Public Health Resume: Sample and Complete Writing Guide [20+ Tips]

Public Health Resume Sample

Need a more specific resume for public health jobs? See our other guides:

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• Medical Assistant Resume Sample & Guide
• Nursing Resume Sample & Guide
• Nurse Practitioner Resume Sample & Guide
• Medical School Resume Sample & Guide
• Labor and Delivery Nurse Resume Sample & Guide
• Home Health Aide Resume Sample
• Medical School Resume Sample & Guide
• Pediatric Nurse Resume Sample & Guide
• Physician’s Assistant Resume Sample & Guide
• Operating Room Nurse Resume Sample & Guide
• ICU Nurse Resume Sample & Guide
• Med-Surg Nurse Resume Sample & Guide
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• LPN Resume Sample & Guide

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Public Health Resume Example - See more templates and create your resume here.

Here’s how to write a public health resume that gets jobs:

1. Start With the Best Public Health Resume Format

Public Health Officers and educators develop policies and plans that ensure health and wellness in the populace. They identify and analyze public health issues and provide outreach to spread understanding. A public health resume should prove you have the skills to guide constituents toward well-being.

Your resume for public health jobs must distinguish you.

To do that, use the best format for a resume—the reverse chronological resume.

Why is that the best of the resume layouts? Because it shows who you are today.

Follow these steps:

• Use the best font size for resumes—that’s in the 10–12 point range.
• Write resume headers that stand out by making your name big and “Public Health Officer” (or educator or analyst) a bit smaller.
• The only address information in a resume that matters is your phone, social media, and email. Don’t sweat the street address, but add your city.
• Use the standard parts of a resume: experience and education. But add bonus sections (I’ll show how soon).
• How long should a resume be? One page is best unless you’re a leader in the field.

Pro Tip: What’s the best job resume format? PDF. It beats Word because PDF formatting stays locked. But obey the job posting if it insists on MS Word resumes.

2. Write a Public Health Resume Objective or Resume Summary

You’ve got 6 seconds before the director bins your public health resume.

So—

Here’s how to write a resume profile that saves your bacon:

Got 2+ years’ experience in public health? Write a professional summary. Include:

• “Public health officer” (or public health nurse, analyst, or educator)
• Your years of experience
• One adjective like “passionate” or “hard-working”
• Two key skills
• Your two biggest moments in public health where you really had an effect.

Got less than 2 years of public health experience? Write a resume objective. It’s the same thing as a summary, with more focus on transferable skills.

Pro Tip: Your summary is a summing-up of your resume for public health positions. That means you can’t make it the first thing you do. Save this chore for last.

3. Customize Your Resume to the Public Health Job Description

You’ll get more interviews if—

You work on tailoring your resume for public health jobs.

Here’s how to add experience in a resume to prove you’re a fit:

• Add job titles to every past position, plus dates and company names.
• List public health accomplishments that prove your skills.
• Include measurements like, “12” or “25%” to show your human capital.

Pro Tip: Use public health resume phrases that generate interest, like worked, created, or developed.

4. Prep Your Public Health Resume Education Section

To stand out:

When showing college or high school education on a resume for public health jobs—

• List school name, dates, and degree.
• Add achievements that show qualities like leadership or critical thinking skills.
• For instance, if you did a public education project, mention it.

Pro Tip: Wondering how to write a resume with no experience? In an entry-level public health resume, stretch your education section into projects and sections with their own bullet points.

5. Show Public Health Skills in Your Resume

Show key skills in a resume for public health jobs.

Public Health Resume Skills

Technical Skills for Resumes:

• Developing and/or implementing wellness programs
• Public health education
• Working with at-risk populations
• PowerPoint
• Computer skills
• Monitoring public health programs
• Working with policymakers
• Collaborating with health service providers
• Public health knowledge
• Mathematics
• Handling public health crises
• Providing care
• Infectious disease knowledge
• Infection control

Soft Skills:

• Interpersonal skills
• Leadership
• Organization
• Networking
• Critical thinking
• Self confidence
• Time management
• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• Stamina
• Active listening
• Written and oral communication
• Perceptiveness
• Collaboration
• Detail oriented

What are technical skills? They’re the specific abilities you need to do the job. Soft skills are transferable to all jobs.

But—

Don’t list every technical skill in the book. A public health resume should give preference to the ones in the job description.

Pro Tip: Want more help with listing soft skills in a resume for public health jobs? See our guide to the top 10 hard skills employers love.

Our resume builder (you can create your resume here) will give you tips and examples on how to write your resume summary or any other section. You can easily copy them straight into your resume - it will save you a ton of time.

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Inside Zety's resume builder you will find tips and examples for your resume.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Public Health Resume

Convince them to hire you.

How?

With extra sections in your public health resume.

You can add:

• Resume volunteer experience
• Activities
• Associations like NBPHE
• Awards
• Honors
• Media appearances
• Conferences (esp. if you were a speaker)
• Publications
• Sports
• Hobbies and interests

If you have specialized public health credentials such as CPH, your certifications on a resume should go in their own section, below “Education.”

Pro Tip: Here’s how to put languages on a resume for public health jobs: If they’re vital to the role, put them in a special section. If not, list them as skills.

7. Send a Cover Letter With Your Public Health Resume

Should i write a cover letter for a public health resume?

Yes.

A public health cover letter can make all the difference.

Follow these tips for writing a cover letter that works:

• When formatting a cover letter, use the 3-paragraph approach.
• Great cover letter openings start with hooks. Tell about your best achievement (reached 3.5 million residents) or why you’re so passionate about the role.
• Use the middle to weld yourself to the job. Show your knowledge of the position, and achievements that prove you fit.
• When ending a cover letter, offer what they want. “I’d love to explain how I engaged with 7,000 people in each of 15 Twitter posts” works well.
• Most cover letters are two pages in length, but they should be half a page at most.

Send job application status emails in a few days, a week, and two weeks. Each one grants you another chance.

That’s it!

That’s how to write a public health resume.

But—are you afraid your healthcare resume will hit a wall? What’s nagging you about your resume for public health jobs? Give us a shout in the comments. We’d love to talk!