Optometrist Resume: Examples, Template, and Resume Tips
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The easiest way to get your dream job as an optometrist is to impress your potential employer during the interviewing stage.
However, this can be a problem if you are not getting invited to job interviews in the first place.
If you are sending out hundreds of job applications but haven’t been to more than a handful of job interviews, the problem probably lies in your resume.
In this case, you need to spruce up your resume and make sure that it shows you in the best possible light and gives you an edge over the other candidates.
While there are numerous tips and resources on how to write a general resume, there aren’t a lot of resources on how to write a customized resume for an optometrist specifically.
Therefore, while you might have gone through many of these general resources, you might still be struggling with how to tailor your resume to your profession as an optometrist.
For instance, you might be wondering what format works best for an optometrist resume, what potential employers are looking for when hiring an optometrist, which parts of the resume you need to emphasize, what you should leave out, and so on.
If you have been having trouble writing an outstanding optometrist resume, this guide will teach you everything you need to know.
By the end of the article, you will be in a position to write excellent resumes that will result in dozens of job interviews.
WHAT INTERVIEWERS ARE LOOKING FOR IN AN OPTOMETRIST RESUME
Like most other professions in the clinical and health sector, employers are very careful when it comes to hiring.
Unlike in most other professions, where hiring the wrong person could potentially lead to losses, hiring the wrong person in the healthcare sector puts the health and lives of patients in danger.
Therefore, employers need to be absolutely certain that they are hiring someone who not only qualified, but also experienced and certified to practice.
Therefore, when applying for the position of an optometrist, a potential employee will want to see whether you have the right education, whether you have experience in providing healthcare to patients, how good you are with patients, and whether you have been licensed to practice as an optometrist.
Some of the duties you will be required to perform as an optometrist include performing vision tests, analyzing the results, diagnosing problems and injuries, and recommending treatments to help the patients manage eye injuries and disorders.
Therefore, your resume needs to show that you are conversant with all optometry services, that you are capable of communicating effectively with patients about their optical health, and that you are knowledgeable on the most up-to-date procedures and treatments for eye health.
Your resume also needs to show that you are knowledgeable and experienced in activities such as prescribing eye medications, contact lenses, and eyeglasses, as well as educating patients about how to care for their eyes and prevent the loss of vision.
Basically, it’s all about showing that you are capable of effectively and safely handling all or most of the tasks that come with being an optometrist.
OPTOMETRIST RESUME EXAMPLES
Before we start breaking down the different sections of the optometrist resume and how to write each section, let us start by taking a look at some great optometrist resume samples to give you a better picture of what you should be trying to achieve.
If you prefer building your resume automatically instead of doing everything from scratch, you can use our resume builder to create your optometrist resume within a few minutes.
Simply pick a template you like, add your resume content, and the resume builder will handle everything else for you with a single click.
Entry Level Optometrist Resume Sample
Senior Optometrist Resume Example
Now that you have a clear picture of what a great optometrist resume should look like, we can go ahead and look at how to create such a resume and increase your chances of getting invitations to job interviews.
BEST FORMAT FOR YOUR OPTOMETRIST RESUME
While there are several different formats to choose from when writing your resume, it is advisable to stick to the reverse-chronological resume format when writing your optometrist resume.
This is the most commonly used resume format, and it is popular for a reason.
Like you might have guessed from the name, this resume allows you to list your work history and education in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent work experience or education, going back to your earliest.
A lot of recruiters and hiring managers prefer this format because it allows them to get a quick snapshot of your experience and education.
Since your most recent work history comes first, it is a lot easier for a potential employer to tell your current level of skill and experience without having to dig through the whole resume.
Like most other resumes, ensure that your optometrist resume is about one page in length.
Whatever you do, don’t make your optometrist resume longer than two pages.
Remember, recruiters and hiring managers have a lot of resumes to go through.
By making yours long, you are making their work more difficult, and they’re unlikely to read through five pages of a resume. I
n other words, by making your resume long, you are not giving yourself any advantage, since all the extra stuff will not get read. Instead, you are actually disadvantaging yourself, since the recruiter will discard the resume without reading all the relevant details about you and your experience and skills.
HOW TO WRITE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION SECTION OF YOUR OPTOMETRIST RESUME
The first purpose of a resume is to let a prospective employer know who you are and how they can get in touch with you if they are impressed by what they see in the rest of your resume.
Therefore, the first thing that should appear in your resume is your name and your contact information, such as your phone number, your email address, and so on.
Below is an example of how to write the personal information section on your optometrist resume:
As you can see from the above example, the candidate writes his full, official names, not a nickname or a short form of his name. He has also included his professional title so that the recruiter will know from the onset what he does.
His email address also looks professional, consisting of both his names, rather than a funny email address like:
Such email addresses will only make you look unprofessional, and can result in the prospective employer not taking you seriously.
Finally, you can also see that the candidate included a link to his LinkedIn account. This is very crucial, considering that 70 percent of recruiters check out a candidate on social media before deciding whether to hire them or not.
GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF YOURSELF AS A PROFESSIONAL USING A RESUME SUMMARY
Like I mentioned earlier, recruiters are busy people.
Sometimes, they will receive hundreds of job applications, and they need to go through the resumes of all these candidates before shortlisting the most qualified candidates.
With so many resumes to go through, there is a chance that a recruiter might put away your resume before reading everything on the resume.
To reduce your chances of missing out on a job interview because the recruiter was short on time, the best approach is to give them an overview of yourself using a resume summary.
The resume summary is a short section, comprising of just a few lines. It gives a brief highlight of your experience, your most valuable skills or qualifications, and your notable accomplishments.
Here’s the good thing about using a resume summary.
By giving the recruiter a summary of the best things about yourself, you can capture their attention and get them to read the rest of your resume.
And if you show the recruiter what they are looking for in your resume summary, you can bet they’ll be interested in the rest of your resume.
A good way to write the resume summary that will capture the recruiter’s attention is to match it to the requirements in the job description. For instance, let’s say that the job description contains the following requirements.
Looking for an optometrist with the following qualifications:
- 3+ years of experience
- Licensed to practice
- Good communication skills
- High level of interpersonal competence
- Excellent customer service skills
- Highly knowledgeable in patient care
Below is how you can match the job description in your resume summary:
By reading such a summary, it will be clear to the recruiter that you have all the requirements they are looking for.
From there, they will just need to read the rest of your resume to see whether your experience can back the claims you made above, and if you can do that, you will probably get an invitation to the interview.
HIGHLIGHT YOUR CERTIFICATIONS ON YOUR OPTOMETRIST RESUME
As an optometrist, there are two kinds of certifications that you can pursue.
- The optometry license: This is a certification that gives an optometrist the legal mandate to practice within the United States. Without the optometry license, you will probably not get hired as an optometrist, because you are not allowed to practice optometry. Therefore, it is good to note on your resume that you are licensed.
- Board certification: This is a voluntary certification offered by the American Board of Optometry. Unlike the optometry license, the board certification is optional, meaning that it won’t prevent you from getting a job. Still, if you have received the certification, it is advisable to include it in your optometrist resume, since it can increase your chances of getting hired. Those who have received this certification are referred to as Diplomates of the American Board of Optometry.
SHOWCASING YOUR EXPERIENCE AS AN OPTOMETRIST
Since working as an optometrist requires you to work directly with patients and puts you in charge of the patients’ optical health, employers will be looking for someone who already has some experience dealing with patients.
This section gives you a chance to show the prospective employer that you have the relevant experience to work as an optometrist.
When describing your work experience, you should mention where you worked, your job title while working there, and your responsibilities and accomplishments.
Here, mention all the positions which are relevant to the position of an optometrist.
If at some point you worked in positions that were not related to your career as an optometrist, there is no point in including these positions in your resume.
Working as an optometrist involves a lot of different tasks, and you might be tempted to include everything you did when describing your job experience.
However, doing this overwhelms the recruiter and increases the length of your resume, both of which reduce the chances of the resume being read to the end.
Therefore, instead of listing every little thing you did in your previous positions, aim for about five or six bullet points for each position.
Choose the responsibilities and accomplishments that are most relevant to the position you are applying for and leave out the rest.
If your previous positions were somewhat similar, you can have fewer bullet points per position, and then distribute your tasks between these positions. This prevents you from having a lot of repetition in your resume.
Below is an example of how to write the experience section of your optometrist resume:
WRITING ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION IN YOUR OPTOMETRIST RESUME
Before you can start work as an optometrist or even get licensed to practice, you need to get the relevant education, and therefore, it is important to include your education in your optometrist resume.
Here, you should write down all the degrees and certifications that you have received related to your career as an optometrist. If you received any distinctions or honors, mention them as well.
Considering that you need to pursue a Master of Optometry degree after your bachelor’s degree in order to become an optometrist, there is no point in including your high school information in your resume.
Below is a great example of how to write about your education:
SHOW WHAT YOU DO BEST BY HIGHLIGHTING YOUR SKILLS AS AN OPTOMETRIST
A candidate might have the right education and even some experience but they might not be particularly good at anything.
No one wants such a candidate, which is why it is a very good idea to highlight what you are good at in the skills section.
This lets the prospective employer know what special abilities you are bringing to the job. This is a good opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition.
The best approach when highlighting your skills is to focus on a few skills (four to six) that you know you are very good at.
If you want to increase your chances of getting hired, you should also match up your skills to those that the prospective employer is looking for, which you can learn from the job description.
However, don’t write things you are not good at just because they appear on the job description.
While most of the skills should showcase your abilities as a medical practitioner, it is also advisable to include one or two soft skills, since being an optometrist involves working with people.
Some of the skills you might want to list in your optometrist resume include:
- Customer service skills
- Vision care
- Analytical and thinking skills
- Ability to work with patients of all ages
- Identifying vision problems
- Pre and post-surgery care
- Communication skills, both oral and written
- Clinical assessment and diagnosis
- Expertise in retinal diseases
- Determining prescriptions
- Expertise in blurred vision
- Night vision
- Ocular health
- Vision therapy
- Conducting eye examinations
WRAPPING UP
While there is a high demand for optometrists, getting invitations to interviews might be a bit of a challenge if you do not have an outstanding resume.
A good resume highlights your best skills, qualifications, and experience and gives you an edge over the other candidates.
The tips covered in this guide will help you to create a high quality optometrist resume that will increase the number of interviews you get invited to and the chances of landing your dream job.
Remember, if you don’t want to do everything from scratch, you can use our resume builder to come up with a high quality, professional optometrist resume in no time.
Good luck in your job search!
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