medical assistant resume

A Medical Assistant position is a vital role that operates in hospitals, doctor offices and urgent care clinics. While many healthcare experts specialize in one field, Medical Assistants can work in many different aspects of the industry and many have a diverse skill set that make them unique in the industry. That being said, many pursue a Medical Assistant career as an exciting and rewarding position. However, given the competitive nature of the role and the schooling needed, obtaining a career as a Medical Assistant isn’t easy. To put your best foot forward as you pursue a career in the field, ensuring your resume is top-of-the-line can improve your chances of landing your dream job. Here is the anatomy of a healthy Medical Assistant resume.

Medical Assistant Resume

While understanding your accomplishments and skills is easy, knowing how to effectively put them on paper is another story. With hundreds of applicants applying for medical assistant jobs, you must ensure your resume is free of errors to improve your chances of landing the role.

The 6 Second Test

In the past, resumes have been on white paper with black type. Today, you want it to stand out. According to Glassdoor, hiring managers and recruiters spend six seconds reading a resume. six seconds! It should have a clean and easy to read design. Is it organized? What about formatting? If it’s not easy to follow, it’s going to hit the “NO” pile. Your objective should clearly be defined. It should look professional. Color can make your resume stand out, but only where appropriate. Maybe a single dark green or blue line below your name or down the middle to clearly separate the relevant sections.

Separate Sections

Once you’ve passed the six-second test, you want to separate each header/title into clear sections. As mentioned above, you can use a single-colored line to separate them. If you have large, bulky paragraphs, your resume probably won’t stand out. You could also consider utilizing bulleted lists. These make it simple to include all the necessary info without the need for big paragraphs.

Contact Information

The second most important thing to state on your resume is your contact information. How is the hiring manager supposed to reach you to schedule an interview? Be sure to put your contact information near the header. And please, please don’t forget your name at the very top!

An Excellent Objective

It may be surprising, but one of the most important aspects of a Medical Assistant resume, or any resume for that matter, is the objective. You can section it as a “Professional Profile.” It should be at the very top under your name. These should be a catchy introduction that grabs the attention of the hiring manager. This will take you the longest to write if you put some thought into it, and you should. It doesn’t hurt to do some research here, but make sure to tailor it to you and what unique qualifications you’re bringing to the table. This is a summary of you. Make it a good one.

Highlight Strengths

Many resumes fail because they don’t effectively focus on the strengths of the job candidate. Resume success requires you to understand you’re selling yourself. Therefore, you must ensure that you label what makes you unique and what makes you the best candidate for the specific role. Show off those skills – don’t make the hiring manager hunt it down.

Experience

Here you will want to include all relevant work experience, even if it was lifeguarding at the local pool while attending school. Tailor it to fit the job you’re applying for. Lifeguarding could be well suited for a Medical Assistant! You just need to point this out. CPR certified? Saved people’s lives? How convenient that a Medical Assistant can do those things too! If there are gaps in your employment, be sure you have a logical explanation. Be ready to talk about it in the interview: you were attending school, personal or family complications, etc. If you don’t have any work experience because you’re fresh out of school, leave off the work experience section altogether and list courses that are applicable to the job.

Medical Assistant Program at CCNN

Medical Assistant jobs are in high demand, crafting a top-notch resume can get you one step closer to obtaining the position you’ve always wanted. CCNN wants you to succeed. CCNN is here to help. Have questions about the anatomy of a healthy Medical Assistant resume, career placement or our Medical Assistant program? Contact CCNN today at 775-241-4445 for more information.

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