Veterinary Resumes

Candidates searching for veterinary employment will have the most success with a carefully composed resume.  Although outlooks are good for qualified professionals within the veterinary field, qualified candidates who do not effectively represent themselves and their skills will often be overlooked.  Hiring managers may be bombarded with numerous resumes, and only spend approximately ten seconds reviewing each.  If a resume is well composed, or unique enough to catch the employer’s eye, more time may be spent reviewing the page.  Due to the importance of a resume, candidates should take their time, investigate, and thoroughly prepare before beginning to compose a veterinary resume. 

There are three formats professionals may choose from when composing their veterinarian resume.  The most common format is the chronological resume, which focuses on candidates’ work history rather than skills, and lists all information in reverse chronological order (most recent listed first).  The combination format is often the best choice for professionals looking to make advancements in their field.  Candidates may choose to compose a functional or combination style resume instead, which are slightly more difficult to compose so they require additional planning and creativity.  Unlike the chronological format, Functional resumes are not designed around a candidates’ work history, which is helpful if candidates are inexperienced or have held numerous jobs in a relatively short amount of time.  These formats include much of the same information, but focus largely on skill, expertise, and qualifications, rather than previous employment. Functional resumes are not necessarily composed in chronological order, so they can be more difficult to read and decipher.  Combination resumes are a mixture of functional and chronological formats.  They focus on skills rather than employment history, but the information is listed in reverse chronological order. 

It is important for candidates to remember that resumes are designed to deliver a summary of past experiences, and not to act as an autobiography.  Resumes should be no longer than two pages, and font size should be 10-12 brief statements or complete thoughts are more effective than complete sentences when composing a resume; too much text may deter hiring professionals from reviewing the document.  An objective statement or summary is optional, but allows candidates to effectively communicate to employers their specific needs or wants out of a career, as well as inform the employer of the type of skills and knowledge they will bring to an organization.  These sections are most effective if they are a brief three to five sentence paragraph and should be a preview for the entire resume.
 
Veterinary candidates should review a variety of chronological, functional, and combination resumes before deciding which is right for their current needs.  Resumes are designed to showcase each candidate individually, so it is important to make the resume personal and unique, while still including necessary information to intrigue employers.  A well composed resume should contain a variety of key words that will entice employers into offering an interview to the candidate.  Candidates should take extra care in creating their resume, because they are the only link between candidates and employers prior to an interview. 

For more information on composing a veterinary resume, please visit the following sites:

• Creative-Resume.com
• CritiqueMyResume.com
• ResumeWriters.org
• Santa Clara University
• Tufts University

Let iHireVeterinary help get your resume out into the veterinary field.  We offer resume fax and email blasting for veterinary candidates to companies in your area for a small fee, or have your cover letter sent out for no charge.