Hanging out with dogs all day and enjoying the fresh air sounds like a dream job, right?
But if you want to turn this dream into a reality, you need a resume that is going to convince owners that their precious pooch is safe in your hands.
To help you do this, we’ve put together a winning dog walker resume example and step-by-step guide that will show you how it’s done.
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Dog Walker Resume Example
The example Dog Walker resume above shows you how a professional resume should look, along with the type of content it should contain.
You’ll notice that the information is well organized across the page, and its easy for busy hiring managers to spot the candidate’s important skills.
Keep this in mind as you write your own resume.
Dog Walker resume layout and format
If you want to get noticed in the job market, you have to pay attention to the format and layout of your resume.
Essentially your resume needs to look highly polished, and provide hiring managers with an easy reading experience.
Use these resume formatting tips to get a head start on this.
Resume formatting tips
- Length: Attention spans in recruitment are notoriously short, so keep your resume short and sweet. There’s no exact rule for resume length, but aim for 2 pages or less if you want to ensure yours gets read in full.
- Font and text: Complex fonts are a readers’ worst nightmare and will leave recruiters struggling to understand your message. Use a clear simple lean font in a color that stands out against the page, and break your text up with bullet points to make the content easily digestible.
- Design & structure: Go with a resume design that looks good, but also allows for easy reading and navigation for employers. Ensure the page is clearly split up into sections by adding large font headings and dividing borders. Keep the color scheme simple and don’t overcrowd the page.
- Photos and images: In the USA adding a photo to your resume is optional – you don’t have to do it, but it can be a nice way to get your personality across.
Quick tip: Formatting a resume to look professional can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our quick-and-easy Resume Builder and use one of their eye-catching resume templates.
Resume layout
Include the following sections when you write your resume.
- Name and contact details – Make it easy for employers to contact you, by putting these at the top.
- Resume summary – An intro paragraph sitting at the top of your resume, summarizing the reasons why you should be hired.
- Skills section – A short snappy list of your most important skills, that can be quickly digested
- Work experience – Reverse chronological list of your previous jobs – voluntary work and college placements can be included if you have no paid experience.
- Education – List your qualifications and professional training.
- Additional info – An optional section for things like hobbies and interests.
Now here’s exactly what you should include in each of these sections in your resume.
Resume Contact Details
Add your name and contact details to the very top of your resume, making it easy for recruiters to get in touch
- Name and profession title
- Cell phone number – or another number you can answer quickly
- Location – Add your local area such as San Diego or New York – not your full address as that will take up too much space.
- Email address – Use your name or close variation – no nicknames from high school.
You can add a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one – you do not need to include personal details like date of birth or marital status.
Dog Walker Resume Summary
Your resume summary is like an elevator pitch. It’s your chance to sell yourself to employers within a short space of time.
Achieve this by summarizing your skills and expertise, whilst highlighting your abilities that closely match the jobs you are aiming for.
Tips for creating an strong resume summary:
- Keep it brief: You only have a few seconds to grab a recruiters’ attention and make them commit to your resume, so keep your summary between 4 – 7 lines.
- Tailor it: Recruiters will be scanning for the skills and knowledge they mentioned in the job description, so add as many as you can to your summary.
- Avoid cliches: Recruiters always see cringey cliches like “hardworking guru who works well in a team or individually” – they don’t mean much to anyone, so focus your summary on tangible skills and experience.
Example resume summary for Dog Walker
What to include in your Dog Walker Resume summary?
- Summary of professional experience: What type of organizations have you worked at? What types of roles have you done and what have you contributed to previous employers?
- Relevant skills: Scatter your most in-demand Dog Walker skills through your summary to ensure they are noticed quickly by hiring managers.
- Essential qualifications: Mention any Dog Walker qualifications that are important to your profession in the summary briefly, to show you are qualified to carry out the role.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one click in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder. All written by our recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset.
Core skills section
In addition to your resume summary, your core skills section provides an easily digestible snapshot of your skills – perfect for grabbing the attention of busy hiring managers.
As Dog Walker jobs might receive a huge pile of applications, this is a great way to stand out and show off your suitability for the role.
It should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points and be made up of skills that are highly relevant to the jobs you are targeting.
Best skills for your Dog Walker resume
- Dog handling – Knowledgeable around the various techniques used to approach dogs of varying demeanours, lifting and carrying dogs, and using collars and harnesses.
- Training techniques – Knowledgeable about dog training techniques such as positive reinforcement, clicker training, mirror training, alpha training, and relationship-based training.
- Pet first aid and CPR – Able to react quickly and provide medical attention to ill or injured dogs.
- Canine anatomy – Knowledgeable about canine anatomy across varying breeds.
- Animal welfare – Ensuring the safety, emotional and physical wellbeing of each animal.
Quick tip: Our quick-and-easy Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews.
Work experience section
Now that you’ve reeled recruiters in with your awesome summary, it’s time to delve into your work experience.
Here you’ll list your previous jobs (starting with your most recent and working backward) and showcase how you apply your skills in the workplace.
Provide lots of detail in recent jobs, and less in older roles.
If you have no relevant paid experience, you can include voluntary work and placements – but if you have lots of experience, you can leave out some of the really old jobs.
Structuring your job descriptions
Resume job descriptions contain lots of information, so its crucial to structure them well.
Use the structure below to ensure hiring managers can consume the information easily.
Job outline
Begin each job with a short summary of who the organization is, where you sit within it, and what the main goal of your position is.
Key responsibilities
Then delve into the detail of your job by listing out easy-to-read bullet points which show how you apply your skills in the workplace.
Tailor these bullet points to focus on the skills and knowledge that are required in the jobs you are applying for.
Key achievements
Show employers the value you can bring to them by adding a few achievements to your jobs.
Whether you’ve saved the company money or improved an internal process, let recruiters know
Add some numbers to give readers a real scale of the impact, e.g. “reduced call wait time by 10%”
Example job for Dog Walker resume
Outline
Working for a successful Beaufort dog walking company. Responsible for providing care and enrichment services to up at 8 dogs of varying breeds at one time.
Key Responsibilities
- Walk dogs for 2-3 hours per day, 5 days a week and ensure each dog receives adequate exercise by monitoring playtime and rest periods
- Provide basic care to each dog including feeding, watering, cleaning up after accidents, administering medication if needed, and grooming as required
- Provided basic obedience training including training dogs to walk calmly on their leash and follow commands
- Undertake owner requests regarding exercise routines and individual pet needs including diet restrictions or health issues
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our quick-and-easy Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education resume section
Towards the bottom of your resume, add your education section.
Here you should list your professional qualifications and academic record, such as high school diplomas or college degrees.
If you have lots of work experience, you can keep this section brief (because recruiters will be more interested in your career. If you have little/no experience then you should bulk this section up with plenty of detail.
Additional info for your resume
Any other info that didn’t fall into any of the previous sections can be added here.
If you have hobbies that are related to your profession or any awards or publications – add them here.
Writing your Dog Walker resume
Writing a Dog Walker resume can be challenging but following the steps above will ensure that you land plenty of interviews.
If you want to speed up the process and use an attractive professional template, try out our quick-and-easy Resume Builder.
Good luck with your job search!