to list your key responsibilities for each role.
You should format the entries in reverse-chronological order, starting with your most recent post and accounting for any gaps in employment where you may have completed training.
Your education section should contain credentials gained through school and professional training. For each entry, you should state the qualification obtained, and the name and location of the institution.
Don’t include your high school qualifications unless they’re the only academic credentials you have.
Certifications are a prominent aspect of the healthcare industry. The highly specialized nature of healthcare professions means that it is vital for hiring managers to know that the people they hire are suitably qualified.
As well as industry-standard certifications, you could also include additional awards that you may have earned during your training.
Unless expressly stated, you should always include a cover letter with your job application. You can elaborate on certain areas of your resume and highlight how you match each aspect of the job specification with previous work examples and achievements.
Most healthcare roles do require specific training. However, a large part of the training will include practical experience that will serve as excellent preparations for when you do apply for job roles.
Healthcare recruiters for different jobs will have specific needs when it comes to training, work experience, and qualifications. Use the posting for each job you apply for to tailor your resume to best fit what the job needs.
