Here at Comprehensive Therapy Consultants we read a TON of resumes because we are trusted by schools to always have the best SLP, OT, and PT candidates (head on over to our job listings page after reading this post). If you’d like to stay in touch with us for future job opportunities, go join our email list now! We are always searching for amazing candidates to show off to potential employers. We want to give you the best chance possible of landing your dream job, so this week, we are giving some tips to SLPs (the same ideas also apply to OTs and PTs) to spruce up your resume. Here are some things we look for when we scan a potential candidates resume:
- Put your credentials somewhere near the top if not right next to your name. This might sound obvious, but you would be surprised how many therapists don’t include this. We see it every day! We know you EARNED those credentials through blood, sweat, and tears in graduate school so show them off. This makes it easier for whoever is reading your resume to determine quickly if you are a viable candidate. At another company, an employee in HR might write you off if they’ve been told that a “CCC-SLP” or “CF-Y” candidate is a must and they don’t see it on your resume.
- State if you are ASHA certified as well as state certified. One of the first things an employer has to do before you’re hired is figure out if you have all of the necessary certifications. Go ahead and make it easier on them and confirm that you are indeed licensed and certified. If you do not have your license or certification but you’ve applied for it, list things like that too.
- List your most recent job first, working backwards or list the position that is most similar to the job you are applying for first. Always list your most relevant experience first if you have any. An employer wants to know if you can jump in and handle things on your own or need to mentor you through the process. Listing your most relevant experience first will let an employer know immediately that you are a good fit.
- List any notable continuing education training. Again, this might be obvious, but it’s still something that therapists leave out consistently! If you want to work with children with apraxia, it would be nice to know that you had that PROMPT training last summer. If you haven’t been certified but have had training, be sure to list that too. For example, if you aren’t certified in PROMPT but have had guidance in the PROMPT model and have used the method within your therapy sessions, make that distinction by saying you have been PROMPT trained but not certified.
- State your highest level of education closer to the top of your resume. We say “close to the top” because its an easy green flag for someone glancing at your resume to put you in the “to be interviewed” category. If it clearly states that you have your masters in speech, then who ever is looking at your resume will know immediately that you are a viable candidate. There are a lot of individuals out in the world looking for jobs and not all of them know that you need a masters degree to be a speech therapist. These individuals apply for jobs and speech therapy employers have to weed out the unqualified candidates quickly.
- List your references ahead of time. Seeing the statement “references upon request” can be interpreted as a red flag for some employers to think that maybe the applicant has been let go from another job or has bad blood with some of their previous employers. If you are trying to leave your current job and don’t want your current employer to know, list references of people from previous jobs and make the statement: “I am currently still employed by ABC Therapy and I respectfully request that you keep this resume confidential. Please do not contact my current employer.”
- Ditch the objective statement! Some resume generators on the web will include a place for you to write an objective statement (a statement of what you are looking for in a job). Our advice is to ditch this completely! If you are applying for a job that you really want and your objective statement doesn’t match up to the employers goals for their school or business, that’s a quick way to be written off in their mind as someone that is not a match for the job. We say just to ditch this kind of statement all together!
There you go! We really hope this helps as you start the job application process! Don’t forget to subscribe to our email list to stay up to date on job listings and other company news!
Comprehensive Therapy Consultants
*Ideas will apply to OT and PT candidates also!
[
