EMT Resume Samples

Why the EMT Resume is Important

When applying for a position as an emergency medical technician (EMT) a strong EMT resume is very important. This is especially true for an EMT resume with no experience in the field (entry-level EMT resume). The resume gives employers insight into who you are as a person and who you will be as a working professional. It lets employers know if you are an EMT who can properly fill out paperwork and who has good judgement.

The EMT resume also gives them an idea about whether you are detail oriented or sloppy. For new EMTs the resume is a great opportunity to stand out and set yourself above other EMTs applying for the same position.

Here you can find information about how to put together a strong EMT resume and you will find EMT resume samples at the bottom of this post.

Parts of the EMT Resume

There are a few different options for putting together your EMT resume. An entry-level EMT resume will focus on different areas than an EMT with 20 years experience will. However, good resumes should include most of the following sections.

• Heading
• Objective
• Education
• License and Certification (Optional)
• Experience 
• Skill
• References (Not used often)

1. Heading

The heading section will include your name, address, phone number, and email address. This information can be centered or placed to the right or left side of the page.

2. Objective

The objective section is only about 1-3 sentences long and should be brief and to the point. It should include the position you are applying for and the name of the institution you are applying at. This is important so that the EMT resume feels unique to each employer and not generic.

The objective section is also your first opportunity to stand out as an individual and make a connection with the person reading your resume. You want to show your passion for the specific job you’re applying for and verbalize what skills you have that give you the expertise to do job.

This sounds like a lot to do in only a few sentences, so there are a couple EMT resume samples to help clarify at the bottom of this post.

3. Education

The education section has some flexibility depending on how many schools you have attended and how many degrees you have. You should list schools attended and diplomas and degrees received along with the relevant dates.

However, if you went to four different High Schools, just write the one you graduated from with the date of your diploma. If you have a bachelor’s or master’s degree you might not even want to list your high school.

If your GPA is 3.0 or higher you can include it in the education section. Honor’s societies, Dean’s list, and other academic achievements can be included in the education section. If you have more than a couple academic achievements you can add an extra section for Honors and Awards and mention your achievements there.

An entry-level EMT resume can put extra emphasis on the education section if you have a lot of academic achievements.

4. License and Certification

The license and certification section is optional because it can be included in the education section if you don’t have much information filling up the education section.

Some applicants will only have a high school diploma and EMT class to put in the education section. For those applicants it’s a great option to list all licenses and certifications alongside schooling.

Other applicants will have too much in the education section and will need a separate place to bring attention to medical achievements. This section should only include certifications relevant to the medical field and EMT work.

What does this mean?

It means include a lifeguard certification, but not a speed swimmer certification.

You should include any skills you have and any courses you’ve completed such as CPR, BLS, and ALS certifications along with dates they are active. Make sure to include your EMT license and write what states you can practice in. Also, don’t forget to include an ambulance driving certificate if you have one.

5. Experience

This section is the work history section and lets employers know how much experience you have in the medical field working with patients. It can include both paid and unpaid positions, including internships and volunteer work. It will include work experience written in chronological order from current employers to past employers.

You should include the name of your past employer, the city and state they are located in, the position you held, and the dates of your employment.

This section also includes a list of duties and responsibilities for each job, which offers a great opportunity to list skills that will help you get hired to the current job. This section is a great place for EMTs with past experience to shine by showing on the job competence.

It’s also ok to use some medical language as needed to list past EMT duties and responsibilities. This can indicate to the employer that you know insider terminology and also show your written report abilities.

For example, you can write:

Prepared and administered Naloxone medication intranasally to suspected overdose patients. 

Instead of:

Gave medicine to people overdosing.

Don’t write every job responsibility you had, instead try to focus on ones that demonstrate your ability to succeed at the job you’re applying for.

Begin descriptions of job duties with action verbs like Administer, provide, coordinate, examine, respond, perform and assess. Also, refer to the job description of the EMT job you’re applying for to get an idea what skills the employer is looking for.

The EMT resume should use present tense verbs when describing your current job duties and past tense verbs for describing previous jobs duties.

EMT Resume with No Experience in Medical Field

What do you put on an EMT resume with no experience and no previous medically related jobs?

This is a common question for new grads and entry-level EMTs! The next question you need to ask yourself is have you ever had any jobs?

If the answer is Yes, great. If the answer is No, don’t worry there is help for you discussed below.

It’s very common to complete EMT school and apply for your first EMT job without any previous medical job experience. This was my situation and I was offered jobs at each place I interviewed.

My previous work experience included jobs like Jamba Juice and House Painting so there is hope.

The important thing is to use the experience section of the EMT resume to show your prospective employer that you are a good employee and a responsible person. List your job history starting with your current job and going in chronological order through past jobs.

If you have had a lot of jobs, don’t list them all. An EMT resume should be clear and brief, you don’t want to fill it up with 3 pages of job history. Ideally, you want to fit everything on one page. For each job you have on the EMT resume it’s important to list job duties and responsibilities.

It’s common to struggle with how to make jobs feel relevant when applying for an EMT job, but almost every job can show that you will be a good EMT.
Did you have the same job for years?

This allows you to honestly say you are a loyal employee who plans on staying with the company for as long as possible.

Did you work as a Target Team Member?

You can say that you work well with the public and can maintain a professional and positive attitude, even with difficult personalities. You can also say that you frequently worked overtime, participated in after hours rotations as needed and were on call during the holidays.

A Target Team Member job also allows you to mention that you can work well both in a team and independently.

Other job skills that translate well to the EMT resume are clerical jobs that let you say you can take clear and accurate written reports along with jobs that require the ability to listen and other communication skills.

As you can see, the experience section of your EMT resume can still show off your skills even if you don’t have any medical experience. Keep it brief, but don’t be afraid to shine.

EMT Resume with No Past Job Experience

Putting together a resume when you have no past job experiences can be intimidating, but with some effort you can put together an EMT resume that highlights your abilities. If you have any history of volunteering you can list this in the experience section.

You can also list any casual jobs you have had like babysitting, mowing lawns, shoveling snow, and pet sitting.

The important thing is to highlight skills that your prospective employer may value. You can write the years as dates for each type of volunteering or job along with a brief description. For example, you can say:

Helped my neighbors and community by shoveling snow each year I attended High School.

Another option is to include participation in clubs or other achievements that you can use as examples of why you will make a good EMT.

Overall, the EMT resume for an applicant with no work history will place more emphasis on the education and skills sections than on the experience section.
Another option to help you get hired is to have permission to use an instructor or professional from your EMT training as one of your professional references.

Having a GOOD reference from an EMT preceptor or instructor can help encourage an employer to take a chance on you.

6. Skills and Abilities

This section includes a list of skills you have that are desired for the EMT position you’re applying for. If you know any other languages make sure to emphasize that in the skills section of your EMT resume.

If you have past work experience in the medical field, this section is where you can bring attention to your experience in the field.

This section is for listing practical experiences that showcase your capabilities and accomplishments as an EMT. If you have actually helped with gunshot wounds, you can write that as a skill. For example:

In depth experience treating gunshot wounds in the field.

The skills section can be a strong part of the EMT resume even if you don’t have any past job experience. Instead of highlighting job skills, you can use experiences that came up during EMT school.

You will have many patient contacts during Ambulance and Emergency Department rotations, use your experiences there to add skills to your EMT resume. For example, you can list:

Ability to assess patients, take vitals, recognize and respond to emergency situations appropriately.

The skills section is also a good place to personalize your EMT resume and show your individual values and strengths. For example if you value kindness and compassion you can add:

I have a passion for helping people and provide compassionate care for patients.

If you are the type of person who stays calm and always knows what to do, you can list one of your skills as:

Ability to remain calm and respond quickly and confidently in emergency situations.

Like the rest of the EMT resume, you want to keep your statements clear and concise. Make strong one sentence statements for each listed ability or skill.

7. References

The last section of the EMT resume is references and is completely optional.

Should you have references on your resume, should you write references available on request, or should you leave out the reference section entirely?

The answer depends on what the job posting says. If the employer asks for a resume and list of references in their ad, make sure that you give them a list of references.

The important part is to follow the instructions given so that your prospective employer knows you are detail oriented and can follow simple instructions. In the case above you would give the employer your EMT resume along with a list of 3-5 references on a separate sheet of paper.

If the job listing doesn’t mention references, you don’t want to put them on your resume because they take up too much space. It’s more important to keep your EMT resume short and powerful.

You don’t want to water it down with a bunch of names and numbers. For this reason there are no reference sections on our EMT resume samples. 

Most people recommend not even writing “References available on request” anymore because it takes up too much space and many employers assume they can ask you for references if needed.

Make sure you have a list of references prepared, typed and ready on a separate sheet of paper in case you are asked for it during an interview.

You should have at least three references or two personal and two work related references listed. Make sure you have contacted all your references ahead of time and gotten their permission to use them as a reference.

EMT Resume Tips

– Never lie on your EMT resume. NEVER.

– Don’t send out generic resumes for multiple EMT jobs.

– Focus each resume on the specific job you are applying for. If you’re applying for a job in Sacramento, Ca and you were trained to be an EMT in Sacramento, put emphasis on that.

– Clean up your social media profiles (or make them private) before you send out resumes. Employers are looking for EMTs with good judgement and great decision-making skills. Make sure they don’t check Facebook and see you making questionable comments or decisions.

– Make your EMT Resume Easy to Scan. Employers may not take the time to read your resume. They are likely to quickly scan it for important information. Use bullet points, instead of paragraphs to draw their attention to important information. See the EMT resume samples below for ideas.

– When possible make EMT resume fit on one page. Use a smaller font if needed. Resumes can be two pages long if you have a lot of work history or exceptional skills, but an entry-level EMT resume should only be one page. Remember, employers usually don’t spend a lot of time reading the resume so you want every piece of information on your EMT resume to be important.  

EMT Resume Samples

Name
Address
Telephone
Email

Objective

Seeking a position as an Emergency Medical Technician at AAA Ambulance Company where my passion for helping people and expertise in emergency response will be beneficial.

Education

• Best High School, Lakewood, California, Diploma 2007
• Best City College, Lakewood, California – Emergency Medical Technician License in Ca. 2012
• CPR & BLS Certificate
• EVOC Driving Certificate

Experience

Best Medical Center, Ca – Emergency Medical Technician
03/2013 – Present

• Assess patients and administer treatments per protocols
• Work within a medical team to provide patients with the best care possible
• Assist RN with triage in Emergency Department
• Maintain clean and sanitized environment and tools for patient care
• Help maintain patient and staff safety
• Assist with lifting, moving and transporting patients

Professional Skills

• Experience administering CPR to patients
• Proficient at cleaning medical equipment and patient areas
• Remain calm and respond quickly in emergency situations
• Proficient at taking vitals, suctioning, and dressing changes
• Skilled at verbally communicating patient condition to higher level of care

Name
Address
Phone
Email

Objective

Hardworking and responsible individual looking for an Emergency Medical Technician position at Best Ambulance Company in order to use my skills and knowledge at a company I can take pride in while in a challenging environment.

Education

→ Best High School, Bell, California – Diploma 2015
→ Best Community College, Long Beach – Dean’s List 2016

Current Certifications

→ Emergency Medical Technician in California
→ CPR & BLS Certification

Experience

Shoveling Snow Winters 2012 – 2015
→ Helped maintain a safe environment for seniors in my community by working and shoveling snow during the winter months.

Pet Sitting and Walking 2014 – 2105
→ Maintained a safe environment for pets while providing medications and fun as directed.

Volunteer Work

→ Volunteered at the Animal Shelter over the summer
→ At the marathon volunteered by handing out refreshment to keep runners hydrated.
→ Helped low-income community by volunteering and taking blood pressures and blood sugar reading at the community center.

Professional Skills

→ Excellent assessment skills and the ability to quickly recognize and respond to emergency conditions.
→ Strong knowledge and interest in emergency medical procedures and protocols
→ Ability to remain calm in any situation
→ Ability to communicate professionally in writing and in person
→Desire to help others and compassion for patients going through a difficult time
→ Successfully provided patients with a high quality of care during ED and Ambulance rotations

EMT Resume Summary

When applying for EMT jobs you want your resume to make you stand out as a candidate. You want to make the employer feel like you don’t just want any job, you want a job with their company.

Try to personalize your resume by listing skills that are both relevant to the job and that you value. If you’re a hard worker and frequently work overtime shifts, find a way to list that in your resume.

It’s important to use your EMT resume to show the employer who you are and what you are about.

Remember that everything about your resume gives the employer information about who are. Missing words, typos, and spelling mistakes will all be judged harshly. You can tell the employer that you’re detail oriented and capable of filling out medical forms, but they won’t believe you if there are mistakes throughout your resume.

A resume that has been folded and has wrinkles on the page tells the employer that you lack professionalism.

The good news is with resourcefulness and preparation, you can use your resume to hide your shortcomings. For example, if you are a person that struggles to fill out paperwork correctly, you can have a friend help you put together a good resume and reference page. This makes a good impression to the employer and hopefully you can improve you paperwork skills after being hired.  

→ Interested in the types of jobs available to EMTS? Check out our EMT Jobs page.

→ Want information about salaries available? Check out our EMT Salary page.

→ Want details about the job duties of EMTs? Check out our What Do EMTs Do page.