Resume Time! (long, sorry!)

[JAMES P]

Just a heads-up before I start here that I have checked out some of the old resume/cover letter threads. They were a big help, thanks! I've also checked out the AMTA articles on the subject, and have re-read the pertinent chapter in What Color is Your Parachute for good measure. Just so folks know where I'm coming from.

Anyhow!

I'm a new grad, in review classes until I take my licensing exams in June. I should be licensed in neighboring KY in late June (they accept the MBLEx), and my home state of Ohio in mid-August (the State Medical Board takes 6-8 weeks to announce new licencees).

So I'm taking the time now to really get my personal documents in order.

Since I'm changing fields from early childhood education to massage therapy, it's a little bit awkward. I'm pretty confident in my ability to articulate my transferable skills like regular assessment and documentation, maintaining a safe and healthy environment, communication skills, keeping abreast of licensing requirements, and oldies-but-goodies like attendance and punctuality. It's the massage stuff that I'm a bit more concerned about.

1. Obviously, I have relatively little massage experience. I'm including the number of documented practice massages I completed, my preceptor massages (massages provided to and assessed by local LMTs), my student outreach placement working with HIV+ individuals, and the events where I've provided chair massage. It looks so pathetic to me! I'm not trying to hide that I'm a new graduate, so is it worth it to include all this, or does it look like I'm trying too hard to appear to have experience in the field?

2. What kind of coursework should I include?

A. During school, we received training that graduates of other local schools do not, including about 20 hours each with muscle energy techniques (emphasis on pelvic dysfunctions), intra-oral massage for TMJD, and CranioSacral. Now I LOVE the MET work, and want to learn a lot more, so that's definitely going on the resume. The CranioSacral interests me, but while I'm competent for my beginning level of training, I can't honestly say I'm as confident in my ability to really help people with it to the same degree. The intra-oral work is very cool, and I can see that it has the potential to do a lot of good, but I definitely feel like I need more training before I would feel right about advertising it to people. So that's staying off for now. But what about the CranioSacral? I could definitely see myself getting better at it with more practice ... but I feel bad just "practicing" on people who are paying clients! Thoughts?

B. How much detail should I include about the regular instruction I had? We spent about 3 quarters on Swedish technique, 2 on the stuff just mentioned, and 2 on assessment and muscle-specific treatment for issues like whiplash, carpal tunnel, rotator cuff injuries, etc. Plus 7 quarters in anatomy and physiology, and extra workshops on ethics, business, law, hydrotherapy, chair massage, and the like. I feel like this is probably standard stuff. Should I just assume that it is, or does that "@SS out of U and ME" saying apply here?

3. Do grades matter? My mentor says I need to brag more in my education section. I was the top student in Anatomy and Physiology every term, earning a 96% or above each time. But that says more about my being a brainiac who can memorize easily and who was lucky enough to be required to study Latin in elementary school than it does about being a good massage therapist. I don't want to rub my nerdiness in anybody's face, but I've also been told that if you don't include your grades, employers will think it's because they weren't any good. Does that hold true in the massage therapy world?

4. Anything else you wish you'd known before putting your first massage resume together? Aside from spelling, correct info, and all that jazz.

Thanks a million!

Kat

 

[Priya <33]

Resume Time! (long, sorry!)

Hi kat,

My school required the book "The Business of Massage". The AMTA puts it out and I think you can find it on Amazon and even Massage Warehouse. It has example resumes for both experienced MT's as well as fresh graduates. I found it very helpful when writing my resume.

You should absolutely include all of your experience during school as this shows that you do actually have hands on experience. Folks know that new grads won't have work experience so they want to see that your school gave you plenty of hands on practice time in your clinics.

Sorry I can't be more helpful than that. Oh, but I did remember something my teachers stressed; you can state that you had intro course in those other modalities, but unless you had the full training in a modality you do not want to imply that you are qualified to perform any of them. For example, I am qualified to practice Swedish and Shiatsu massage, and Sotai bodywork. I had introductory courses in Thai Massage, Reflexology, and Tui Na. I can include the latter modalities in my sessions but I can't claim to practice them (as stand alone services) or say I'm certified in them. I attended school in NY, so things may be different for you. Also, this may simply be an ethical standard.

I apologize if this doesn't make a lot of sense. It is well past my normal bedtime. Please keep us updated!

t015

 

[Ryskag]

Resume Time! (long, sorry!)

Just a heads-up before I start here that I have checked out some of the old resume/cover letter threads. They were a big help, thanks! I've also checked out the AMTA articles on the subject, and have re-read the pertinent chapter in What Color is Your Parachute for good measure. Just so folks know where I'm coming from.

Anyhow!

I'm a new grad, in review classes until I take my licensing exams in June. I should be licensed in neighboring KY in late June (they accept the MBLEx), and my home state of Ohio in mid-August (the State Medical Board takes 6-8 weeks to announce new licencees).

So I'm taking the time now to really get my personal documents in order.

Since I'm changing fields from early childhood education to massage therapy, it's a little bit awkward. I'm pretty confident in my ability to articulate my transferable skills like regular assessment and documentation, maintaining a safe and healthy environment, communication skills, keeping abreast of licensing requirements, and oldies-but-goodies like attendance and punctuality. It's the massage stuff that I'm a bit more concerned about.

Great subject, and excellent questions! I am constantly amazed at the wide range of approaches attempted by different applicants and I am confident that you can really improve your chances of getting an interview if you have a good resume and cover letter. The following opinions, of course, are strictly my own, but I hope you find some useful insights in them.

1. Obviously, I have relatively little massage experience. I'm including the number of documented practice massages I completed, my preceptor massages (massages provided to and assessed by local LMTs), my student outreach placement working with HIV+ individuals, and the events where I've provided chair massage. It looks so pathetic to me! I'm not trying to hide that I'm a new graduate, so is it worth it to include all this, or does it look like I'm trying too hard to appear to have experience in the field?

I would know that you are a new graduate in need of more experience, so it won't be a negative. I like to see what kind of experiences you have had, both as part of your requirements and any extra volunteer work you've chosen to do. Some schools require very little, others a lot. That information may evoke some curiosity and spark conversation - always a good thing.

2. What kind of coursework should I include?

A. During school, we received training that graduates of other local schools do not, including about 20 hours each with muscle energy techniques (emphasis on pelvic dysfunctions), intra-oral massage for TMJD, and CranioSacral. Now I LOVE the MET work, and want to learn a lot more, so that's definitely going on the resume. The CranioSacral interests me, but while I'm competent for my beginning level of training, I can't honestly say I'm as confident in my ability to really help people with it to the same degree. The intra-oral work is very cool, and I can see that it has the potential to do a lot of good, but I definitely feel like I need more training before I would feel right about advertising it to people. So that's staying off for now. But what about the CranioSacral? I could definitely see myself getting better at it with more practice ... but I feel bad just "practicing" on people who are paying clients! Thoughts?

B. How much detail should I include about the regular instruction I had? We spent about 3 quarters on Swedish technique, 2 on the stuff just mentioned, and 2 on assessment and muscle-specific treatment for issues like whiplash, carpal tunnel, rotator cuff injuries, etc. Plus 7 quarters in anatomy and physiology, and extra workshops on ethics, business, law, hydrotherapy, chair massage, and the like. I feel like this is probably standard stuff. Should I just assume that it is, or does that "@SS out of U and ME" saying apply here?

Personally, I prefer to know a school's curriculum in full. It helps me understand what the strengths and weaknesses of your training may be. However, it is cumbersome to include the full details on a resume, so you might want to have it on a separate page that you can provide upon request. It's great that you had some training in a variety of modalities, but I dislike it when new grads present a whole laundry list of "specialties". Instead, I think a brief summary of the areas you spent the most time on, the work you most enjoyed learning, and a short list of additional modalities you were exposed to is sufficient. During an interview, bring up the additional things you learned that other schools may not be teaching (intraoral work, etc.) as appropriate. You can also mention stuff like the MET and CST training during your cover letter - it helps show your personality and indicates areas of future potential.

3. Do grades matter? My mentor says I need to brag more in my education section. I was the top student in Anatomy and Physiology every term, earning a 96% or above each time. But that says more about my being a brainiac who can memorize easily and who was lucky enough to be required to study Latin in elementary school than it does about being a good massage therapist. I don't want to rub my nerdiness in anybody's face, but I've also been told that if you don't include your grades, employers will think it's because they weren't any good. Does that hold true in the massage therapy world?

If you did well in school, note it on your resume, but don't make it the most prominent note. Hours of practical experience are at least as important.

4. Anything else you wish you'd known before putting your first massage resume together? Aside from spelling, correct info, and all that jazz.

Thanks a million!

Kat[/quote]

Good spelling, grammar, punctuation, layout, and organization are essential. Few things are so unimpressive as a resume and/or cover letter written in "text-speak".

Put your most relevant education right up front. We want to know right away whether you are qualified for the position. Licensing, insurance, professional association(s), etc. should also be near the top. Whatever you need to legally obtain the position, make it easy to find.

Avoid paper with lots of decoration or a strong, distracting border. Your text should be the most interesting thing on the page.

Don't shy away from including prior work experience, even if not directly applicable to massage. Massage is a profession of people skills, trust, and service to others. Prior work experience may show the opportunities you've had to develop these. Your cover letter is another place to connect your prior experiences to your new profession.

While drafting your resume and cover letter, consider what you want to explore in a massage career. If you want to take certain continuing ed classes, note them. If you want to work with certain types of clients or in a certain type of environment (someday, if not immediately), I think it's great to know that right up front. As an employer, I like to know that you have been thinking about your career and long-term development - it reassures me that you are serious about it and not just taking it as another job.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE customize your cover letter. It is annoying to be addressed "Dear Sir or Madam," when a simple phone call would have provided you with my name and that of my partner. If the business is a spa, call it a spa. If a massage center, call it a massage center. If a chiropractic office, call it a chiropractice office. If you don't know what kind of business it is before you apply, I can tell and I am not impressed... but if you DO know what kind of business it is and can tell me what attracted your interest in working with us, THAT is very, very good. It's a little extra work, but well worth the extra effort.

Hope that helps!

 

[Kellana]

Resume Time! (long, sorry!)

When I started massage school, I had 23 years of office/telecommunications experience, so I had to totally revise my resume!

Anyone looking at the date of massage school would know that I was obviously new to the field, so there wasn't much point in trying to make myself look *too* experienced in the massage field. I listed the school, what we'd studied, the modalities I knew and stressed 23 years experience I had in excellent customer service skills, phone skills, paper and software scheduling knowledge, knowledge of basic office equipment (email, spreadsheets, copiers, printers etc.), handling financial transactions. Stuff like that. Because I knew I was coming with little massage experience, I had to stress what I did have to offer, and I know from experience, some people just never get the hang of good customer service and never will. The person answering the phone and greeting new/prospective customers walking in can make or break a business.

Another thing. When I did the actual massages for the interviews, I treated the interviewer just as I would a customer. Talking to them beforehand, asking them if they would like to visit the restroom first, telling them where they could place clothes, jewelry, glasses, how I wanted them to lay on the table, that I would leave the room and knock before entering, asking them if the bolster and headrest were positioned comfortably, if they were warm enough etc etc. That was an excellent opportunity to have them see just how I would treat a client and not just an example of my massage skills.

And Jason is right - spelling, punctuation, proper grammar is a must. Proofread, proofread and then proofread again.

 

[daffodil]

Resume Time! (long, sorry!)

Another thing. When I did the actual massages for the interviews, I treated the interviewer just as I would a customer. Talking to them beforehand, asking them if they would like to visit the restroom first, telling them where they could place clothes, jewelry, glasses, how I wanted them to lay on the table, that I would leave the room and knock before entering, asking them if the bolster and headrest were positioned comfortably, if they were warm enough etc etc. That was an excellent opportunity to have them see just how I would treat a client and not just an example of my massage skills.

GOLDEN ADVICE!! The last MT we hired did exactly that, and it was excellent!