When deciding to write about what a good resume looks like today, I researched the Modern Hygienist, Business Insider, Career Builder, and the professional placement firm: Robert Half. Collectively, the one point they all shared in making your resume stand out is your ability to communicate value. While Dental Professionals list obvious roles and responsibilities, your accomplishments that go beyond the day-to-day responsibilities in the Dental Office cause your resume to stand out from others. An example would be:

       - Volunteer my services at the Children’s Health Fair every year in September. 
       or
       - Traveled to third world countries to volunteer my professional services to patients without access to care.

These accomplishments tell perspective employers you take your work very seriously and you genuinely care about making a difference.

      - Mentored Dental Assisting students while they completed their externships in our office
       or
       - Trained all new employees on the clinical systems we used in our office.

This also shows a Dentist or an Office Manager that you have leadership skills you’ve developed enough to be entrusted to do training in another office. So, shorten the bullet points everyone uses on their resume listing the expected skills you’re interviewing for and show the interviewer you have skills that go beyond the usual.

Examples of ways you stand out above the rest ~

1. Communication is verbal and written; make sure your resume is stellar in verbiage and grammatical presentation. A stellar resume reflects your ability to be organized.
2. Show how you’ve prioritized tasks as part of your past employment.
3. Mention problems that arose and how you worked to solve them.

Don’t use meaningless buzzwords; Mary Lopez, a corporate communications manager at Career Builder reports these buzzwords are so overused, you’ll immediately lose the interviewers attention. Here’s what to avoid:

1. ‘Best of the breed,’ ‘go-getter,’ ‘strategic thinker;’ Career Builder surveyed over 2,000 hiring managers and found; best of the breed’ to be the most irritating phrase found on a resume. Anyone can say they’re the ‘best;’ employers want to see the value communicated.
2. ‘Phone’: there’s no need to put this in front of your number; it’s obvious it’s your phone  number.
3. ‘Results driven’: don’t just say you’re results driven; show them what you did at a previous position to drive results and what those results were.
4. ‘Responsible for,’ ‘oversight of,’ ‘duties included’ are superfluous words that detract from the resume. As is stated above: trained all new… instead of responsible for training all…
5. ‘Highly qualified’ has the opposite of the desired effect and
6. ‘Seasoned” congers up visions of ‘much older.’
7. Do not include “References available on request;” if the interviewer wants references, they’ll ask for them.
8. ‘Team player,’ ‘Hard worker’ and ‘Ambitious;’ ‘Hit the ground running;’ you’d better be, they’re not looking for anything less! As well as:
9. ‘Honest’ and ‘Punctual;’ this need not be said; it goes without saying.
10. ‘I’ and ‘My objective;’ avoid personal pronouns because the interviewer knows the resume is about you. ‘My objective’ tells the interviewer you’re concerned about what you want for you, not about what you can do for them.
11. It’s no longer advisable to place your ‘Address’ on your resume.
12. “GPA”: Your grades don’t win any points on your resume; once you’ve graduated and passed any required Boards or Certifications, they’re irrelevant.

While the above may seem like a given, combined they give the perception you are a well-rounded individual and a highly suitable candidate for the position! Now you can move ahead with confidence, develop your Profile and upload your Resume at DentalStaffing,org!

~
“Your resume says a lot about you,
it determines whether you will be called in
for an interview or not.”
- Author Unknown