Veterinary Resumes

RESUMES; THE BACKBONE TO YOUR JOB

Resume Tips.

By Bree Montana, DVM, VIN Foundation Vets4Vets® Program Leader and VIN Foundation team

You will “dress to impress” for your job interview; likewise, your cover letter and resume need to look professional. Tie your cover letter and resume together by using the same header (with your name and contact information) on each document. Use the same font for both; choose a font that is easy to read and not overly formal (avoid anything that appears overly stylized or quirky).

RESUME TIP

This is a great question. In the U.S. you may need a resume or a CV (curriculum vitae) depending on the type of job. CVs are more common in research, public sector jobs, and similar. A resume is often requested for those going into private practice. Outside of the U.S., CVs are much more common across all areas of veterinary medicine.

A resume is a summary of your experiences and skills. Your resume should be focused on the job to which you are applying.

By comparison, a CV is a multi-page document listing out a variety of experiences. This may include education, publications, work history, presentations, and more.

RESUME STRUCTURE

There’s any number of resume templates available. Here’s some structure guidelines to get you started:

Name
Contact information
Education
Work history
Additional experiences (leadership, extracurricular activities, etc)
Notable Skills

RESUME EDITING

The toughest part of resume writing is the editing! Newly graduated DVMs and experienced DVMs are equally stumped by this one. Distilling years of job experiences and skills down to one page can be tricky! It can also be hard to feel good about a resume that doesn’t seem to have enough experience on it. It is, however, key to keeping your resume on target.

Limit your resume to one or two pages.
Keep descriptions brief and clear.
Avoid over-the-top statements such as “excelled at surgery, successfully accomplished x, y, and z.”
Avoid overuse of bullet points (for example, don’t list every activity you performed in a position, highlighting it with a bullet point; this can appear to be a padding technique).
Be honest.
Be clear.
You want your resume to clarify who you are, your strengths, and your interests.
Only highlight information that targets the position you are seeking; if you have large animal experience but are applying for a small animal position, focus on your SA strengths and experiences.

COMMON QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

Many new grads worry about what they should and should not include on their resume. “I don’t have any work experience yet” is a common thing we hear. Of course you don’t, you’re a new grad! And that’s okay!

It is okay to highlight experiences from before vet school if they are relevant. You don’t need to list every place you ever shadowed or were an assistant at going back to middle school. However, if those experiences helped you to gain unique skills, that is worth mentioning. Do not feed like you need to list as many positions as possible to have a strong resume.

It is okay to list non-veterinary jobs in some cases. Think of the skills required to be a veterinarian outside of medicine. Things like talking to clients, working in a team, and more. Jobs like working with the public, in a restaurant, or sales can help you to demonstrate you have that experience.

Veterinary resume templates coming soon!