Are you finding that trying to get a dental job is like pulling teeth?
The ADA predicts a rise in supply for dentists in the near future. That means competition in the industry will be tough, so it’s vital to get your resume in order to give you the best possible chance for success.
Luckily, that doesn’t have to be tough. Below, we’ve put together our top tips for filling cavities in your dental resume.
Hit Your Hard Skills
Dentistry is a skill-based game. In some industries, you can emphasize your soft skills to make up for a gap, but dentistry depends on your experience and expertise.
Make sure your technical skills are front and centre on your resume. You can back them up with your education and training a little further down.
If you have any rare skills, give them centre stage. Dentist skills have a lot of overlap between candidates, so pick out something you can treat as a USP and give it pride of place.
Keep It Clean
A clean and readable format is a huge win for a resume. It allows recruiters to pick out all the relevant skills and your resume objectives without bogging themselves down in the details.
Ditch the paragraphs. Replace them with a bulleted list of your achievements and skills, organised into sections with clear headings.
Recruiters often see dozens of resumes. A single glance will often separate the winners from the losers. The easier your resume is to read, the more likely you’ll make it through the early selection process.
Let Go of the Past
It can be tempting to stuff a resume. If you have enough information in there, then something will land with the recruiter, right?
You’ll find the opposite is true. Cramming your resume with irrelevant information will obscure your marketable skills.
The easiest way to de-clutter a resume is to let go of the past. Highlight your career’s recent highlights, not its ancient history. As a candidate, you will have evolved since your earliest roles, and even the industry may have changed over a long enough timeline.
The only exception to this lies in achievements, which can emphasise your unique abilities even if they happened a long time ago. If you were able to drive growth or satisfaction in a previous practice, there’s a strong chance you can do it again.
Display Your Achievements
Nailing your achievements can be a little tougher in dentistry, but they’re a great way to set you apart from other candidates.
The best way to deliver achievements is to back them up with hard facts. Write out your achievement and then re-read it. Is there a number in there? If not, can you add one?
Numbers give a recruiter a frame of reference for what you’re telling them. “Improved patient retention” doesn’t tell them nearly as much as “Increased patient retention by 37% over the previous year”.
Putting the Shine on Your Dental Resume
These simple tips should help you put a new shine on your dental resume. Make sure to keep it up to date to bring out the best in your career.
Ready to further your career? Head over to our admissions page.