Crafting a standout public health resume is an essential part of job hunting. A candidate’s resume can determine whether they receive a job interview. To make a good first impression, job seekers must catch an employer’s attention with their resume. Resumes should clearly outline how the professional’s experience, accomplishments, and skills make them an ideal candidate for the position.
Resumes are especially important for public health professionals, since public health is a competitive field with many qualified candidates. Job seekers can stand out by highlighting accomplishments and special skills on their resume.
A resume is a snapshot of a candidate’s professional skills and accomplishments. The organization of resumes vary, but all resumes should include more than simple work history. A resume should highlight aspects that make a professional the best candidate for a position. The three most common types of resume formats are reverse-chronological, functional, and combination. The best type of public health resume depends on the individual’s work history and the position for which they are applying. For example, an effective entry-level public health resume looks different than that of a mid- or late-career professional.
Collapse All Expand AllThis common type of resume presents the professional’s work history from newest to oldest experience. This type of resume is beneficial for individuals whose work history is in the same field, who have no gaps in their work history, and who want to illustrate their progressing career. Candidates with large gaps in their work history or who change jobs frequently should choose a different format.
A functional resume organizes work experience by relevance, regardless of when and where the experiences took place. This type of resume highlights the candidate’s most relevant skills and hides gaps in their work history. A functional resume is ideal for professionals who are changing fields but is not typically best for students or entry-level professionals, who usually lack experience.
This type of resume combines aspects of functional and reverse-chronological resumes. A combination resume typically begins with a summary of the candidate’s skills and qualifications and includes a section listing work experience in reverse-chronological order. A combination resume can highlight a well-developed set of skills.
Job descriptions typically include both required and preferred qualifications. Required qualifications refer to skills that applicants must hold to be considered for the position. Preferred qualifications are skills an employer hopes to find in a candidate. Lacking preferred qualifications does not disqualify job seekers, but those with the preferred qualifications are at an advantage.
However, candidates with the preferred qualifications are not automatically selected. Sometimes, employers choose candidates without preferred qualifications who have more experience or who better fit the company’s culture. Candidates should include on their resume the required and preferred qualifications they meet. Although meeting required qualifications is important, job seekers can apply for positions for which they lack some of the required qualifications.
A resume should include the candidate’s entire educational background, including degrees and training. For individuals who hold a master’s in public health, resumes should focus on education. Indicate your specific degree and your minor or concentration, if applicable. Candidates who wrote a thesis or dissertation should include its title, and applicants with a strong GPA can include it. Also note any academic awards. Individuals currently enrolled in an academic program can indicate that their degree is pending. Resume experts recommend omitting graduation dates to avoid age discrimination.
List relevant public health experience in reverse-chronological order. Include job titles, employment dates, employment locations, and job descriptions. Be specific about each position’s job duties, using positive adjectives and action verbs. Focus on your accomplishments, and highlight ways that you went above and beyond the job description. Candidates should emphasize job duties most relevant to the position for which they are currently applying. Be as concise and clear as possible, describing job duties using bulleted lists, rather than full sentences. Job seekers can also include unpaid public health internships, practicums, and field experiences in this section. Some professionals also include volunteer work in the experience section.
A resume should include a section listing special skills that supplement professional experience. Emphasize skills the employer requires or prefers. The type of skills commonly in demand for public health positions include those related to communication, technology, teamwork, languages, and critical thinking. Candidates can include their level of proficiency in each skill, if appropriate.
A public health resume should include public health licenses or certifications. Rather than using acronyms, list the full name of each certification. Include license numbers and expiration dates, if applicable. Professionals may also indicate how long they have held the license or certification. Those waiting to receive a license should note that it is pending.
Mention any public health-related awards, including those received from school, work, or volunteer organizations. Include the organization, place, and date for each award. This section should also include major accomplishments, such as successfully launching a public health initiative, and memberships in professional public health organizations, such as the American Public Health Association.
Include any volunteer work that is relevant to the public health field. Do not include volunteer positions unrelated to public health. If you lack extensive paid work experience in public health, consider including volunteer positions in the general experience section.
Students and recent graduates often lack paid work experience in the public health field. These candidates can stand out by focusing on their education, licenses, skills, and qualifications. Draw attention to these sections by listing them above work experience. Also include work experiences that are not entirely related to public health. Clarify how these unrelated jobs involved skills relevant to a public health position, emphasizing transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, analytical skills, organization, and attention to detail.
Job seekers can also list volunteer work experience, which many employers recognize to be as valuable as paid work experience. Candidates should demonstrate that, even if they do not have significant paid work experience in the field, they have education, relevant and transferable skills, and a strong work ethic.
Today, hiring organizations of all sizes use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to pre-filter resumes. An ATS is a resume-reading robot that scans resumes, looking for keywords and key phrases. After the ATS identifies the seemingly most qualified resumes, a human reviews them. Organizations that receive large numbers of resumes use these systems to save time. Although an ATS can help companies sort resumes more quickly, the system can negatively impact applicants. Job seekers who do not include the exact keywords and key phrases the ATS is programmed to look for may be disqualified, even if they are very qualified candidates.
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