While the healthcare industry is projected to grow much faster than many other U.S. industries, with spending increasing by 5.5% in the past year alone, those who take advantage of the trend by pursuing medical careers will still need to stand out from the competition in order to find employment. The resume represents the entrance to any professional world, including healthcare, and any resumes that are too short or too not informative enough will be quickly tossed out. Carrington College has put together the following infographic, “Career Guide: Perfecting Your Medical Resume,” to help you improve your resume accurately and effectively.
(See full infographic at the end of the article)
Important Issues
Hiring departments may never see more than a single resume in order to make a decision on qualified candidates. Most companies will spend only a few minutes on any given candidate, with most stating that they may reject one or advance one in as little as five minutes. Nine out of ten companies report frequently finding errors in resumes, and that these errors prevent the company from deciding to offer an interview. What’s more, one in five companies expect a cover letter with a resume, or else they will assume the application was an error and move on.
Nine out of ten companies report frequently finding errors in resumes, and these errors prevent the company from deciding to offer an interview
Standing Out
By far the most important thing that any individual can do to improve a resume is to update the information with chronological organization. This can include adding specific dates to employment periods, or ordering particular projects by completion in order to demonstrate proficiency. Then, use bulleted lists to emphasize particular skills (such as computers, technical training, publications, and so forth) so that employers can quickly scan a resume and be able to see the highlights of your time in the workforce. Finally, have industry-specific details: when applying for healthcare jobs, describe your experience in the healthcare industry, and how your talents can help a healthcare company succeed.
Individual Expectations
Consider making individual resumes for each specific position that you apply to. Nine out of ten companies recommend individual resume creation. For some job openings, such as physicians, researchers, and educators, it may be more helpful to send a curriculum vitae, which demonstrates your educational and research accomplishments. For traditional office postings, however, like managers and staff and administrators, a resume describing your experience and skills will serve much better.
Keywords
Some hiring departments use computer algorithms to search through dozens of different resumes and find ones that closely match their job description. For that reason, use the keywords found in a job posting (such as “grantwriting,” “caseload,” or “government agencies”) whenever possible in order to adhere to these search filters. If possible, include keywords in previous positions to demonstrate how your experience is directly connected to their current work.
Interview
Once you have the opportunity, it’s time to prepare for the interview. Despite working in healthcare, never show up for an interview in scrubs: wear a business suit and dress shoes and do your best to appear well-groomed. Remember to show up at least ten minutes prior to the interview and bring pen and paper to take notes.
