Essential Elements to Include in an Attention-Grabbing Dental Hygiene Resume for a Clinical Position with Doug Perry
When seeking a clinical dental hygiene job, your resume needs to do more than list your skills. It needs to reflect your expertise, passion, and value as a dental professional. Here’s a breakdown of the key elements to include in your dental hygiene resume to grab the attention of employers and land your ideal clinical job.
1. Start at the Top
The top section of your resume is the most valuable space because you have one shot to grab their attention and hold it. Studies on eye-tracking and readability show that readers naturally start at the top and prefer content that gently guides them into longer content. To maximize impact, use a larger font (24-36 pt) for your name, followed by a concise 6–8-word headline and a clear, one-sentence objective statement (12-13 pt) that smoothly leads into your professional summary.
Headline Example: “Compassionate and Friendly Nature with Team-Oriented Professionalism”
Sub headline Example: “Excited to Leverage Clinical Experience and Passion for the Highest Standard of Care to Join a Progressive Office with a Patient-First Focus.”
2. Begin to Build Trust
A strong Professional Summary (or About Me) section should be next up. This is your opportunity to briefly showcase who you are, or in other words, what they can expect if they hire you. Talk about your years of experience, specializations (e.g., pediatric, periodontal care), and your commitment to patient care. This section is a snapshot of what makes you different or unique.
Example:
“Confident and collaborative dental hygienist with over 5 years of expertise in providing exceptional care to patients of all ages. Especially skilled in periodontal therapy, patient education, and using advanced diagnostic tools. Known for building rapport with patients and contributing to a positive team environment.”
3. Licenses and Certifications
Obviously, your professional state licensure is a key qualification. But you may also have a few other things of value. Perhaps you have specialized laser therapy certifications or maybe you have been trained in myofunctional therapy or sleep apnea screening. Whatever you have, ensure you include it all– even your basics like CPR for healthcare provider certification.
4. Clinical Experience
Your clinical experience should be the focal point of your resume. Rather than list it repetitively under each dental hygiene job, give its own section and emphasis above your work history. This gives the reader a focal point and saves space. Emphasize how well you do things, not just that you do them. Remember, you are selling yourself and why you are different.
Example:
Efficient in conducting routine cleanings…
Meticulous at performing periodontal treatments…
Influential with patient communication and education…
5. Work History
Keep this section very basic if your career to this point has been mostly dental hygiene and you are seeking a dental hygiene job. You don’t need bullets under each job unless there are some things you want to point out that are truly unique about that job. Those might include production levels you achieved, recognition you received, or additional responsibilities beyond your clinical work that you took on.
Example: Dental Hygienist | ABC Dental, Quakertown, PA | 2020 - Present
6. Professional Development and Continuing Education
Dental hygiene is an ever-evolving field. Employers appreciate candidates who stay current with industry trends. Include any continuing education courses, workshops, or seminars you’ve attended. This demonstrates your commitment to growing your skills and staying at the forefront of dental care. I have worked with some clients who have pages and pages of CE that are addendums to their resume. Most of the time you wouldn’t need that. But you should include in your main resume things that are unusual or make you stand out above most. This would include week-long specialized trainings, among other things.
7. Last and Possibly Most Important
Give your resume a unique design scheme. Don’t settle for templates that get used and reused on the Internet. You don’t want to be like everyone else – marketing yourself means personal branding. This does the employer a favor because you are not going to appear like all the other resumes. So, use some font variations (size and treatments), make your resume modular with columns and sections, and add a touch of color.
Final Thoughts
A well-crafted, well-designed dental hygiene resume should clearly present your qualifications, experience, and commitment to patient care. But more importantly it’s your opportunity to tell the story of you – why you are different, special, and of interest to employers. Doing this will create a little bit of buzz around you and could be one of the key reasons you land your dream job.
To learn more about resumes, check out these other articles from Doug:
Doug Perry is an expert resume writer and job search coach. He and his wife, Tracie, who is a dental hygienist, created GetHiredRDH in response to the challenging dental hygiene job market and have helped thousands of dental hygienists through tips and individual services. This includes basic job searches and strategically transitioning into different fields (within dentistry and outside). If you need individual help, click here to contact Doug.