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A medical assistant works in a hospital or other medical facility and is charged with dealing with clinical and administrative tasks. Sometimes, this means taking patients histories or reordering stock, and at other times it could as simple as answering the phone. If you are hoping to look for a job in this field, then you need a medical assistant resume that will distinguish you from other, one that will really help you stand out from the pack.
When you are putting your resume together, remember the best format is simple. Keep it short. All you need is a cover letter, an introduction to who you are and what you have done, both in schooling and in work, and your special skills.
Medical Assistant Resume Cover Letter
In your cover letter, be sure to talk a little bit about who you are and what abilities you have that will make you good at this particular job. A cover letter serves as a quick informal summary of your resume, so mention a bit about yourself and special skills you have. In the case of a medical assistant this could include such things as having worked in an administrative position before, of having very good organizational skills. These are the kinds of things that employers want to hear. Remember though that your cover letter has to relate to your job skills, so even if you love surfing or knitting, this is not the place to put that information.
Your cover letter is also a reflection of your personality, so be sure to let your personality shine. But, keep it formal. The person who reads your resume will be your potential employer, not your buddy, so don’t let any jargon creep in, and keep the language very polite.
What Should Be Included In Your Resume?
A medical assistant resume is made up of a few sections. The first section is the personal information. In this section, you will need to include all of the things that make up your personal information that is relevant, for example your name, contact details, including phone number, address and email address and anything personal that may be relevant to the job. For example, if you have a driver’s license and a car, this is the place to put that down. If you are married and have dependents, or if you don’t, put that down too.
Unlike typical resumes where you would list your education and experience next, a medical assistant resume has to have an objective. When you list your objectives, make sure that they relate to the job at hand. The objective is the quickest summary of your skills that you can put together, so it may include a bit about your personality and a little about how you work. If you are very good with people and you like organizing events, you can put it in here, but keep it short. Your objective should be no longer than two or three lines.
Next, you will want to include your skills. This can be listed in bullet points and should include any skills you have learned on the job that will benefit your potential employer. If you have worked as a medical assistant before, you should include that here, as well as the number of years of experience that you have. If you’re good with computers or you have a good knowledge of a certain medical system, include that. You should also include such things as how you deal with customers and how well you work in a team. These are all skills that your potential employer will be looking for.
The next section in your medical assistant resume should be your professional history. You can list this using headings and bullet points too, but keep it to the point and don’t go on and on. In this section, you will list all of your work experience, so start with the job you currently hold. Put your job title in first, followed by the place you work. Then add the dates that you have worked there. Next, you will need to list your duties and the skills you learned while you worked there. This could include things like taking medical histories and doing the initial work up on a patient, for example, taking their pulse and temperature.
It could also include sending information the laboratory and filing x-rays, bills and keeping the appointment book. You may also have been the one who was responsible for keeping instruments clean and sterilized or ensuring that clients’ bills were sent out on time. All of these are medical assistant duties and if this encompasses part of your job, then you need to put it down. Keep listing the places you have worked and your duties until you get to the years in which you were a student.
Next, you will need to put down your educational details. This includes your high school and where you studied to become a medical assistant. Don’t forget to mention the places you got your qualifications too. Last, but not least, you will need to include your references. Some people prefer to add that their references are available on demand, but it actually a show of good faith to put them on your medical assistant resume.
Once you are done with your document, be sure to spell-check and proofread it, to ensure that there are no errors. Errors reflect badly on you and if you want to make a good impression that lasts, be sure your resume is neat and looks good.
Tips For The Best Resume
There are some things that good resume writers do that other may not know about. These are the things that really distinguish a good resume from an average one, and make employers keep you at the top of their minds. Also, they are really just good practice and things you may want to consider when putting together just about any document. These include:
- Always make sure your name and contact details are on your resume and that they are large and easy to find. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a great CV and then having to hunt for the candidate’s name and phone number. Your contact details must include your full names, address, phone number and email address. If you use a Skype or messenger name, you can include it here too. Your objective should be to make it as easy as possible for the employer to get hold of you, should they choose to do so.
- Next, make sure that you adapt your medical assistant resume to the job at hand. If you see in the job specification that the employer is looking for someone who is great with computers, be sure to bring your computer skills to the fore. This doesn’t mean you should lie and say you are better with computers than you are. It simply means that because the employer is looking for someone who is good with computers, you should be more forward with your computer skills.
- Be sure to research the company you are applying to. If you find certain keywords from the company website that appeal to you, use them. These will show that you are willing to do the hard work to get the job done.
- When you are putting your resume together, be sure you know your objective. What role do you want to play in this organization? Once you have answered this question, it will become easier to write all of the other things in your resume, since you will have a clear idea of the type of career you want.
- Because of the job requirements, be sure to put emphasis on the administrative skills that you have. Remember that your administrative skills will make your employer’s life easier, so add in anything from answering the phone to bookkeeping, computer skills and even medical coding. All of these may be skills that make an employer more interested in hiring you, as opposed to anyone else.
- Be sure to add in any clinical skills you have too. This includes dealing with patients, taking patient histories and vital signs, first aid and preparing medications. Though these are not the typical skills of an administrator, they will be the skills that relate to this specific job, and thus, that make it easier for an employer to hire you.
- Be sure to write down all of your experience, including any volunteer experience if you have it. Potential employers love to see candidates who are willing to put in extra time to distinguish themselves.
- Also important is specifying which types of facilities you have worked in. if you have worked in hospitals and clinics but never in a doctor’s office, write it down. There is also a big difference between having worked in a big practice and in a smaller one, so add your information about that. If the job requires someone who is used to a big practice and you have done this type of work, add that in.
- If you received any honors or awards when you were studying, include that too. This shows your intelligence and your ability to work hard to a potential employer, and could be the cherry on top of the employment cake.
- When providing references, provide more than one. Adding in a teacher, a past employer or someone who runs a facility you volunteer at as a reference is perfectly acceptable.
- Also, be sure update your resume on a regular basis. There is nothing worse than seeing a resume that is dated and old. How will a potential employer be able to learn more about who you are now, if you resume only speaks about what you were like five years ago? Be sure to update your resume regularly, even if you are not looking for a job, so that it is always current and ready to go.
- Don’t overdo it. Your resume should be short and to the point, so while it may be tempting to go on for pages and pages about your skills, resist that temptation. Remember that the employer doesn’t have a lot of time and probably has to go through hundreds of resumes, so give them the information they need quickly and then stop.
Becoming a medical assistant is a job that is not for everyone. Not only does it require a degree of medical knowledge, but it requires a certain personality type too. A medical assistant must be organized and efficient, and great with people, and this should be reflected in your resume.
A medical assistant resume is almost like a business card that does your talking for you. If you want to make a good impression and get a job, you need to ensure that the language it speaks is the same language your potential employer speaks. We’re not talking about Spanish or French here, but rather the language of business. Let your resume be the reflection of yourself that you want to present to an employer. Be sure to be formal and polite without seeming standoffish and cold.
Let your resume be a reflection of who you are, but don’t overdo it. You need to remember that you are probably not the only person applying for a job as a medical assistant, and thus your resume needs to be the one that stands out, and makes the employer think about you and what you can do for their business.
In summary, check out what is required of the medical assistant job that you are applying for and then tailor your resume to suit that. Be sure to put your best foot forward and tell the employer about your skills and what makes you different to all of the others. Include some of your personality in the resume but keep it short so that your potential employer doesn’t have to go through reams and reams of paper. And most importantly be yourself. Your medical assistant resume is a reflection of who you are.