Resume Tips

 

For those trying to break into acute care:

Try to emphasize the skills you have that apply to acute care: the acuity of patients you’ve seen, lines you’ve managed, patient population, working with a medical team, any internships or volunteer experience you’ve had in acute care, and any continuing education courses you’ve taken.

In many OT schools, they recommend you ask about mentoring opportunities to show your commitment to growth. I view mentoring as something that benefits you rather than the hospital you’re applying to. Don’t get me wrong, it is something you should ask about because

Mentoring is important in establishing a good foundation as an acute care clinician and is paramount to safely transitioning to acute care.

However, what most rehab managers are looking for is someone who can quickly onboard so he/she can quickly contribute to the staffing needs of the team, not someone who needs months of mentorship. I would take continuing education courses in acute care, such as #this one#, and emphasize your commitment to self-education to quickly onboard. Demonstrate some of the knowledge you have after taking the course and ask about the policies specific to that hospital to showcase your knowledge.

-specifics in triaging patients

-productivity requirements

-needs of the team - what days they more staff to work - any special considerations on start of the day (like starting your day later to catch the PM evaluations) - specifics of communication with other members of the care team - common diagnoses and surgeriesj they see

Try to be as accommodating as possible. As someone without any acute care experience, you will have to convince the hiring manager that training you will be successful, smooth, and relatively quick. And it will be worth it to hire your instead of someone else because your schedule is flexible enough to provide the needed coverage.

In terms of formatting:

There are three important characteristics to strive for in your resume:

1.) Easy to read and pleasant to look at

Use nice looking, easy to read fonts with most important points listed first. Make sure to emphasize important points and headers with increased font size, bolding, italics or underlining.

2.) Sell your skills

Most important points first. Make sure to bold information that is your best selling point.

• 1.) Name, contact info
• OT license number and expiration
• BLS and CPR expiration, OT graduation information
• 2.) Clinical experience from most recent to least. Include dates worked, setting, population, pertinent certifications and skills, assessments used, job duties and documentation software used. Buzzwords are a plus despite what anyone might say.
• 3.) Continuing education courses. Name of course, short description, and date taken.
• 4.) Membership in any organizations, NBCOT etc.

3.) Concise

Don’t be too wordy. Get across the most important points that makes you stand apart from other applicants.

Don’t copy and paste job duties even though they may be similar between jobs. I recommend you state these points in your most recent job and only briefly mention them in subsequent positions. It’s more important to highlight what was unique about each position. Resume readers have limited attention spans too!

Here is a sample resume: