Psychology Resume Examples to Help You Succeed This Year

Updated August 24, 2022562

Psychologists analyze the human mind to help people understand their behavior. Learn how to highlight your knowledge as effectively as possible in a psychology resume.

Psychology Resume Example

The psychology field is vast, encompassing various jobs and credentials. As a psychology expert, you need to highlight the most important skills and experiences you have. Here’s how you can use a psychologist resume sample to write your professional resume.

Jobs That Can Use Psychology Resumes

The term psychology applies to a wide variety of jobs, such as the following:

Clinical psychologist
School psychologist
Private practice psychologist
Research assistant
Academia-based psychologist
Specialist in specific diagnoses, like autism or eating disorders
Psychotherapy expert

Structure of a Psychology Resume

Before you start writing your psychology resume, you need to choose a resume format. The three types of resume formats are: chronological, functional and combination. The chronological format emphasizes your work history and is ideal for candidates with 10 or more years of experience. The functional format highlights your skills rather than work experience and is best for entry-level job seekers or those with up to three years of experience. It’s also the best bet for career gaps. Finally, the combination format emphasizes both your skills and work experience. This format is ideal for those with three to nine years of experience and career changers. Once you’ve decided on the format that best fits your resume, you can start writing it.

Header

Your resume header should include your full name and contact information. This entails your phone number, email address and professional social media links, like your LinkedIn profile.

Resume summary or objective

The first section of your resume is a two to a three-sentence paragraph that outlines everything a recruiter needs to know. A resume summary is the best choice for people with 10 or more years of work experience. A resume objective is best if you have little to no experience, as it will showcase the skills and goals you want to bring to the table.

Skills

As a psychology expert, you need a strong skills section that includes both hard skills, which are technical skills you learned specifically to become a psychologist, and soft skills, which are general skills that you use in your daily life and are transferable, such as communication. Here are some bullet points to help you build your skills list:

Carrying out psychological evaluations
Creating treatment plans
Interpersonal skills
General health care knowledge
Knowledge in your niche (School psychology, specific diagnoses, etc.)
Crisis intervention knowledge

Different job titles may need different skills, so before you write up your skills list, look through the job posting and choose key terms you can add to your resume.

Work experience

Your work experience section can include up to 10 years of experience. List your jobs in reverse-chronological order, with the most recent jobs at the beginning. Remember to include the company name, location and your job duties.

Education

Your education section should include information about your professional knowledge, such as your master’s degree or your Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.). List your educational experience. Don’t include your high school diploma as a hiring manager will assume you graduated high school if you have higher education.

Certifications

You can list certifications and professional associations in this section. It’s most common to see the APA regardless of your specific niche, although you may also have certain certifications depending on the specifics of your position.

Psychology Resume Examples You Can Use

Before you write your resume, it’s a good idea to look at psychology resume samples to help you understand the most common resume formats and get the best writing tips. The ResumeNerd resume examples are a great starting point for this. When you’re ready to write, use the ResumeNerd resume builder to make it easier.

Tips for Creating Your Psychology Resume

Here are some additional tips to help you write your psychology resume:
- Don’t list your GPA on your resume. Instead, lean toward academic awards and honors, such as the cum laude or the Dean's List.
- Pay attention to the resume design you’re using. The resume templates at ResumeNerd make it easy to create a beautiful and eye-catching design.
- If you graduated from college less than 10 years ago, don’t be afraid to include your early work history. Internships and academic experience can be a great addition to your resume.

FAQ: Psychology Resume Examples

Do I need to submit a cover letter with psychology resumes?

It’s always a good idea to add a cover letter to your job application. A cover letter is a great way to explain where your skills come from, how you can use those skills as part of the team, and some of your existing accomplishments. You can use the ResumeNerd cover letter builder to make the process as easy as possible.

Can I get a psychology job with no experience?

If you don’t have much professional experience to include in your psychology resume, it’s best to look for other ways to fill out your work history section. This may consist of internship experience, academic experience and volunteer experience. Job seekers who are recent graduates should also emphasize their achievements in school, such as relevant coursework and diploma honors.

Is it a good idea to change up my psychology resume for every job posting?

Every time you apply to a new job posting, it’s a good idea to personalize your resume toward that particular job posting. Read through the job description and look for specific keywords that describe the skills the hiring manager wants their ideal candidate to have. Personalizing your resume makes it more likely that you’ll do well with an applicant tracking system (ATS), which will automatically grade your resume based on those keywords.

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About The Author

Cindi Cervone Carlson

Cindi Cervone Carlson is a Senior Vice President for Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Cindi is responsible for developing, delivering, and implementing a dynamic, world-class organization dedicated to delivering outplacement consulting, training, support, and executive coaching. Cindi started her career at Challenger as a client who had lost her job. Over the past nine years, she has risen from an entry-level, part-time professional to Senior Vice President.