In 2020, the median pay for a dentist was $164,010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dentists often make far more money than the average salary, and demand for dentists is expected to grow 3% between 2019 and 2029 — which is about average job growth.
Whether you’ve just graduated from dental school or are a seasoned professional looking for your next career move, you’ll want to make sure you have a high-quality CV for dentist candidates if you’re applying for a job in the industry.
You’ll need to look beyond just a dentist resume sample to create a customized resume that showcases your skills and entices potential employers. These tips can help.
1. Make your CV for dentist jobs easy to read
Busy professionals who run dental offices don’t have time to spend hours pouring over a lengthy CV for dentist candidates. You need to make sure they can see at a glance that you’re well-qualified for the position.
To make sure your resume is readable, use plenty of white space and avoid heavy blocks of text.
Consider using bullet points to highlight your most relevant experience, and pick a font that’s professional and easy on the eyes. You’ll also want to avoid making your resume too long. One page is ideal, and your resume should never be longer than two to three pages. Especially if you’re creating a recent graduate dentist resume, you’ll probably want to err on the shorter side.
2. Include only relevant experience
If you look at any dentist resume sample, you’ll notice that the details included on it pertain directly to your professional experience in the field.
You should avoid listing old work experience that’s decades out of date, any jobs that aren’t directly related to dentistry, or any details about your interests and hobbies.
You should include:
- Professional experience
- Shadowing experience from when you were a student
- Any published work relevant to the dental field
- Leadership positions in local or national organizations, including the American Student Dental Association or the American Dental Association
- Any awards you’ve received, such as a Gold Crown Award
- Outreach and volunteer work related to the dental profession
3. Be specific
Don’t leave your potential future employer guessing as to your accomplishments or credentials. Provide complete information, such as the names of the positions you held and a bulleted list of work that you performed.
If you’re detailing quantifiable achievements, such as the number of new patients you brought into a practice or how much you grew the practice in terms of venue or the amount of money you raised for a professional dental organization, always include these details.
4. Organize your CV for a dentist in the correct format to showcase your experience
A recent graduate dentist’s resume will look different than the resume for an established dental professional.
If you have a lot of real-world experience, start by listing your most recent relevant positions first. If you’re new to the industry, focus on your education and format your resume to chart your progression in the field from school to real-world experience.
Dentist Resume Sample
It can be helpful to look at a sample CV so you can better understand the resume format for dentist candidates.
While you should always customize your resume to the job you are applying for, this dentist resume template can give you a good starting point regarding what to include and what format to choose.
The below is an example of a recent graduate dentist’s resume. If you’ve been a practicing dentist for a long time, you would instead list your professional experience at the top, starting with the most recent position and working backward chronologically. Then, you would include your educational achievements at the bottom of your resume.
Contact Information
Name, Address, Phone Number
Professional Email Address
Education
- Dental school name, GPA from dental school, and year of graduation
- Awards, honors or distinctions
- Publications
Research / Field Experience (E.g., Orthodontics, Endodontics)
- Department or Organization Name: (Dates) Details about experience and purpose of the study or work performed. Keep this brief, one to two lines.
Publications
- Name of publication – Article Title (Date)
Leadership and Professional Service
- Role, Name of Organization (Date)- Description of service
Don’t rely too much on a dentist resume template
A dentist resume template can give you a jumping-off point for how to format your resume and what types of information to include.
But ultimately, you should customize your resume for each position you apply for. Focus on your professional experience that may be a good match for what the dental practice is seeking
This will give you the best chance to stand out from the crowd and hopefully find a position that jumpstarts the next phase of your dental career.
