10 Resume Tips for Travel Medical Technologists
COVID-19 and a wave of retiring medical technologists (MTs) have resulted in a wealth of medical technologist jobs, including travel assignments.
“At any given time, we have approximately 100 or more jobs available throughout the U.S. and with many different shifts and available start dates,” said Tiena McCrary, Club Staffing senior principal recruiter. “But now we have over 250 available positions from Alaska to Hawaii, New York to California, and back down to Florida.”
Even so, the job market for traveling medical technologists can be competitive, so travelers and their recruiters must work together to ensure that their candidate profile is current and that travelers are flexible enough to be considered for many opportunities. And the process starts with having an exceptional resume.
Top resume tips for medical technologists
Veteran Club Staffing recruiters McCrary and Melissa Dingee, principal recruiting consultant, offered the following resume tips to help secure your ideal medical technologist job:
- Use a clean, standard-size font that is legible and easy to read. Stay away from fancy, cursive fonts that may disrupt the reader from understanding what you’re trying to convey.
- Focus on the needs of the position you’re seeking. Specify the national certification you have, such as ASCP or AMT. Let employers know if you are a generalist who works in the core lab on all benches or if your experience is geared toward only one or two areas, such as a microbiologist or expert blood banker.
- List phlebotomy experience if you have it. Include the population of patients (adults, NICU, pediatrics, adolescents).
- Be specific about your experience within the last year. Don’t give any false expectations of what you’re capable of doing.
- Construct your resume in chronological order with your most recent position at the top of the page, going back at least 7 to 10 years. Keep your details short and to the point.
- Provide current professional references from supervisors, managers, or directors, making sure you have permission to use them. Provide cell numbers or email addresses so recruiters and hiring managers can contact and obtain the references promptly.
- Don’t put peer references on your resume.
- Include all instrumentation you have used for each assignment, such as Sysmex, Beckman Coulter, and Roche Cobas, and list it out separately for each assignment. Even if you have used it at every assignment, hospitals like to see how recently you have used it.
- Include LIS systems, such as Cerner, Sunquest, etc. If a hospital can quickly see that you have used their equipment and LIS systems, you’ll have a better chance of getting an interview.
- List what benches you worked on during each assignment or position. Were you a generalist? Did you do blood banking and micro?
“If your resume is outdated, unorganized, or hard to read, then it makes it very hard to sell you and your skills,” said McCrary. “Our industry is a fast-paced business, and you do not always get a second chance to make a first impression. The more detailed the resume is with easy-to-read and understandable information, then the easier it will be to present you in the best light to our clients.”
Why work as a travel medical technologist?
The medical technologist field is thriving, so now is the time to take advantage of numerous clinical lab openings for travelers, including good pay and exciting locations.
“If you are looking to check some boxes off of your travel bucket list, then now is a great time,” said McCrary. “Traveling is flexible and high paying. You are essentially there to help the facility, but you also get to immerse yourself in area events and culture.”
What’s more, there are other benefits that MT travelers shouldn’t overlook:
- Travel medical technologist jobs will not require individual state licensure in the majority of states. There are only a few states that require state licensure in addition to their national certification. California, Florida, New York, and Nevada are a few states that require an additional license.
- Medical technologists are always in demand. At any given time, there can be numerous positions available with great pay rates and healthy benefits packages Free housing and travel expenses are also covered by your allied staffing agency.
If traveling as an MT sounds exciting, start creating a highly desirable resume that best represents your skills and experience. Then you’ll be on track to find a clinical laboratory job with flexibility, great pay, and exciting travel opportunities.
READY to start your career as a travel medical technologist? Refine that resume, apply online, and our Club Staffing recruitment team will help get you on your way!