Do you want to help others improve their lives through language and communication? Of course, you do. That’s why you studied to be a speech language pathologist. Now you just need to land your first SLP position!
But this is no time to trip over your words; your resume needs to be clear, concise, and effectively showcase your communication skills.
Check out our entry-level SLP resume example to get you started and make the most of our top resume writing tips as well.
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Entry Level SLP Resume Example (speech language pathologist)
The example Entry Level Speech and Language Pathologist 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.
Entry Level SLP resume layout and format
The format and layout of your resume can make or break its success.
Sure, it’s great to pack your resume with lots of impressive skills and knowledge, but if the page is not structured clearly, hiring managers will struggle to find the important stuff!
Above all, your resume should be easy-to-read and professional looking.
Follow these formatting tips to get noticed.
Tips for resume formatting
- 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: Readability is the name of the game when it comes to your resume. Ensure yours is a dream to read by using a simple clear font, and breaking the text up with plenty of bullet points and short paragraphs.
- Design & structure: Allow recruiters to skim through your resume with ease, by dividing the page into clear sections with headings and borders. The design of your resume should be eye-catching but not overly complex – keep the style and color scheme simple and clean.
- Photos and images: It’s not mandatory to add a photo to your resume in the USA but it if you’re applying to organizations within the creative fields, it can be beneficial.
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
Organize the document into these sections when you write your resume.
- Name and contact details – Employers need to know how to get in touch with you – so list your email and cell phone number here.
- Resume summary – An intro paragraph at the top of the resume which summarizes your suitability for target jobs.
- Skills section – A bullet-pointed list of your most relevant skills and knowledge.
- Work experience – A list of your previous jobs (or at least the most relevant and recent ones)
- Education – Add academic and professional qualifications that prove you can carry out the job
- Additional info – If they are relevant to the jobs you are applying for, you can add an extra section for things like hobbies and interests.
Now, here’s what to include in each of these sections in your resume.
Resume Contact Details
Keep your contact details short to save resume space and include the following.
- Name and profession title
- Cell phone number
- Location – Add your local area such as Silicon Valley or New York, unless you are looking for work in a different location
- Email address – Keep it professional and don’t use an old address that you thought was cool in high school, but now looks a bit embarrassing.
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.
Entry Level SLP Resume Summary
Your resume summary is like your introduction to the recruiter or hiring manager – it should grab their attention and leave them eager to read more about you.
Achieve this by writing a snappy overview of your skills, knowledge and what value you can bring to an employer.
Top tips for creating an effective resume summary:
- Keep it brief: Your summary is intended to be a high-level introduction to hook readers’ attention, so keep it brief (4-7 lines) – save the details for later in your resume.
- Tailor it: Ensure your profile makes an impact by matching it closely to the requirements of the job description, copying as many key terms as possible.
- Avoid cliches: Recruiters look for facts in resumes, such as hard skills and qualifications – so, leave out the meaningless cliches like “hard worker who works well in a team and individually“
Example resume summary for Entry Level SLP
What to include in your Entry Level SLP resume summary?
- Summary of your experience: Provide an overview of the type of work you have done in the past and the impact you have made at previous employers.
- Relevant skills: Highlight your skills which are most relevant to Entry Level SLP jobs, to ensure that recruiters see your most in-demand skills as soon as they open your resume.
- Important qualifications: Mention any Entry Level SLP 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
Underneath your summary, write a core skills section to make your most relevant skills jump off the page at readers.
It should be made up of 2-3 columns of bullet points of your relevant skills.
Before you do this, look over the job description and make a list of any specific skills, specialisms or knowledge required.
Then, make sure to use your findings in your list. This will paint you as the perfect match for the role.
Best skills for your Entry Level SLP resume
Psychosocial assessments – completing comprehensive assessments to identify any personal psychological and environmental (social) factors that might explain a patient’s symptoms.
Case management – managing several patients throughout their treatment journey.
Articulation therapy – guiding sessions during which the therapist models correct sounds and syllables in words and sentences for a patient to replicate.
Diagnosis and treatment planning – completing a variety of tests to diagnose the patient’s condition, and plan appropriate treatments over an agreed period.
Language services – providing a variety of language services such as translation, interpreting, language instruction, language testing, cultural consulting, or localization.
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.
Resume work experience section
So, you’ve got the recruiter interested with your catchy summary… Great work.
Now it’s time to show them the impact you make in the workplace by listing out your previous jobs and what you achieved in each one.
If you have tons of experience, you can condense this part down to the last few years – if you are junior, then you should include as much possible (even volunteering and school work placements)
Structuring your job descriptions
Without a good structure, your job description can look messy and overwhelming to anyone reading them.
Make it easy for recruiters to read your work experience by structuring your roles like this.
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 Entry Level SLP resume
Outline
Completed 400 hours of clinical experience throughout the MSc, working under the Head Speech-Language Pathologist at Ohio’s leading Speech and Language Clinic.
Key Responsibilities
- Developed and implemented individualized and group therapy for patients with language delays, articulation, phonological, language, and cognitive disorders, and those with autism spectrum disorders
- Educated parents, siblings, and guardians on how to promote treatment and provide a strong support network to the patient
- Provided information on speech improvement techniques and non-verbal communication methods including lip reading and sign language
- Created and implemented treatment plans to address speech and language issues in collaboration with other clinical professionals
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
Near the end of your resume add your education section
Experienced candidates should keep it brief and focus on professional qualifications – and junior candidates can include GED, high school diplomas, college degrees etc.
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 Entry Level SLP resume
A winning Entry Level SLP resume should look great, read well, and sell your skillset to hiring managers.
If you follow the steps above, you should be able to bag yourself a top job in no time.
And don’t forget you can use our quick-and-easy Resume Builder if you want to save time and ensure your resume contains the very best content.
Good luck with your job search!