A dental assistant resume can help you win the job you need, but only if you know how to properly prepare it. Your resume can say a lot about you. In fact, it can say more than what you put into it in writing. So before you apply for the dental assistant position, make sure you know how to properly prepare a resume that would convince a potential employer that you are the best dental assistant they can find.
There are several important information that needs to be included in a resume for a dental assistant job application. You should be able to enumerate your education and training background, your past work experiences, and other credentials. You also have to strike a balance between establishing your flexibility as an employee and showing the employer that you are fit for one specific job: the dental assisting job.
To do so successfully, here are some useful resume-writing tips you should take note of.
Your Guide to An Impressive Dental Assistant Resume
- Presentation matters
- There is a time to be modest and a time to sell yourself
- Be honest
- Space is good
1. Presentation matters
The first thing you need to know about preparing your resume is that presentation always matters. Sometimes, what is unwritten in your resume speaks more loudly than what is actually written in words. Make sure your resume gives a good impression of you. Good resumes are clean, organized, and uncluttered. They should reflect your professionalism and be able to provide information clearly.
A resume with a good structure already says a lot about you. It shows that you have good grasp of logic and you like order. Remember that you have a very short time to pique the interest of your potential employer, so you should know how to deliver information efficiently through your resume and to eliminate unnecessary details.
2. There is a time to be modest and a time to sell yourself
Also, try to be more aggressive when writing your dental assistant resume. Remember that you don’t have to be modest when writing your resume. After all, it will serve as your main advertisement. It should work like a brochure advertising a product. List down all your strengths and capabilities then put in some of your general skills as long as you properly organize the information. Enumerate any special recognition or awards you received as these will help set you apart from other applicants. The rule is to sell yourself using your resume.
3. Be honest
But as you sell yourself, make sure to remain honest. Put your best foot forward, but draw the line at making up information. Try to use flowery details about yourself and what you can do, but make sure that all information is correct. Never put in any made up work experience or inaccurate credentials. Your potential employer has a way of checking that, and a single inaccurate information can crush your hopes of getting the job.
4. Space is good
Don’t forget to pay close attention to layout. Your resume should not look cluttered and crowded. Make use of headings so you can properly and orderly break information into different sections for easier reading and understanding. And always remember: space is good. Do not fill the paper with writing from one side to the other. Make sure there is enough white space to give off a clean and simple look. Try to use as much space as possible while keeping the resume short enough to fit into two pages.
Best for Dental Assistant Resume: Functional or Chronological?
There are many ways to organize the information on your dental assistant resume. If you are a full-time dental field employee, then you can use the usual chronological presentation format. However, if your dental assisting work is a part-time venture and you also work in other fields, you can use the functional format, which means you have to list down all achievements but divide them into different categories based on the field of work they are related to. This means you can group together all your achievements and experiences related to the dental field. This can help improve the effectiveness of your dental assistant resume in communicating your strengths that will prove useful when you become a dental assistant.