Phlebotomy Resume Tips: Getting Hired

Some of the best jobs are in the healthcare sector. So what are the odds that laboratories and hospitals out there have a shortage of phlebotomy technicians and are badly in need of your skills? After the education and training you’ve undergone, it is only right that you put what you learned to good use. But even with the demand for phlebotomists, there is still a possibility that you will not be accepted because you failed to sell yourself the right way.

Yes, finding a job and getting hired is all about marketing yourself in the best way possible. And it all starts with a well-written resume. This involves highlighting your skills, education, training, and work experience. But what if you’re fresh out of the school or training room? This is where you employ another way of creating your resume in such a way that it still stands out, despite you being a novice in the field. Regardless of whether or not you have previous work experience, there are certain aspects that must be present in your resume. Creating a enguaging resume can be hard work, our phlebotomy resume tips below should aid you in creating the perfect resume to get you hired!

How To Write A Phlebotomy Resume

Objective

An employment objective has now become optional, with some recruitment agencies recommending that it is avoided at all cost. Still, it will help give employees a brief and straightforward idea of whether you are fit for the job vacancy or the organization.

Sample1: To obtain a position as a phlebotomist with Company Name using extensive knowledge and skills in venipuncture procedure and protocols.

Sample2 (Entry Level): Looking to work as a phlebotomist in a facility where my skills and knowledge will be used and enhanced.

Summary of Qualifications

These days, the summary of qualifications replaces the objective, which is something you can also choose to do. In listing down your best skills, however, you must ensure that it matches the position on offer, especially if you are applying for an entry level. The more fitting you are to the job, the higher your chances of getting hired.

Summarizing your proficiencies can get tricky. You can’t just list down adjectives that have no weight whatsoever. Remember, you have to match your skills with the job required. So the first thing you need to do is to understand the job description and then think of instances where your skills fit.

Example:

Job Description: Have excellent skills in venipuncture, fingersticks and other blood collection procedure.

Summary of Qualification: Careful and precise in performing venipuncture, capillary punctures and fingersticks on patients of various age and vein condition. Excels in collecting, preparing and storing blood samples.

As you can see, the skills description matches the job requirement, with additional impressive information. Any employer scanning a similar resume would definitely have you on shortlist. Of course, you shouldn’t match all descriptions with your skills since you’re only supposed to write a summary. But be sure to highlight the most important ones.

Now, for an entry level resume, treat this part as a way to outline your major strengths.

• Your working knowledge in specimen processing, infection control, anatomy
• Your talent in patient interaction and medical records verification
• Your knowledge in codes of practice and professional standards

Key Competencies

This is the part where you showcase all your skills but in a short and concise way. Rather than expounding on a particular capability, you give the details straight to the point.

• Venipuncture and fingerstick
• Blood Collection and Handling Safety
• Quality Assurance and Controls
• Medical Records Review

Know that while you are listing down your competencies, companies are also making their own list of key competencies that they are looking for in a candidate. During an interview, you will be asked about competency based questions and then graded accordingly. Considering your line of work, it is only right that they scrutinize your capacity down to the very last detail.

Some of the key competencies they will be looking for include:

• Commitment to career
• Trustworthiness and ethics
• Results orientation
• Problem solving
• Organization
• Responsibility

Work Experience

If you have been a phlebotomist for the most of your professional life, listing down relevant work experience would not be a problem. You just have to make sure that you highlight the responsibilities that best describe your work.

Example:

Phlebotomy Technician

• Collected blood samples for testing and transfusion through venipuncture
• Adhered to infection-control and safety procedures as well as phlebotomy protocols
• Verify patient identity before performing procedures, and build trust and minimize patient discomfort
• Prepared and labeled specimen for transport

Now, if you are switching careers, your previous work experience might not have any connection to phlebotomy. Since you have to account for the years leading up to your job search, you should list down your previous jobs, but make sure to connect it to phlebotomy. For example, if you worked in the retail business, talk about how your people skills can prove useful when dealing with patients, making them feel at ease when they are anxious or afraid of the venipuncture procedure.

Don’t have any work experience? Write about your on-the-job training, experience in the school laboratory or your internship. More often than not, the things you have done during these stages in your education will be similar to the real thing.

Special Skills

If you have special skills that are not directly related to phlebotomy, but are just as useful, you should list them down under special skills. Some of the things you should include are effective listening and communication skills, which matters during patient interaction; excellent organization and interpersonal skills, and able to work with a diverse organization, team or patients.

Certifications

Being certified will definitely set you apart from other applicants, as this can mean you’ve enhanced or improved your working knowledge and skills. You can place your list of certifications, including licenses, along with your educational credentials.

Organizations

Joining relevant organizations can give your reputation a boost, especially if they are well-known in the phlebotomy industry. It is a case of knowing who your friends are; and a wide network will definitely work to your advantage. When applying for a new job, you can use them as references or ask them to vouch for you and your level of commitment. So make sure you join clubs and organizations and then list them down in your resume.

Resume Format

When writing a phlebotomy resume, the format also matters. Ideally, you should place on the top fold amazing highlights of your career. Most HR personnel or employers don’t bother to read the bottom of a resume, much less the next page. The format, however, depends on whether or not you have work experience. While the summary of qualifications and the key competencies have a specific position, the work experience is interchangeable with education or training course.

That is, if you are applying for an entry level position or has little experience working as a phlebotomist, your education or training should be placed on top of special skills, certifications, organizations and other entries. Conversely, your work experience should take precedence over educational attainment or other training courses you’ve enrolled in.

There is no hard and fast rules in writing a phlebotomy resume, and whatever worked for someone else might not always work for you, simply because no two employers are alike. Still, there are certain aspects in a resume that matters. As long as you put emphasis on them, you are likely to be the next phlebotomy technician on that laboratory you’ve been dying to work in for the next five years.