Healthcare Resume Example (+ Skills for Healthcare Jobs)

Healthcare is a big industry, and it’s set to grow as the population ages.

The problem: these things are widely known and people are flocking to work in this field. To get a decent job that’s close to home and pays well, you need a healthcare resume that wows recruiters and gets you that interview.

In this guide:

• A healthcare resume template better than most.
• How to craft a strong summary or objective for healthcare resumes.
• A list of the key skills for resumes in healthcare industry.
• Expert tips and examples to help you write the perfect healthcare resume.

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Looking for a particular healthcare resume or to get into healthcare administration? See our guides:

• CNA Resume
• Student Nurse Resume
• LPN Resume
• Medical Billing Resume
• RN (Registered Nurse) Resume
• Nurse Practitioner Resume
• Patient Care Technician Resume
• Phlebotomist Resume
• Caregiver Resume
• Paramedic / EMT Resume
• Administrative Assistant Resume
• New Grad Nursing (RN) Resume
• Nursing Resume—Nurse Resume
• ICU (Critical Care) Nurse Resume
• Pharmacist Resume
• Respiratory Therapist Resume
• Occupational Therapy Resume
• Physical Therapy Resume
• Dental Assistant Resume Sample
• Dentist Resume
• Medical Resume
• Medical Assistant Resume
• Medical School Resume
• Physician Assistant Resume
• Medical-Surgical Nurse Resume

Healthcare Resume Template

Here’s how to make resume writing for healthcare professionals that much easier and more effective:

1. Choose the Best Healthcare Resume Format for You

As a healthcare professional, you know that your daily operational activities have to follow standardized procedures. The same applies to writing a resume for healthcare jobs. 

Recruiters expect to get a clean, neat, and easy-to-follow document so make sure to follow these resume formatting guidelines.

Healthcare Resume Format

• Use the reverse-chronological resume format—it’s a resume style recruiters expect to see.
• Go with a professional-looking resume font like a Noto or Arial in 11–12 pt.
• Use one-inch margins in your resume and space everything out nicely.
• Limit the resume length to just one page. Got more than 20 years’ experience? Then go to a two-page resume instead.
• Include at least these resume sections: Header, Summary/Objective, Experience, Education, and Skills. Make good use of extra sections, too.
• Use a modern resume template. To make sure it’s ATS-friendly, avoid infographics.

There’s no contest between PDF and *.docx when it comes to preserving resume formatting. Always check if the job ad requires something other than PDF, though. Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) can for the most part handle PDF just fine, but always make sure a lesser format isn’t required all the same.

2. Write an Attention-Grabbing Healthcare Resume Objective or Summary

Not sure how to start your resume? Do it with an attention-grabbing resume profile that makes it difficult not to keep reading.

Got some healthcare experience under your belt? Use a resume summary. Bolster it with healthcare achievements.

Include the following in your healthcare resume profile:

1. One adjective (efficient, reliable, passionate)
2. Job title (Healthcare Recruiter, Healthcare Executive, etc.)
3. Years of experience (5+, 7+)
4. What you can do to help (improve patient-care processes)
5. Shortened versions of 2–3 of your most impressive achievements (Employee of the Month 17 months running, maintained satisfaction rating of 97%)

These career resume summary examples show how:

Healthcare Resume Summary

Entrepreneurial healthcare administrator with 6+ years’ experience working in busy clinic and hospital contexts. Seeking to bring new efficiencies and levels of service quality to the Marshall Clinic Health System. At Prism Health, improved efficiency of processes by 23% and increased retention rate from 67% to 78%.

Caring healthcare administrator with 6 years’ experience. Seeking to broaden horizons and gain new specialist knowledge at Marshall Clinic Health System. At Prism Health, improved efficiency of processes and increased retention rate.

Same candidate, same experience—huge difference.

The first example is concrete: It includes verifiable facts and backs them up with numbers. It’s also focused on what the candidate can do for the employer—because employers don’t care about what you hope to gain from working for them.

What if you don’t have any healthcare experience? Write an objective for your healthcare resume, and gesture towards your skills through non-healthcare achievements.

These resume objective examples show do vs don’t:

Healthcare Resume Objective

Entrepreneurial Master of Healthcare Administration graduate with 2+ years’ experience working as a healthcare administrative assistant in a busy clinic. Seeking to apply proven organizational skills at the Marshall Clinic Health System. At Covant Health, recognized as the employee of the quarter for providing outstanding service to patients, Q1 2017.

Inexperienced MHA graduate looking to gain broad experience with the Marshall Clinic Health System.

The first example covers the bases of being concrete and quantified.

It’s focused on what the candidate can do for the employer, experience or no. Also note how the resume profile mentions the prospective employer's name. This is important when writing an ATS resume—and you do want to write an ATS resume, given that many healthcare facilities use applicant tracking systems to triage job candidates and filter out irrelevant applications.

Expert Hint: Write your healthcare resume profile last of all. Having job descriptions and a list of skills to put on a resume ready to choose from will make a world of difference.

3. Create the Perfect Healthcare Job Descriptions and Skills Section

Once your healthcare resume is ready, you want recruiters to call you and ask: “Are you free for an interview?”, not: "Have you handled this and that before?"

So make your resume work history section a catalog of past achievements.

How to write job descriptions for healthcare workers:

1. Look back over the job ad.
2. Take note of any healthcare skills and duties mentioned there.
3. Brainstorm times you’ve used those skills to bring value to your employer.
4. Write resume bullet points that describe those times and quantify the benefits that went to your employer.

These healthcare resume examples show how:

Healthcare Job Descriptions for a Resume

Healthcare Administrator

Prism Health

2017–present

• Restructured clinical team to improve efficiency of processes by 23%.
• Completed change in associate culture and increased retention rate from 67% to 78%.
• Implemented electronic ADL documentation system that will save $200,000+ in lost productivity over 5 years.
• Transitioned to a new nurse call system, cutting 20+ seconds off each call.

Healthcare Administrator

Prism Health

2017–present

• Restructured clinical team.
• Completed change in associate culture.
• Implemented electronic ADL documentation system.
• Transitioned to a new nurse call system.

This is what resume achievements look like in action. They prove you had impact in your previous positions.

But what if you’re writing an entry-level healthcare resume?

Use accomplishments from non-healthcare jobs and any volunteer work you’ve done.

One more thing—include a resume skills section. Be selective about what healthcare skills you include—make sure you cover what the job ad mentions first and foremost.

The skills for a healthcare resume below are just examples. Make sure you go with what the job ad requires and stick to skills you actually posses (soft and technical skills).

Healthcare Skills for Resume 

Hard Skills

• Management of material resources
• Management of financial resources
• Management of personnel resources
• Staff evaluation
• Budgeting
• Training
• Recruitment
• LibreOffice (including Writer, Calc, and Impress)
• Microsoft Office (including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• NDCMedisoft
• Computer skills

Soft Skills

• Interpersonal skills
• Communication skills
• Teamwork skills
• Organizational skills
• Prioritization skills
• Assessment skills
• Detail orientation
• Critical thinking skills
• Diligence
• Customer service
• Management skills
• Time management skills

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4. Make Sure Your Education Is a Reason to Hire You

Most healthcare jobs require a formal education—So make your education section clear and concise.

List degrees (with majors), school names, and years attended or graduation years.

But then:

Add bullet points that point to key healthcare skills.

This healthcare resume example shows how:

Healthcare Resume Examples—Education

Master of Healthcare Administration, University of Illinois, Chicago

2015–2017

• Used electives to specialize in hospital administration.
• Worked as healthcare administrative assistant while studying.

BS in Healthcare Administration, Loyola University, Chicago

2011–2015

• Pursued a passion for business accounting coursework.
• Maintained a 3.92 GPA.

Short on experience? 

Include additional bullet points on projects, relevant coursework, and accomplishments.

Expert Hint: Latin honors or GPA can also be included in a resume. The trick? Use them only if you lack relevant experience. Otherwise, it’s a waste of space.

5. Dose Your Healthcare Resume With Added Sections

If you want your healthcare resume to stand out from the crowd, then sticking to the standard resume sections of profile, work history, education, and skills is not the way to do it.

Keep those sections, but add one or two extras:

• Additional Activities
• Foreign Languages
• Classes Taken
• Awards
• Hobbies and Personal Interests
• Volunteering on a Resume
• Certifications
• Professional Resume References

These two healthcare resume examples show good vs not good:

Healthcare Resume Examples—Extra Sections

Certifications

• First Aid, CPR, AED, American Red Cross

Professional Memberships

• Illinois Health Care Association

Certifications

• First Aid, etc.

Interests

• Listening to true crime podcasts
• Repainting antique toys
• Collecting Fabergé eggs

Why is the second one so bad? Most of all, it includes things that are simply not relevant to the job at hand. Hobbies and interests are a great addition to a resume, but they—and everything else—have to be relevant to the job ad.

One last thing:

Have you been asked not to include a cover letter?

If not, then you’ll need a healthcare cover letter to go with your resume. Writing a cover letter is much easier when you have a resume ready before your eyes. Good luck!

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Key Points

For a healthcare resume that gets more interviews than ever:

• Use the sample healthcare resume given up top. It’s as clean and logical as modern hospital design.
• Put healthcare achievementsin your summary/objective, work history, and education sections to show what value you’re able to bring to an employer.
• Choose the right healthcare skills. The right skills are those that are mentioned in the job ad and that you’ve actually demonstrated in the workplace.
• Write a healthcare cover letter. It’s no small thing to write a good one, but it’s also not optional if you want to be considered for your dream job.

Anything else you need to know about writing a healthcare resume or entry-level healthcare resume? Leave us a comment down below and we’ll be happy to get back to you.

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