Vet Tech Resume Example
Working as a vet tech can provide a rewarding career, involving administering medications accurately and assisting DVMs efficiently. A professional resume for vet tech applications will showcase your relevant skills and career achievements, to help you stand out from the crowd. In this article, we'll outline how to write a winning resume to boost your chances of success in your vet tech applications.
This complete guide to a vet tech resume will equip you with the tools you need to compete in your applications. You'll learn how to show employers you've got the relevant qualities, skills and experience for the job, all presented in a format that employers prefer to see. The article also includes tips for formatting your resume according to your experience and strengths. Continue reading to find the best vet tech resume tips from careers experts at Jobseeker.
What to include in a vet tech resume
Most resumes contain similar key sections, with a veterinary technician resume being no different. If you're a candidate without much experience, you may wish to present your resume in a way that draws attention to your most valuable skills. These might not be in traditional work settings, so sections like education, projects, hobbies and skills can be more prominent.
Your resume layout and structure may differ depending on your experience levels, but make sure your resume includes the following:
Resume Header with Contact Details
The resume header is the place to add your name and contact details, along with your LinkedIn URL if you have a profile, so employers can find more information about your career journey and skills. You don't typically need to add a photo, or any other personal information to this section. Make your resume header clear, concise and as brief and compact as possible. Consider different layouts that spread the information horizontally across the page rather than using a different line for each piece of information.
Make sure the email address you list in your header is professional-looking and doesn't contain any inappropriate content such as nicknames or unsuitable language. Opt for an email address based on your name or profession, or a combination of both. Finally, check your contact details before sending your resume, to ensure everything's up-to-date.
Skylar Reed
skylar.reed@example.com
(111) 222 33 444 55
742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, IL
linkedin․com/in/skylar–reed123
Resume Summary
In your resume summary, write a short paragraph that highlights two or three of your key achievements and skills for vet tech roles. You could also call this section 'resume objective' or 'personal profile'. A resume summary covers your career experience to date, while a resume objective focuses more on your ambitions for the future. Always make sure your summary reflects the job description and highlights some of the key skills required for vet tech roles.
Alternatively, write a paragraph that concentrates on your career objectives and how this role fits with your wider ambitions and progression.
The best resume summaries reflect the job description and focus on qualities that are relevant to working as a vet tech, while highlighting elements of your personality that make you an ideal candidate. They also quantify the information provided with evidence. See below for some great examples of how to approach your vet tech resume.
Dedicated and compassionate Veterinary Technician with an Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology and extensive hands-on experience in animal care, diagnostics, and surgical assistance. Proven expertise in providing high-quality medical support, maintaining accurate patient records, and fostering strong relationships with pet owners. Skilled in handling a variety of animals with care and professionalism, and committed to supporting veterinarians in delivering the best possible care
Worked with animals in a job related to animal care. Have some education in a field related to animals. Did tasks involving helping animals and keeping track of information. Worked with different animals and interacted with people who own them. Assisted others in providing care for animals
Conversely, an ineffective resume summary would include generic, unspecific information on your skills and experience, while failing to provide any useful information on what makes you a unique and interesting candidate. See above for some examples of things to avoid when writing your vet tech resume summary.
Skills
The skills section of a veterinary technician resume is a chance to list any skills you have that match those of the job description. You could include lab diagnostic procedures, effective communication skills or any other skills that show you're a suitable candidate. Additionally, read the job description to make sure your skills match those required for vet tech positions. You could also include some unique skills that help you stand out as a candidate.
Highlighting your hard skills
Under hard skills, add any specialist skills you possess that are specifically required for vet tech jobs. These tend to be technical skills and industry knowledge essential to the position. Furthermore, your list of hard skills provides a strong indication to the reader of your expertise in vet tech roles, and how well you'll fit into the position. Include around four or five key hard skills that are listed in the job description. These skills will help to convince the hiring manager that you're a good fit for the position.
For an effective resume hard skills section, focus on the technical skills that are most essential in the job description, and that match your specific expertise. Some examples of the best hard skills for a vet tech resume are listed below.
- Animal handling techniques
- IV catheter placement
- Lab diagnostic procedures
Adding soft skills to your vet tech resume
In your soft skills list, include any personal characteristics that make you a good fit for a vet tech job. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, but they're no less important. Indeed, as the nature of work changes, soft skills are growing in importance, so make sure you include them in your resume. You should generally look to include up to five soft or transferable skills that match the job description.
Your soft skills section should make the most of your unique personal qualities and strengths, while also reflecting the requirements laid out in the job description. See below for some examples of useful soft skills for a veterinary technician resume.
- Attention to detail
- Effective communication skills
- Empathy and compassion
Education and Qualifications
The education section provides space to list your highest and most recent academic achievements that are relevant to working as a vet tech.
To work as a vet tech, employers tend to require candidates to have a specialist degree, such as a Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology. If you have this degree, focus on it in your education section, while also mentioning any educational achievements that show your anesthesia monitoring skills or radiographic imaging proficiency.
Include any qualifications relevant to the role. For each, add the name and level of the award, the institution name, its location and your dates of study. If you have space, include some bullet points outlining any specialist areas of study, awards or high grades, so the employer can learn more about your unique skill set and knowledge.
If you took part in any volunteering or you were a leader or member of any university societies, you could also mention these in your education section.
Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology, 2017 - 2020
University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California
Certifications and Training
In your certifications section, list any professional certifications or licenses that are relevant to working as a vet tech. These could be official licenses required for the job or certifications that improve your employability. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.
Below you can find several examples of certifications for a veterinary technician resume:
- CVT (Certified Veterinary Technician), 2022
- LVT (Licensed Veterinary Technician), 2022
- RVT (Registered Veterinary Technician), 2022
Work History
Under your work experience section, add any jobs you've had in the past that are relevant to the position of a vet tech. List each relevant role in reverse-chronological order starting with your current or most recent role. Add your job title, the organization name, its location and the dates you worked there.
Add some bullet points under each job entry, explaining your achievements in the role, so the reader can see how you contributed towards success for the company. Provide evidence of your impact and make sure each point addresses a requirement listed in the job description.
The best resume work experience sections focus only on the most relevant previous jobs, and link each bullet point back to a skill or experience listed in the job description. It's also critical to provide evidence that shows the value you added to each role in a quantifiable way, such as project outcomes, key performance indicators or feedback from customers, colleagues or managers. See below for some good examples of what to include in your resume work experience section.
Veterinary Technician, January 2022 - Present
Pawsitive Care Veterinary Solutions, Milwaukee
- Assisted in over 500 successful surgical procedures, ensuring optimal patient care and swift recovery times
- Developed and implemented a new animal restraint protocol, increasing safety by 30% for both staff and animals
- Trained and mentored 15 new veterinary technicians, significantly improving team efficiency and service quality
Veterinary Technician, January 2022 - Present
Pawsitive Care Veterinary Solutions, Milwaukee
- Helped with various tasks in the clinic, contributing to overall operations
- Participated in creating protocols to enhance safety and efficiency
- Supported team development through guidance and training initiatives
Above, you can see a weaker example of a resume work experience section to best avoid. Ineffective work experience sections tend to focus too much on everyday responsibilities over skills and achievements. If you use vague descriptions of activities and fail to back up your achievements with evidence, you're likely to fail to make an impact on the reader.
Jobseeker Tip:
If you have limited formal experience, highlight other achievements, like completing training programs, certifications, or successful personal projects. (1) Present this information in a clear and concise format with easy-to-read sections and plenty of white space. (2)
Optional Information
In addition to the core sections of a veterinary technician resume, there are several optional sections you could include to enhance your chances. Choose optional sections from the list below, if they help to showcase your relevant skills and experience.
Personal Interests
Including your hobbies and interests can be a valuable way of showing your key skills and qualities. Your hobbies and interests are useful for a veterinary technician resume if you want to show a different side to your personality, or to stand out among other candidates. They can also be valuable if you're a junior candidate without much relevant work experience. Don't include hobbies and interests in your resume unless they showcase a specific interest or aspect of your personality. You'll want them to add something to your application that you can't add elsewhere.
Volunteer Work
This section can be valuable for a veterinary technician resume, if you've done any voluntary work that showcases your relevant skills. Add any voluntary roles, including your position, the name of the organization, the dates of your voluntary work and a brief explanation of your responsibilities and achievements.
References
Although it's rare to include references on a vet tech resume, some employers may ask for it. Don't add references unless they're specifically mentioned by the employer in the job advert. Be sure to prepare your referees in advance, so they've agreed to provide a reference and are ready to be contacted.
References are available upon request.
Best words to use in a vet tech resume
Using strong action words to make your resume resonate with the employer. Add strong verbs from the list below to create a greater impact with your work experience section.
- Assist
- Administer
- Monitor
- Prepare
- Perform
- Evaluate
- Educate
- Maintain
- Handle
- Record
Jobseeker's clean, attractive resume formats can help your applications make a strong impression on employers. Check them out for help designing a winning resume, and see our cover letter templates to help win over recruiters and hiring managers.
Example of a vet tech resume
The vet tech resume example below incorporates all the information from above into a full-designed resume template, so you can see how a final resume will look:
742 Evergreen Terrace, Springfield, IL
•
skylar.reed@example.com
•
(111) 222 33 444 55
•
linkedin․com/in/skylar–reed123
Dedicated and detail-oriented Veterinary Technician with a Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Technology and extensive experience in animal care, medical procedures, and client communication. Proficient in diagnostic testing, surgical assistance, and patient monitoring, with a strong focus on enhancing animal health and well-being. Proven ability to work collaboratively in fast-paced environments while maintaining high standards of care and professionalism.
Veterinary Technician
2020
-2022
Paws & Whiskers Veterinary Services (Fremont)
- Successfully administered anesthesia and monitored vital signs for over 300 surgical procedures with a 100% safety record
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive patient care protocol, reducing postoperative complications by 30%
- Trained and mentored 10 junior technicians, enhancing team efficiency and improving overall patient care standards
Animal handling techniques
IV catheter placement
Lab diagnostic procedures
Attention to detail
Effective communication skills
Empathy and compassion
CVT (Certified Veterinary Technician)
LVT (Licensed Veterinary Technician)
English - Fluent
Spanish - B2
Quick tips for a veterinary technician resume
- Use strong action words to demonstrate the impact you've made in each vet tech role (e.g. 'prepare', 'perform', 'evaluate').
- Quantify your accomplishments by providing evidence that shows the impact you've made in your career.
- Showcase your key vet tech qualities with a strong resume summary or objective to catch the attention of the reader.
- Use a well-structured resume layout that optimizes headings, structure, margins, fonts and line spacing to make your document as accessible as possible to the reader.
- Keep your vet tech resume as brief as possible. Aim for one page for an entry-level role, and two pages for more senior jobs.
- Don't include any personal details, such as a photo, your age or marital status. These can create unwanted bias in the recruitment process.
- Don't lie or exaggerate the details of your vet tech career or education, as this can backfire later in the recruitment process.
- Don't use an email address with offensive, funny or casual connotations. Instead, create a professional email address based on your name.
- Don't use passive language because it can switch off the reader. Adapt phrases like 'the work was completed' to 'I completed the work'.
- Don't include hobbies unless they help you prove a skill or experience that's necessary for the job.
Guide to making your resume ATS-friendly
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are increasingly taking responsibility for the management and processing of job applications, helping hiring practices to become more efficient. This can include screening resumes by scanning and ranking each application according to how closely it matches the job description. There are several things you can do when writing your vet tech resume, to give yourself the strongest chance of ranking highly in the ATS stage and progressing through the recruitment process.
Create an ATS-optimized resume by following these quick tips:
- Choose a resume structure that matches the traditional, reverse-chronological layout or alternatively, the functional resume structure. This should make your resume more readable for ATS applications.
- Add keywords throughout your resume that help ATS software match your application to the job description. A higher match means your application is more likely to proceed to be reviewed by human eyes.
- Using clear, simple headings makes it easier for an ATS application to scan your resume, as it can easily identify what's in each section of your document.
- Adopt a resume design that uses clear, professional design principles and leaves white space for your content to breathe. Use the most readable fonts and incorporate subtle design elements to enhance the readability of your document.
- Use simple, concise language to keep your resume to a maximum of one to two pages in length. This will make it easier for ATS software to read.
For tips and ideas to help you draft a professional resume to get noticed by employers, read our expert career articles and check out our detailed resume examples.
Frequently Asked Questions about a veterinary technician resume
Alongside your vet tech resume, it's important to produce a professional cover letter that creates a similar positive impact on the reader.
Firstly, choose whether you're going to write a full cover letter, or whether a brief email confirming your application and drawing attention to your resume will be sufficient.
If you choose to write a full cover letter, follow traditional letter-writing conventions surrounding greetings, sign-offs and use of professional language. The body of the cover letter tends to be three paragraphs. The first introduces yourself and the role you're applying for, giving reasons for your application. The second briefly covers your key skills and achievements that are most relevant to vet tech roles. Finally, the third paragraph re-emphasizes your interest in the role and leaves a call to action, encouraging the employer to reach out to you.
Jobseeker's HR-approved cover letter templates can help you produce a cover letter that really catches the eye of employers.
As an experienced vet tech, you'll want your resume to showcase all of your relevant experience and achievements. Your vet tech resume is likely to have a longer work experience section than resumes for less experienced candidates, any you may wish to go back further than the standard 10 to 15 years of employment history, depending on your experience levels. Consider adding any optional sections that show employers the impact you've made in your career to date. These include awards, successful projects or a dedicated achievements section.
If you want to create a strong first impression in your vet tech application, a resume headline can help. Resume headlines are also a powerful way of increasing your resume's chances of passing the ATS stage. They reference the job title and some of the keywords that match the job description. Write a few words to set the tone for your resume, including the job title, your experience or track record and one or two key skills that make you stand out.
See below for an example of a well-constructed resume headline:
- Aspiring Veterinary Technician Specialist
- Compassionate and Skilled Vet Tech
- Experienced Senior Veterinary Technician
The resume format that gives you the best chances of success depends on your experience levels, as well as the type of job you're applying for and its seniority level. If you're applying for a junior position or changing careers, you might want to consider a functional resume. This highlights your skills and education over your work experience. On the other hand, if you're experienced in your industry or applying for senior positions, a traditional, reverse chronological resume format is usually best. This places most emphasis on your work experience.
Key points for your vet tech resume
Writing a strong, impactful resume is about using your experience to demonstrate your relevant skills and achievements. You can do this through your work history or other resume sections. Select a resume format that suits your experience levels and the job you're applying for, and make sure you tailor your resume for each application.
Use Jobseeker's resume templates, other tools and resources to create an application that impresses employers. Sign up today to access a wealth of valuable resume and cover letter resources. Whatever job you're applying for, a professional cover letter can make all the difference to your chances. Use Jobseeker's HR-approved tools and cover letter examples to inspire your applications.
Sources:
(1) Writing a Resume, California Department of Human Resources: https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/resume-tips.aspx
(2) Resume Tips, Duke University: https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/resources/resume-tips/
