New Grad CV/Resume

[comPAssionatecamel]

I’ve heard mixed things about what to include/not include in a resume or CV for your first job as a new grad. I’d love to hear what you guys think about including jobs before PA school, skills/diagnosis attained during rotations, letters of recommendations, etc. I know it should be about a page long so what do hiring managers really want to see (particular for small & private practices)?

Thanks!

[CAAdmission]

It depends if the job is relevant. If you worked at a summer camp, I'd put that in for a peds job, but not a nephrology job. Does the job show leadership/managerial skills? People skills?

[rev ronin]

When I worked in tech, I interviewed a guy who clearly left jobs off his Resume, and was interviewing as a new grad in his 40's with a pretty sparse resume. I pointed that out, and asked him if there was anything else he wanted to share about his past that would help explain his capabilities.  Turns out he'd run a bar before going back to college. Talk about demonstrating people skills, leadership, and how to deal with unreasonable people! To think, someone told him to leave that off...

I don't think he ended up getting the job, but I rated him significantly higher on my evaluation because of it.

As far as skills? Only if it's weird. If you tell me you learned to suture, I'm rolling my eyes: Of course you did.  If you got to do joint injections, nail surgery, point of care ultrasound, or got to do something else cool, I definitely want to hear about that.

[UGoLong]

It's not clear how old you are. If you are a traditional PA student with a bit of healthcare experience and most of your background come from your clinical year, then a brief hit at your pre-PA program experience is in order, along with brief descriptions of each rotation. I think that should include where you were, what you did, and who your preceptor was. I got my first (and , after 16+ years, still my only) PA position because the hiring doc recognized the preceptor I had for a two week optional rotation! An, around us, if you did rotations at the Cleveland Clinic or in a heart transplant center, that is also viewed extra favorably.

[SedRate]

On 1/21/2023 at 3:17 PM, comPAssionatecamel said:

I’ve heard mixed things about what to include/not include in a resume or CV for your first job as a new grad. I’d love to hear what you guys think about including jobs before PA school, skills/diagnosis attained during rotations, letters of recommendations, etc. I know it should be about a page long so what do hiring managers really want to see (particular for small & private practices)?

Thanks!

I can't speak on behalf of hiring managers but just remember they are often non-medical so you may need to spell out certain things specific to the job.

I got my first PA job as a student on rotation at a private practice. My performance was what got me the job, but to answer your question, I included my pre-PA jobs in research and tutoring. I also included my volunteer work since it spanned several years. I also held a graduate assistant job during PA school, so I included that as well as my PA and pre-PA school clubs and honors. When I got my second PA job at 5y into practice, I left my pre-PA graduation designations and research on there to help beef it up since I was going into a new field and had only one PA job that wasn't in the same field. On my first week, my new SP actually asked me about it, saying he was impressed by that. He didn't specify whether or not this helped me get the job, but I was surprised he even saw it. I guess you can rely on a heart surgeon to be detailed.

As for skills, I'd recommend mentioning any specific skills to your field of choice and/or if the job posting asks for it. I've heard of some PA and NP students who didn't gain certain skills because of COVID restrictions: one NP didn't scrub into one surgery on their surgery rotation, one PA never went to a surgery clinic, etc. 

Hope this helps!

Edited January 26, 2023 by SedRate

[comPAssionatecamel]

Thanks everyone, appreciate it!