Creating Your Resume Your resume is your ticket to the interview. Depending on your educational background, experience and career goals, you may want to craft a Curriculum Vitae. See How to Create a CV (Curriculum Vitae) more information. Both CVs and resumes are a summary of your education, experiences, skills, achievements, knowledge, accomplishments, licensure and strengths. These documents are your marketing tool to sell or advertise yourself to a potential employer. Begin by gathering your thoughts, by considering your education, work experiences and your accomplishments. A resume should be more than just a historical account. Think about your specific healthcare-related skills: assessment, diagnostic, intervention and evaluation. Review the skills you’ve developed, your accomplishments and the activities in which you’ve been involved. As you think about these and your past jobs, review the list of action verbs and personal characteristics on the following pages. These should help you describe activities and accomplishments. Include specific results and outcomes on your document by using such phrases as “benefited the team by...,” or “improved patient care.” These kinds of statements show more than just your responsibilities on a particular job. Keep in mind the following guidelines for putting together your RESUME:
Create a 1 page resume, 2 pages if necessary
Stress your inventory of readily transferable (these are skills that were developed in one setting but can be applied to other settings) and highly desirable job skills such as interpersonal communication, critical thinking, clinical decision making, and the ability to work as a team member
Highlight the skills and experiences most relevant to the position which you are seeking, your achievements and results
Use bullets, bolding, indentation, and capitals as well as positive action words
Check grammar and spelling carefully-proofread!!
Make sure that your resume is neat and visually appealing
Make sure to use resume quality paper when printing the resume
Include a phone number with an outgoing message that is concise and professional
Include your e-mail address and remember to check for messages daily
Include your clinical experiences and preceptorships
List most recent and relevant experience, not necessarily your entire employment history
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