During the next eight years, the demand for dental assistants should grow. Theoretically, you should have more chances to be employed. Practically, such a work process is different. If you want to be noticed, you should have a good resume. On the Internet, you can find many variations of dental assistant resume sample. Yet, the structure is always the same. From a sample resume for dental assistant, all you need is a solid understanding of how to put things together correctly.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, pegs the average
dental assistant’s salary
at $38,660 per year and $18.59 per hour.
How to Format a Dental assistant Resume
While writing a job application, you know your responsibilities. Everything you do must be clean. So does your resume layout.
You won’t find something different while looking for a resume sample. There are only a few tricks you should note when it comes to dental assistant resume format:
- use the reverse-chronological order (your latest time-achievement should be first in the list);
- don’t go beyond one page;
- use standard fonts (like Arial);
- name your sections.
Also, make sure that your resume is mistakes-free. This way, your chances of receiving an interview invitation will increase.
Dental Assistant Resume Sections [Sample You Can Use]
Writing a good and clean resume becomes an easy task when you know the general requirements. Below, you can find a simplified resume sample for Dental assistant you can take and use for your purposes.
Hard Skills: name your professional skills but be honest.
Soft Skills: list your personal skills which will be useful for your work and responsibilities.
Now, you have a sketch to know how to outline your dental assistant resume. Worry not if you are confused about how to fill in certain sections. Further, we will guide you through all steps and give you good examples, which encourage your employer to hire you.
Also, if you find yourself thinking about trying other fields, you can review other examples throughout our resume writing service. Think about an industry, and you will find resume samples on jobs from social services to IT engineering. If you cannot find something specific now, you will find it after a week or two. We are updating our list constantly and striving to cover all areas regardless of the degree of their demand.
Dental assistant Resume Objective & Resume Summary
Knowing the difference between two seemingly identical words is the key to receiving an interview invitation (as you know what you need to include).
When you are writing your dental assistant resume objective, you are appealing to a recruiter through your skills because you don’t have work experience. You can mention your training to show how you can contribute to the company. A resume summary is a more specific statement since you are appealing by your experience and achievements.
Both summary and objective aim at attracting the recruiter’s attention.
Dental assistant Resume Summary [Examples]
Let’s consider one example from dental assistant resume samples.
Dedicated to working as a dental assistant. Experienced in fulfillment of work duties, record keeping, increasing the number of clients.
Looks okay, right? But it is
WRONG ❌
For job seekers, it is important to be as specific as possible to find success in the job market.
Now, how it should look in the resume sample.
RIGHT ✅
A dental assistant with 3 years of experience. Mechanized record-keeping and saved an extra hour a day. Analyzed client requirements and increased the number of new patients by 25% over the past year.
Dental assistant Resume Objective [Examples]
When you don’t have experience, you need to write a dental assistant resume objective. It is like telling stories but also mind including specific details.
WRONG ❌
Has no experience, but works as an assistant for my uncle. Has applied for a Dental Assistant training program.
We mark this resume example with a red flag because it will lead you to the rejected dentist assistant population.
RIGHT ✅
A dental assistant receiving formal experience at [name the place] and having 99% of positive responses from clients. Has applied for an online training program from Penn Foster College.
An applicant still works with an uncle, but the text is written more professionally. Also, the training program receives details.
Dental assistant Resume Examples [Experience]
Every dental assistant sample is no different when it comes to experience. You need to include:
- the time during which you worked (2019-2020);
- a company’s data (its name, and, if your future employer needs it, location);
- your position;
- your duties followed by specific accomplishments.
Sometimes, in a sample Dental assistant, you can see a workplace that isn’t related to the dental business. It’s okay if you mention in the education section that you have received the necessary knowledge. But you will have to include responsibilities relating to the vacancy.
Also, if you have solid experience, just choose two or three most recent workplaces to include in your resume.
Entry Level Dental assistant Resume [Experience]
Now, it is time to learn how to write a resume for Dental assistant with no experience. Honestly, there is nothing special. What you need to do is to choose a functional format instead of the reverse-chronological one. Here, instead of work experience and responsibilities, you will focus on your skills. You have to include the ones that relate to your future job. Practice composing it before you reach automation of writing as it will help you to understand what you want to show your employer. You can also include relevant accomplishments. Just remember that absence of experience shouldn’t be a reason to give up.
Entry Level Dental assistant [Sample]
‘Show, don’t tell’ is the best method for a resume example. Using excerpts from dental assistant resume examples, we will give you don’t and do in a nutshell.
WRONG ❌
[Company Name]
Dental Assistant
2019-2021
- noted shortcomings in the work of the clinic
Sounds okay, but what did you do? Such “achievement” won’t do you justice to pass the acceptance level. Add details and you have:
RIGHT ✅
[Company Name]
Dental Assistant
2019-2021
- while organizing documents, discovered a data breach in a digital patient registration program. Hired a specialist to fix the problem and protect personal data.
If you need help to write a professional resume, turn to our pros from nurse resume writing service on Skillhub.
Education Section: How It Helps to Hire You
Sometimes, in dental assistant resume (and resumes for other jobs as well), it might feel that education is a purely informative section. And here is where you are wrong: the creation of this section will add you “bonus points.”
You will have a winning dental assistant education section if you:
- provide more information than just your GPA;
- ensure that this information relates to job requirements;
- mention achievements you got during your education, but only those that demonstrate to your employer the value of your skills.
Dental assistant Resume Examples [Education]
A lot of dental assistant resume samples have little to no information about education. Like the example below:
WRONG ❌
Dental Assisting Program, American Career College, September, 2019 - July, 2020
- completed a ten-month program.
It has information about where you have received skills for your career. But you also should demonstrate your growth. You can look at dental assistant requirements from a vacancy. For example, you will work with a pediatric dentist, so:
RIGHT ✅
Dental Assisting Program, American Career College, September, 2019 - July, 2020
- during a ten-month program, participated in volunteer activity (composing simple dental hygiene rules for children).
Skills on a Resume for a Dental assistant
For every career field, you will need specific skills to perform your duties. Through dental assistant resume samples, we noticed the common problem for beginners. It is the difficulty in writing down your skills.
So, like other professions, dental assistant resume skills will divide into hard and soft skills. Soft skills are the easiest part because it relates to your personal qualities. Usually, you are expected to be:
- patient;
- communicative;
- stress-resistant;
- organized;
- attentive to details.
All that will stop you here is relevance.
It can be difficult to mention your hard (professional) skills. If you don’t know what to mention, review the vacancy requirements. For example, you can include:
- X-ray skills;
- Recording skills;
- Sterilization of instruments skills;
- Patient care skills.
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Dental assistant Resume Examples [Skills]
However, it is not enough to just mention your skills for occupations, though some dental assistant resume samples may mislead you.
WRONG ❌
A dental assistant with great recording skills, who is attentive to details and stress-resistant.
A few tweaks will do magic and turn your resume to be like professional dental assistant resume examples.
RIGHT ✅
Great recording skills helped in sorting out documents and systematization of patients, which accelerated work by 10%.
Stress-resistant and communication skills help in finding common ground with individuals with phobia (increased the customer base by 25% in six months).
Extra Resume Sections to Get Interview Invitation
You already know about extra resume sections. They, however, depend on your recruit requirements. You always want to add a section “additional activities” to list volunteer activities or hobbies that will help you with work.
For specific dental assistant resume sections, you also need certificates and, if available, membership. Certificates will be enough to interest a future employer and get an interview invitation. Also, if you have publications on dentist topics, you can create an additional section and mention what you wrote.
Dental assistant Resume Examples [Other Sections]
The key to a successful and professional Dental assistant resume is understanding what is relevant.
So, consider an example from a resume for Dental assistant jobs like this one:
WRONG ❌
- amateur photography
- fishing
… will not work in getting an interview invitation.
But what will make the additional section better?
Something like this (consider an application for pediatric dentist assistant):
RIGHT ✅
Publications:
- wrote a research paper on how the atmosphere affects the children's mind condition (copy of the paper attached).
Recalling the Most Important
Now, you have basic knowledge on how to write a Dental assistant resume. Last advice from us: when you write a resume, put yourself in the place of a recruiter who needs to look at dozens of resumes. You don’t want to read a long resume with not-relatable details, do you?
Do not be ashamed if you can’t write a resume. It is an easy job if you have practice. Appreciate yourself and entrust the work to custom resume writers, who will prepare a professional dental assistant resume only for you.