Creating a resume as a new graduate seems simple, right? That's what I thought too, until I sat down to make mine. Thankfully our program helped us with this by having someone come in and give us a lecture on how to make resumes, which helped me get started, but I was still scrambling for the best way to present myself as professional.
Since some of you requested this, today I'm sharing what all I included on my resume and other "optional" sections that can also be included. I am no expert at making resumes and I will state that this is my first "professional" resume in the real world so please bear that in mind as you read this post. All I want to do is give you a strong backbone for your resume. If you haven't read my tips for interviews as a new PA, be sure to read this post. Ok let's get to it.
Required Sections
Header
I included my name, address, phone number and email address. We were told not to include our school email address; rather share your gmail or hotmail email as many people may see that you're still in school and not even bother looking at the rest of your resume. Make sure your email address is appropriate to be read by your potential future employer.
Education
As a new graduate, this was the most relevant information so I listed first it in my resume. List your PA program first, even if you have not graduated yet (be sure to include your graduation month and year), followed by your other degrees from most recent to oldest. I included the name of the university, the city in which I attended it, the degree I received, and when I graduated. There is no need to include your GPA or any education that did not count towards you becoming a PA. Employers at this point only want to know if you are board certified or not and what degrees got you here.
Professional certificates and memberships
Since I started applying to jobs before I graduated, I present this information as shown below. After I graduated and got my certification and license, I changed the status to passed, active, etc. respectively.
Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam - August 2018
TN license - Anticipated Fall 2018
ACLS, BLS, PALS certification - May 2017 - current
You can also include your AAPA membership if you have it (I did not include it because I was flat broke and did not want to pay for it yet. Memberships are not required so dont feel obligated to pay for it just to include it in your resume. But if you would like to to fluff up your resume by all means go for it. It honestly didn't stop me from getting interviews but you do you!
Clinical Rotations
This is a good place to list your rotations, the rotation site and location, and the name of the preceptor.
Pro tip: when you are applying to a certain specialty, oh let's say the ER, do them a favor and list your ER rotation at the top your list. This makes it convenient for your interviewer as they can see the most relevant information at the top and don't have to go looking for it. It's the little things that count and make you stand out. ;)
Clinical Experience/Proficiencies
I included the procedures I've done and observed, interpretation of the various imaging I had seen, and also the conditions I've seen and help treat while on rotations. I also had a light bulb moment towards the tail end of my job search to list the number of patients I had seen during clinicals as a way to show future employers that I do have some clinical experience (even if as a student). Here I also shared the EMR systems that I have used while on rotations as it can give you a leg up in terms of training if they're considering to hire you.
Professional Experience
I did not have any medical experience prior to PA school but if you do, this is where you can list your CNA, EMT, etc. experience. I ended up including my tutoring experience during my undergraduate years, which looking back on it now I find it irrelevant, but oh well.
Volunteer/Community service
This shows that you are involved in your community and do more than just study your brains out all day. I included my philanthropy chair experience of organizing health fairs during PA school, volunteer work in the ER and Cath lab as a pre-PA.
About me
I wrote a snippet about myself to give them a little glimpse of my personality. This is absolutely in the optional section as you don't HAVE to do it.
References
I would strongly suggest reaching out to three preceptors/professors or previous employers (if medical) before you list their information in your resume. All three of my references were my clinical preceptors. I included their names, location of where they worked, their phone number (office or cell depending on their preference), and email address. Do not write "available upon request" because it may reflect poorly upon you that you were not able to get people to vouch for you.
Optional sections
ObjectiveI honestly don't think anyone reads these anymore or finds them necessary. Especially as a PA, they already know what your objective is.
Publications
Most people don't have anything to list in this section so it's completely okay to not include it. The only time you'd include this for a PA job resume is if your article published in a medical publication or was related to medicine.
Award(s)
Again, not a vital part of your resume but if you have significant award(s) to list, go for it.
Langauges
There is always a need for bi-lingual medical professionals. If you do speak other languages, I'd include this, but you can leave it off if you don't.
My resume was 2 pages long. I would not recommend going longer than 2 pages because no one will read it, honestly. Keep it concise and only include the relevant information. If you can limit it to one page, even better! If you want, you can also combine the clinical experience and rotation sections together. I just separated them because that's how it made sense in my mind. I will leave the formatting up to you guys as that's a personal preference kind of thing.
I wish I could share my resume for you all to see but for privacy reasons I chose not to do that. I hope this will at least get you the foundation to build upon. If anyone wants me to look over any resumes for a second opinion, just shoot me an email and I'd be happy to give my feedback! Just keep in mind, I am NOT a professional resume creator or proof-reader nor have I ever hired anyone, but I can give you my two cents if you wish.
If you missed them, here is a recent post about job search FAQs asked by you all! Thank you for reading and good luck on your job search!
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