Marriage And Family Therapist Resume Example

After reading this guide, you'll know what it takes to create a resume that really stands out from other marriage and family therapist applicants. You'll find valuable tips on writing a resume that best showcases your unique skills and achievements. There is also extensive guidance on how to structure your resume to match the job description, and to reflect your experience levels to impress HR specialists and employers. Read on to learn the tips Jobseeker careers experts recommend as the best for your marriage and family therapist resume.

Main elements of a marriage and family therapist resume

A successful marriage and family therapist resume will typically include each of the sections listed below, with some optional sections. If you're a candidate without much experience, you may wish to present your resume in a way that draws attention to your most valuable skills. These might not be in traditional work settings, so sections like education, projects, hobbies and skills can be more prominent.

You will have some choice over your resume layout and structure, but be sure to include these sections as the core of your document:

Header and Personal Information

In your marriage and family therapist resume header, list your name, email address, phone number and address or location. You can also add your LinkedIn, if you have one, to help employers better understand your work history and skills. While in some countries, you might include additional personal information or a photo, these aren't necessary. Be aware of the amount of space your resume header takes up. You don't want your contact details to take space away from the main content of your resume, so keep this section as brief as possible.

Use an email address that's professional and appropriate for professional communication. Typically this would be an email address based on your first and last name, or your initials. If necessary, you could include your profession or another unique identifier. Avoid using old email addresses that could be considered unprofessional or inappropriate. Additionally, always check your contact details before sending your resume to ensure they're up-to-date.

Resume Summary

In your resume summary, write a short paragraph that highlights two or three of your key achievements and skills for marriage and family therapist roles. You could also call this section 'resume objective' or 'personal profile'. A resume summary covers your career experience to date, while a resume objective focuses more on your ambitions for the future. In addition, your objective should highlight why you're an ideal candidate for marriage and family therapist roles by showing key skills and qualities that reflect the job description.

Alternatively, focus on introducing your career ambitions, and why this role is a good fit, both for you and the organization.

A strong resume summary focuses on two or three key skills and achievements that showcase your suitability for marriage and family therapist roles in a clear, quantifiable way. It also gives an insight into your personal qualities, to help the reader understand why you're a suitable candidate. See below for some great examples of what to include in your marriage and family therapist resume summary.

Conversely, a bad resume summary might be too generic, lacking focus on the specifics of the job description. It will also fail to provide any useful insights on what makes you a unique candidate. See above for some examples of things to avoid when writing your marriage and family therapist resume summary.

Hard and Soft Skills

The skills section is one of the main ways to show employers you've got the skills required for marriage and family therapist roles. Whether your skills include CBT and DBT, conflict resolution strategies or any other useful skills for the role, you'll want to list them here. Again, refer to the marriage and family therapist job description for an indication of the types of skills the employer is looking for, and make sure your skills section reflects these.

Showcasing hard skills on your marriage and family therapist resume

Under hard skills, add any specialist skills you possess that are specifically required for marriage and family therapist jobs. These tend to be technical skills and industry knowledge essential to the position. Furthermore, it's important to show these skills in a marriage and family therapist resume as they provide a strong indication of your experience in the sector. If possible, add four or five hard skills that reflect the requirements of the job description. These will boost your chances of success in your applications.

If you want to make a strong impression with your hard skills list, focus on hard skills that align with your specific industry expertise, and that reflect the job description. For inspiration on the right type of hard skills for a marriage and family therapist resume, see below.

Adding soft skills to your marriage and family therapist resume

In your soft skills list, include any personal characteristics that make you a good fit for a marriage and family therapist job. Soft skills tend to be more universal than hard skills, but they're no less important. In fact, you can develop soft skills throughout your career, and they tend to be suitable for various roles and professions. In this section, add four of five transferable skills that match the job description.

Your soft skills section should make the most of your unique personal qualities and strengths, while also reflecting the requirements laid out in the job description. See below for some examples of useful soft skills for a marriage and family therapist resume.

Education

Your resume's education section provides space for you to list your highest and most relevant qualifications for marriage and family therapist roles.

If you're applying for marriage and family therapist positions you'll typically need to have a degree. A Bachelor of Arts in Psychology will usually help your chances of success. You could also list any qualifications that demonstrate your trauma-informed care or CBT and DBT.

Enter the name and level of the qualification, the institution you studied at, its location and your dates of study or graduation. You can enhance this section by adding bullet points that show any outstanding grades, awards or achievements and any specialist subjects you studied. These details can make you stand out from other candidates.

If you took part in any volunteering or you were a leader or member of any university societies, you could also mention these in your education section.

Relevant Certifications and Licenses

Under this section, list any relevant certifications or licenses that are relevant to marriage and family therapist jobs. These might be licenses that show you're qualified to operate certain equipment, or certifications that give you the edge over candidates with otherwise similar career history. Therefore, make sure you list the dates of your certifications and licenses so employers can see they're up-to-date and valid.

Read on to see some relevant example certifications for a marriage and family therapist resume:

Work History

In your work experience section, list any previous relevant roles you've worked in, as well as your key achievements as a marriage and family therapist. List each relevant role in reverse-chronological order starting with your current or most recent role. Add your job title, the organization name, its location and the dates you worked there.

In addition, include a few bullet points under each job, highlighting your key achievements so the hiring manager can see how they led to successful outcomes. Back up each point with evidence to show how you meet the job description.

A good resume work experience section includes your most relevant previous jobs and highlights your key achievements in each role. To make the best possible impression on hiring managers, make sure each entry in your work experience section references skills and experience listed in the job description, and shows how you added value to each role with quantifiable evidence and outcomes. See below for some good examples of what to include in your resume work experience section.

In the graphic above you can see a great example of what to avoid when writing your resume work experience section. Poor examples of resume work experience sections tend to be vague and fail to quantify your achievements and the impact you've made in your career to date. They may also focus on responsibilities above relevant skills and how you've used them.

Optional Resume Sections

There are several additional sections you could add to a marriage and family therapist resume, to improve your chances of success. Pick from the optional sections below to help show the employer you have the skills and experience for the job.

Hobbies and Interests

Add any hobbies and interests that reinforce your credentials for the position. Your hobbies and interests are useful for a marriage and family therapist resume if you want to show a different side to your personality, or to stand out among other candidates. They can also be valuable if you're a junior candidate without much relevant work experience. Don't include hobbies and interests in your resume unless they showcase a specific interest or aspect of your personality. You'll want them to add something to your application that you can't add elsewhere.

Volunteering

This section can be valuable for a marriage and family therapist resume, if you've done any voluntary work that showcases your relevant skills. Include the title of your volunteer role, who you volunteered for, as well as the dates you carried out the work. Provide brief details of your responsibilities and the impact you made.

References

Standard marriage and family therapist resumes don't tend to include references, but you might find them requested occasionally. Check the job advert to see if you'll need to add references to your resume. Add two or three professional references, and be sure to approach each referee before you include them.

Best words to use in a marriage and family therapist resume

Action words can help illustrate to the hiring manager the difference you made in each of your previous jobs. Choose from the list of words below to increase the impact of your work experience section.

Jobseeker's clean, attractive resume formats can help your applications make a strong impression on employers. Check them out for help designing a winning resume, and see our cover letter templates to help win over recruiters and hiring managers.

Sample resume for marriage and family therapist positions

Using each of the sections above, we've created this example marriage and family therapist resume, to help guide you when creating your own:

Making an ATS-friendly resume

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are increasingly taking responsibility for the management and processing of job applications, helping hiring practices to become more efficient. This can include screening resumes by scanning and ranking each application according to how closely it matches the job description. When writing your marriage and family therapist resume, a few simple tips can help you pass the ATS stage with a higher-ranking resume, giving you a better chance of success with your applications.

Here are a few quick tips for creating an ATS-friendly resume:

• Adopt a traditional structure for your resume, such as a reverse-chronological format or a functional format. These are likely to be the easiest layouts for ATS software to scan.
• Use of job description keywords throughout your resume will help it rank higher in the ATS scanning stage, as it will more closely match the requirements laid out in the job description.
• Include clear headings that make it easy to identify each section of your resume. This will help any ATS software navigate your resume during the scanning process.
• Use design elements that help make your resume more readable. These might include white space, clear, professional fonts and subtle color accents to help certain elements stand out.
• Use simple, concise language to keep your resume to a maximum of one to two pages in length. This will make it easier for ATS software to read.

Key takeaways for your marriage and family therapist resume

If you want to catch the eye of employers and recruiters, you need a professional resume that showcases your best skills and career achievements. Choose a resume structure that makes the most of your relevant experience, whether through work or other activities, and be sure to tailor your resume to match the job description.

Using the professional resume templates and resources of Jobseeker can help you create a great-looking resume that stands out from other applicants. Sign up today and follow the simple steps to get started. A stylish, professional cover letter can make all the difference to your job prospects. See Jobseeker's cover letter examples, written by careers experts, to help you craft an eye-catching application.

Sources:

(1) Writing a Resume, California Department of Human Resources: https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/resume-tips.aspx

(2) Resumes, Cover Letters and Job Applications, New York State Department of Labor: https://dol.ny.gov/resumes-cover-letters-and-job-applications