After completing your health care training, you may feel armed and ready to land the perfect job. However, the steps towards starting your new job require an eloquent, successful health care resume. This infographic, “Career Guide: Perfecting Your Medical Resume,” created by Carrington College, can help you learn the ins and outs of creating a great medical resume.
Speed and Accuracy
Most employers make a decision whether to pursue a candidate for hire in less than five minutes after reading a resume. Up to 90 percent of employers have reported finding errors, and 93 percent believe these errors negatively impact a decision to interview a potential candidate. Your resume should include the following three primary characteristics:
- Chronological organization
- Bullet points
- Industry-specific formatting and keywords
Tips for Creating Your Health Care Resume
- Determine if you need to create a resume or curriculum vitae (CV). A CV is typically used for doctors, nurse educators, academics, and researchers. A resume is commonly used for clinical positions, management, administration, and office staff.
- Include industry-specific keywords in your resume. Do not assume the person looking at your resume will have a similar education as you, so your keywords should be easy to understand and be clearly related to the job description. Try to avoid using medical terms when a non-medical term will suffice, explains Medical Professionals. Additionally, avoid keyword stuffing, or inserting keywords throughout your resume for no reason. Some automated keyword-checking software may see this negatively.
- Explain your industry experience in detail.
- Include experience in non-health care positions. For example, include work history in customer service positions if you are applying for a job where you will interact with people.
- Include unique assets, such as being able to speak other languages and familiarity with computer programs.
- Write a personal statement. This is your opportunity to tell potential employers why you want the position. Take great care in writing this statement.
- Include information about your education, certifications, and professional organization memberships in your resume.
- Proofread your resume for accuracy and errors.
The Interview
Although you will be working in a medical setting, never wear scrubs to your interview. Scrubs are a uniform, and they may give the appearance that you have just gotten off of work somewhere else. 74 percent of employers want you to bring a copy of your resume to the interview. 50 percent of employers expect you to send a thank-you note by email after your interview.
Social Media
If you have questionable information, pictures, or statements on your social media accounts, you need to edit your pages. Up to 91 percent of employers search social media for more information about potential candidates prior to an interview, explains Forbes Magazine.
By creating a successful medical resume, preparing for your interview, and cleaning up your social media, you can improve your chances of being hired in the medical field.
