Respiratory Therapist Resume: Examples, Template, and Resume Tips

While industrialization has certainly helped improve the quality of life for billions of people in the world, it has also led to massive pollution.

In 2018, Carbon emissions reached an all-time high.

These high levels of pollution have in turn contributed to a huge increase in the number of respiratory disease cases.

A study presented at the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) shows that over 200 million people in the world are suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

With such high cases of respiratory diseases, it is inevitable that respiratory therapists will be in high demand over the next decade.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is expected that the labor market for respiratory therapists will grow by 23% over the course of the next decade.

Therefore, if you are respiratory therapist, things look bright for you.

Respiratory therapists are medical personnel whose provide assistance and treatment to patients with breathing and cardiopulmonary problems, including pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, emphysema, chronic respiratory diseases, and so on.

Some of the duties of a respiratory therapist include administering respiratory therapies, conducting minor examinations on patients, helping patients complete their treatment plans, monitoring patient’s progress, operating ventilators, administering inhalants, offering advice on breathing exercises, and so on.

Like many other careers in the medical field, you need to show that you are a qualified, responsible, and reliable person before getting the job.

Hospitals, clinics, and other health facilities only want to hire the best candidates because they know that hiring the wrong person could be risky for their patients’ health.

To convince potential employers that you are the right person for the job, you need to have a bullet-proof resume that presents you in the best light and outlines your greatest strengths.

Your respiratory therapist resume should show that you have the right education, that you have been licensed to practice as a respiratory therapist, and that you have the necessary clinical experience.

It also needs to show that you have other necessary skills such as communication skills (since you need to constantly communicate with patients), diagnosis skills, infection control, judgment, teamwork, bedside manners, as well as knowledge in the use of mechanical ventilation systems.

If you are wondering how to create such a resume that will showcase your qualifications, skills, and expertise as a respiratory therapist, take a deep breath!

After all, this is something you are good at.

In this guide, we are going to teach you everything you need to know about creating a respiratory therapist resume that will present you in the best way possible.

We will break down each of the parts you need to include in your resume and explain in detail how to write each of these sections.

First, let’s start by looking at some examples of great respiratory therapist resumes to give you an idea of what a great resume entails.

Don’t forget, if you don’t want to build your resume from scratch, you can save time by using our resume builder.

RESPIRATORY THERAPIST RESUME EXAMPLES

Entry Level Respiratory Therapist Resume Sample

Senior Level Respiratory Therapist Resume Sample

WRITING THE PERSONAL INFO SECTION ON A RESPIRATORY THERAPIST RESUME

This should always be the first section of your CV, since it is the section that introduces you to your potential employer.

While this section might appear simple, you need to be very careful how you write it, since you want to present yourself as a professional right from the start.

You also want this section to be very clean and organized.

Below, let’s take a look at some of the information you should include in this section.

Full Name

This is the first thing that should appear in the personal information section. Here, you should write your full name as it is on your national ID card or driving license. You can choose to include your middle name or not, but your first and last name should be there.

Avoid the temptation to include unofficial names, such as the nickname your friends identify you by, or the monikers you use on social media.

Actually, it is advisable to have your full name on social media, since social media has an impact on your chances of getting hired.

Below is an example of how to write your name on your resume.

The second example is very unprofessional, and will greatly limit your chances of being invited to job interviews, leave alone getting hired.

Profession – Respiratory Therapist

You want the potential employer to know what you do right from the start, so your name should be immediately followed by your profession.

This way, they don’t have to keep guessing whether you are what they are looking for.

When writing your profession, you should keep it simple and straight to the point. Since you are a respiratory therapist, write exactly that and nothing more.

Professional Email Address

The next thing that needs to appear in the personal information section is your email address. Today, majority of business communication happens via email, and therefore, providing your email address is very important.

Just like your name, your email address should present your professionally. Your email address should include your official names, or your name and initials. If your email address has a nickname or some funny characters, you should create another professional email.

Remember, your prospective employer will most likely communicate via email, therefore you need to provide an email address that you check regularly.

You don’t want to see an invitation to an interview long after the company has conducted the interviews and hired someone else.

If you are job hunting while on another job, do not use your work email when applying for jobs.

Your current boss might find out that you are looking for other opportunities (using company resources no less), and this could cause problems for you.

In addition, once you leave your current company, you might lose access to that email address, and crucial messages sent to that email address will not get to you.

Below is an example of a good email address to use on your resume.

Phone Number

Sometimes, recruiters and hiring managers might opt to call instead of communicating via email, either because they want to reach you much faster, or because they want to conduct a phone interview before inviting you for an in-person interview.

This is why it is very important to include your phone number in your resume.

Of course, this should be a number where you can easily be reached.

Avoid giving out your office phone number if you are working for another company at the moment. Give out your home or cell phone number.

Optional Items On A Respiratory Therapist Resume

You may choose to include your photo in your resume, though it is not an absolute necessity.

If you choose to include the photo, make sure the photo looks professional.

It is also advisable to include a link to your LinkedIn profile, since this will help potential employers get a more accurate picture of who you are as a professional. If you have a personal website or blog, you can also include a link in this section.

However, you should only do this if the blog presents you as a professional. Don’t include links to blogs where you post about your personal stuff.

What Items Should You Leave Out Of A Respiratory Therapist Resume?

It is advisable to leave out information such as your nationality, date of birth, religion, marital status, family size, and so on, since this information could be used to discriminate against you, either consciously or unconsciously.

Of course, discrimination is wrong, but you have no way of telling if you missed out on a chance to interview because of your race or age, and therefore, it is best to leave out this information.

CRAFTING A GREAT PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY FOR A RESPIRATORY THERAPIST RESUME

The professional summary is the second section of your resume, and this is where you provide a short overview of yourself and your qualifications, experience, knowledge, and skills as a respiratory therapist.

The aim of the summary section is to give the recruiter a reason to read the rest of your resume.

When writing the summary section, you want to highlight your biggest achievements and your greatest strengths as a respiratory therapist.

You want the recruiter to get the idea that you are the best person for the job even before they read the rest of your resume.

When writing this part, you should use powerful action verbs to sell yourself more clearly.

It is advisable to write the summary section last, so that you’ll have a good idea of what is in the rest of the resume and can therefore easily decide what details need to be highlighted in the summary.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind when writing the summary section:

• Mention your professional title in the summary.
• If you already have some experience, mention the number of years you’ve worked as a respiratory therapist.
• Check the job description to see the keywords used by the recruiter and include some of these keywords in your summary. This can be very useful in helping your resume get past an applicant tracking system. However, don’t crowd the summary with too many keywords.
• Numbers are easier to spot and remember, therefore it is advisable to quantify the achievements highlighted in the summary.
• The focus of your summary should be on your achievements, rather than your skills. It is better to mention how you have offered advice on breathing exercise to hundreds of patients, rather than talking about your excellent communication skills.
• Focus on the contribution you can make to the company, rather than what you want in your career.
• Keep the summary short. It should not exceed 5 sentences.

Below is an example of how to write the summary section.

SHOWCASING YOUR EXPERIENCE ON A RESPIRATORY THERAPIST RESUME

The experience section is another very important section of your resume. In most cases, potential employers will be looking for people who have some experience on the job, because this means that they won’t have to undergo lots of training before they can start being productive.

This is the section where you show the prospective employer all your past experience, what your duties and obligations were, and what skills you have gained from this experience.

Here, you want to include a list of all the places you have worked as a respiratory therapist. If you held other jobs where the work you did was not related to the duties of a respiratory therapist, don’t include these jobs in the experience section.

When writing this section, you should list the places where you have worked in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position going backwards.

For every position that you list in the experience section, you should mention the name of the health facility you worked for, the period of time that you spent working there, some of the major duties you were tasked with while in this position, the skills you learned in the position, and some of your biggest accomplishments while in this position.

Since the aim of your resume is to showcase yourself as the best person for the job, you should try as much as possible to match the duties in your experience section with the duties listed on the job description.

However, if you find that none of the duties you were tasked with are directly related with the duties on the job description, you can still go ahead and list them.

It is much better to list any duties you did as a respiratory therapist than to leave this field blank.

You should also remember to quantify all your achievements when writing the experience section.

For instance, instead of simply saying that you “helped patients complete their treatment plans,” say that you “helped over 500 patients complete their treatment plans.”

Quantification shows that you really know what you are talking about.

Someone who helped one patient complete a treatment plan might include the same thing on their resume even if it was not part of their major duties, but if you helped 500 patients, then its certain that this is something you did regularly.

Numbers also stick in the mind easily, which means that you are more likely to be remembered if you quantify your achievements.

When describing your experience, it is also advisable to focus on experience that shows contact with patients as well as soft skills. If you are applying for a job in a large health facility, you should focus on a specific set of skills.

If you are applying for a job in a small clinic, on the other hand, you should show that you have a diverse set of skills.

Below is an example of how to write about your experience:

If you just graduated from school and have not had any experience, you should instead mention any internships you have had.

Highlight what you did during your internship just like you would do when talking about actual job experience.

WRITING THE EDUCATION SECTION ON A RESPIRATORY THERAPY RESUME

Next, you need to show that you have the necessary education to work as a respiratory therapist, and this is where the education section comes in.

Just like the experience section, this part should be written in reverse chronological order.

When writing about your academic qualifications, you should include the name of the institution where you attained this qualification, the time during which you undertook the course or training, and the qualification you attained.

It is advisable to include your GPA, though you should leave it out if it is not very good.

Of course, all the education listed in this section should be related to your career as a respiratory therapist. If you have other education that is not related to this, don’t include it in your resume.

Your education section should go back to your high school.

However, if you have a degree that is higher than a bachelor’s degree, you can omit high school education.

Below is an example of how to write your education section.

RESPIRATORY THERAPIST RESUME: WRITING THE CERTIFICATIONS SECTION

In most medical professions, you will need to undertake various certifications to show that you have the necessary skills and in order to obtain a license to practice.

The same applies for respiratory therapists. Some of the certifications you might need to work as a respiratory therapist include the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) and the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT).

If you have already acquired these certifications, as well as any other relevant certifications, you should include them in this section.

When listing your certification, mention the certification and the year you received the certification.

If you are a member of any professional associations, you can also list them in this section.

SHOWCASING YOUR RESPIRATORY THERAPIST SKILLS

This section is where you get to impress your potential employer with your collection of skills.

Here, you should go for both hard skills – those that you learned from school and through training, and which can be graded – as well as soft skills – those which you learn over the course of life and that can be transferred to any job, such as communication skills and people skills.

Some of the skills you might want to include in your resume as a respiratory therapist include:

• Detail oriented: As a respiratory therapist, you need to be able to pay attention to details. This comes in handy when ensuring that patients receive treatments correctly, as well as in recording various data about the patient.
• Interpersonal skills: You will need to interact with patients, work under the supervision of a physician, work in collaboration with other medical practitioners, and so on. All these interactions need someone with strong interpersonal skills.
• Patience: Part of your duties will include giving special attention to patients over long periods of time. If you don’t have the patience, you will soon start hating the job.
• Time management: When dealing with patients, you will need to schedule and keep appointments, and therefore time management skills are critical for a respiratory therapist.
• Team work: Working as a respiratory therapist means that you have to work together with other people, such as doctors and nurses, making this a crucial skill.
• Communication skills: The importance of this skill for respiratory therapists cannot be stressed enough. You will need to constantly communicate with patients to find out how they are feeling, to provide advice on various treatment options, and so on. This calls for excellent communication skills, including skills such as confidence, active listening, responsiveness, ability to understand non-verbal cues, empathy, respect, friendliness, and patience.
• Patient care: Many of your duties, such as monitoring patients, administering inhalants, conducting minor examinations, and so on need you to maintain a professional demeanor when dealing with patients, and therefore this is a skill most potential employers will be looking for.

Apart from the above soft skills, you will also need several hard skills, such as knowledge of medical terminology, knowledge on the use of various ventilation equipment, oxygen therapy skills, cardiopulmonary therapies, diagnosis skills, infection control, and so on.

One thing to keep in mind here is that you should not list all these skills on your resume. This will only make you appear insincere, and potential employers will not take you seriously.

What you want to do, instead, is to choose about five of your strongest skills and include them in your resume.

For every skill that you choose to include in your resume, make sure you have an example of a situation where you demonstrated this skill, since this is something you might be asked during a job interview.

You can also decide on the skills to include based on the requirements of the job you are applying for. For instance, let’s assume the image below is an excerpt form a job posting:

For such a job, some of the skills you might want to include in your resume are:

• Time management
• Knowledge on the use of ventilation equipment
• Patient care
• Medical knowledge
• Oxygen therapy skills

WRAPPING UP

By this point, you should be able to write an excellent respiratory therapist resume.

I have shown you some examples of what a great respiratory therapist resume should look like, and I have provided you with guidance on how to write each of the sections that you should include in your respiratory therapist resume.

If you follow the tips shared in this article, you will greatly increase your chances of getting invited for an interview.

From there, you can follow the tips in this article to help you ace the job interview.

If you don’t want to go through all the trouble of creating your respiratory therapist resume from scratch, you can use our resume builder to create a professional resume in a matter of minutes.

All the best on your job search!