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Table of contents

Popular psychology resumes
How to write a psychology resume
Psychology resume examples by experience level
Add a cover letter
Facts about the psychology industry
Key takeaways
Commonly asked questions about resume writing

From clinical psychologists to counseling professionals and behavior analysts, psychology careers encompass roles that play a crucial role in understanding and addressing mental health and well-being. These professions rely on specialized knowledge acquired through formal education and practical experience. While psychology careers are sometimes viewed as an unconventional path compared to traditional degree-requiring careers, they demand a significant depth of expertise.

Achieving proficiency in the field of psychology is a challenging and enduring journey, requiring unwavering commitment and perseverance. That’s the demanding aspect. Crafting a well-structured resume for a psychology career should be the straightforward component, and we’re here to ensure it is.

This guide will show you:

Examples of exceptional psychology resumes.
How to create a compelling psychology resume.
Resumes for psychology professionals at different career stages.
The importance of a cover letter and how to get started with one.
Valuable insights to enhance your job search in the field of psychology.

If you’re eager to swiftly generate a resume, proceed directly to our AI Resume Builder. There, you can select a template that aligns with your career path and leverage our AI-powered resume tool to assist you in crafting the perfect narrative.

Popular psychology resumes

You’ve got the education, training and analytical skills to write an impressive resume. You just need some inspiration!

How to write a psychology resume

Now that you have an idea of what your psychology resume should look like, it’s time to <a href=”https://www.resume-now.com/job-resources/resumes/how-to-write”>write a resume</a> that showcases your training, experience and skills.

Start by building a resume outline. Your outline should include:

Your contact information, prominently placed at the top.
A resume profile that introduces potential employers to your career in psychology.
A robust skills section filled with impressive examples of your expertise.
Your work history, starting with your most recent role.
Educational background and certifications in your education section.
Additional sections to highlight other accomplishments or qualifications.

Now that you know what to include in your psychology resume, let’s get down to work!

Step 1

Add your contact info

Your resume’s most important job is to get you a callback from potential employers. Your qualifications make them want to reach out, but to do that, you need to provide accurate contact information clearly displayed in your resume’s header.

Here’s what your header should include:

Your name
Your phone number
Email address — keep it professional
City and state

If you have a LinkedIn profile, personal website or an online portfolio, you can add links to those in your header as well.

Many applicants add graphics to the header for visual interest. This is acceptable, but ensure your header remains easy to read and uncluttered. Its sole purpose is to cleanly display your contact information.

Next, let’s focus on your professional summary or career objective.

Step 2

Summarize your psychology career

If the resume header is your calling card, then the resume profile is your first true introduction. This is your chance to make a strong impression at the beginning of your resume. Typically, a resume profile serves as an introduction to your psychology career through a brief overview of your work history and significant achievements.

Depending on your experience in psychology, you have a couple of profile styles to choose from:

Experienced professionals should use a professional summary. This is a short paragraph outlining the key information that employers need to understand your career history. It should touch on your work history as well as any major achievements you want to share right off the bat.
If you’re just starting out, a resume objective might be more suitable. Resume objectives focus more on your goals for the future and your intent to grow as a professional and contribute to the role.

Both resume profiles serve a similar purpose, so go ahead and choose the one that best highlights your strengths.

Professional summary for psychology resume:

Experienced clinical psychologist with a strong track record spanning over five years in providing psychological assessments, therapy and counseling services. Proficient in various therapeutic modalities and committed to delivering exceptional patient care. Adept at upholding ethical standards, strict compliance with industry guidelines and adapting to diverse patient needs. Proven expertise in collaborating with colleagues, achieving clinical goals and staying attuned to changing patient requirements.

Sample objective for psychology resume:

As a recent graduate with a master’s in Counseling Psychology, I am eager to apply my comprehensive knowledge and hands-on experience to contribute to a dynamic therapy team. My dedication to empathy, commitment to patient well-being and proficiency in therapeutic techniques make me a valuable asset in providing effective psychological support. I am excited to continue advancing my skills and expertise while enhancing the mental health of individuals and communities.

Step 3

List your most relevant skills

Skills are the foundation of a psychology career. To build an effective resume, you need a skills section that demonstrates your expertise.

A well-rounded psychology resume should include both hard skills like psychological assessment, therapy techniques or research methods, and soft skills like empathy, communication and critical thinking.

It’s not about hard skills vs soft skills; a strong resume acknowledges that both are important and includes a natural mix of both types of skills.

Hard and soft skills for a psychology resume

Hard Skills

Psychological assessment and diagnosis
Therapeutic modalities (e.g., CBT, psychoanalysis)
Research design and data analysis
Crisis intervention and conflict resolution

Soft Skills

Empathy and active listening
Effective communication and rapport building
Critical thinking ad problem-solving
Cultural sensitivity and adaptability

Step 4

Detail your work experience

Your experience section is the core of your psychology resume. This is where you get to showcase how you’ve applied all the skills and knowledge you’ve described in real-world situations. Present your experience in reverse-chronological order and emphasize the results you’ve achieved in each role.

The goal is to make your work experience demonstrate your ability to make a meaningful contribution to your patients’ lives.

Consider these strategies to highlight your work history:

Show measurable results. It’s one thing to say you’ve achieved something, but when you back up your accomplishments with data, your abilities shine. Data allows employers to see the concrete impact of your previous roles.
Show career progression. Present your past roles in reverse-chronological order, starting with the most recent. This allows the reader to see your career growth from your most recent and relevant entries.
Use action words. Elevate your experience with words like “assessed,” “counseled” and “researched” instead of generic resume phrases like “responsible for.” This transforms your resume from a list of tasks into a dynamic summary of your roles.

Writing tip

Take care to highlight your technical skills. Even if many of your duties are straightforward, your specialized skills are what will set you apart. If you’ve used specific assessment tools or therapeutic approaches, include them when describing your clinical work.

Clinical Psychologist, Insightful Counseling Center New York, NY July 2018 – Present

Conduct comprehensive psychological assessments and develop treatment plans for a diverse patient population, achieving a 90% success rate in symptom reduction.
Implement evidence-based therapeutic modalities, including CBT and DBT, resulting in a 20% improvement in patient satisfaction scores year over year.
Contribute to ongoing research projects on mental health, presenting findings at national conferences and co-authoring published papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Step 5

Highlight your education

As a psychology professional, your education and training has likely been essential to your career development. Include your degrees, as well as additional training, coursework or licenses, in your education section.

Psychology education entry example:

Education

Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Smithfield University, New York, NY | 2017

Certifications

Licensed Clinical Psychologist, State Board of Psychology Issue Date: August 2017

Step 6

Add additional sections to your resume

When it comes to creating a compelling resume, there are no strict rules about what you can and cannot include. If you have other qualifications or experiences that you believe are relevant to your psychology career, include them in optional sections. Be careful to only include elements that are truly relevant to the role. Here are some typical optional sections that you might include in your psychology resume:

Volunteer work: If you’ve volunteered in your community, it demonstrates your personal values and commitment to serving the community. Bonus points if your volunteer work is related to psychology or mental health.
Foreign languages: In a diverse world, the ability to communicate in multiple languages can be a significant asset in psychology. Include any languages you speak to highlight your communication skills!
Hobbies and interests: If you have hobbies or interests that are relevant to psychology or suitable for your resume, include them to present a well-rounded view of who you are as a professional and as a person.

Writing tip

If you’ve taken additional courses or attended workshops to enhance your psychology skills, don’t forget to include them! Certifications can go in the certifications section, courses and workshops can be included in the education section, and any other relevant experiences can be placed in their own sections.

To make sure your content shines, choose the right resume template. Select a design that aligns with the psychology role you’re seeking and reflects your professional brand.

Templates vary from simple resume designs to more creative and stylized creative resumes. For most psychology positions, it’s a good idea to stick with a clean and professional template.

If you can’t find a template you like in our collection, there are numerous free templates for Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Be sure to select a template that enhances, not distracts from, your qualifications.

Psychology resume examples by experience level

The layout of your resume is vital because it decides what information employers see first. Make sure to choose a resume format that puts your best foot forward.

New entries into psychology careers might find the functional resume format most beneficial.
Midcareer psychology workers are most likely to benefit from a combination resume format that balances skills and experience.
Seasoned psychology professionals with significant experience should consider the chronological resume format thanks to its focus on experience.

Let’s check out visual examples for each.

Functional resume format: Entry-level psychology example

Resume entry level example administrative assistant mental health clinic

Create your resume

What makes this a great entry-level psychology resume?

Clear career objective
This candidate doesn’t have much experience and is still a student, so a clear and goal-focused career objective is a good choice.
Emphasis on skills
Without much experience, this candidate plays to her strengths by honing in on her skills.
Simple layout
This resume is easy to read and understand at a glance, thanks to this candidate’s choice to use a simple, elegant layout.

Combination resume format: Midcareer psychology resume example

Resume mid career example research psychologist

Create your resume

Why is this a standout midcareer psychology resume?

Balances skills and experience
This candidate has both skills and experience sections to help demonstrate his competence.
Uses active language
Strong action verbs like “conduct” and “utilize” give this resume a sense of energy and enthusiasm.
Includes certifications
Certifications and licenses demonstrate competence and dedication to the field. This candidate includes them in their own section.

Chronological resume format: Experienced psychology resume example

Resume experienced example school psychologist

Create your resume

What sets this experienced psychology resume apart?

Focuses on professional history
With over a decade of professional work experience, this psychology resume gives a strong impression by centering experience at the forefront.
Strong branding
This resume uses minimal design elements to elegantly convey a sense of personality, giving insight into the candidate’s identity and personal brand.
Includes numbers
Numerical data helps demonstrate both the scope and the concrete impact of this candidate’s achievements in previous roles.

Add a cover letter

Create your cover letter

A fantastic cover letter is the final piece of the puzzle that seals the deal for a job-winning application.

Your cover letter gives you a valuable opportunity to provide context to your resume, elaborate on any career gaps or unconventional career choices, demonstrate your enthusiasm for the position and emphasize the achievements you want to showcase. If this seems like a lot, no need to worry. Our guide on crafting a cover letter will guide you through each step.

For inspiration in composing your cover letter, explore our cover letter examples and consult our extensive guide on cover letter formatting.

If you’re looking for a professionally written cover letter in just a few minutes, try our Cover Letter Generator. It generates a fully customizable cover letter based on your information and the specific job you’re targeting.

Facts about the psychology industry

Curious about the potential pathways in your psychology career?

Here are some insights into the current state of various psychology careers and their projected futures:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 196,000 Americans were employed as psychologists in 2022. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Employment for psychology degrees number over 3.4 million.

Median salaries for various psychology career paths:

Psychologists earn a median salary of $85,330 per year.
School psychologists earn a median salary of $87,550 per year.
Psychiatrists earn a median salary of $247,350 per year.

Employment for psychologists and related fields is growing at a rate faster than the national average.

Key takeaways

Detail your experience
Your work history forms the foundation of your psychology resume. Clearly outline your previous roles and the tangible results you’ve achieved, using dynamic language and supporting data.
Use active language
Avoid the “laundry list” effect by describing your experience using action-packed words that showcase your enthusiasm and passion.
Emphasize soft skills
While your hard skills enable you to perform your job, it’s your strong soft skills that set you apart. Be sure to highlight qualities such as effective communication, adaptability, and teamwork on your resume.
Include relevant certifications
In the field of psychology, various certifications can bolster your credentials. Even if not explicitly required, showcasing any certifications you’ve earned can demonstrate your expertise and commitment.
Choose the right style
A standout psychology resume is not only formatted to highlight your strengths but also styled to align with your personal brand and the specific role you’re pursuing.
Complement with a cover letter
Don’t miss the opportunity to strengthen your application with a persuasive cover letter that further communicates your suitability for the position.

Commonly asked questions about resume writing

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Hailey Brophy is an experienced writer with a diverse career in digital publication. She is passionate about using her unique skills and experiences to help job seekers find the information that they need to succeed.