Several of our recent RDH resume writing clients have asked, “I get lots of good reviews from patients. How can I use them?”
Patient reviews and doctor references are absolute gold! Whether you are looking for a job or not you should always save them.
But what do you do with them? We’ve been creating for our clients what we call “Reference Sheets” to accompany their cover letter and resume. This week’s tip goes over what those look like and include.
Start with What You Have
To begin with, take a look at what you have. Some hygienist may have two or three letters of reference from a doctor, but no reviews from patients. Or maybe, they have some reviews but no letters of reference.
So we advice professionals to create a new page (Reference Sheet) that will accompany their cover letter and resume. Title the page “Reference Information,” and include a short sentence on what it is you are offering up. Be sure to include that full letters of reference and/or more details “are available upon request.” It would be rare that a dentist would ask for them but you want to offer it up so they know you are being truthful about their existence.
Make it Part of Your Resume “Family”
Next, format your Reference Sheet to look similar to the resume design scheme (same colors, font, style, etc). Start with your letters of reference. Create a sub-heading and then under it copy and paste or re-write the best paragraph out of each letter. Then include the date, name, and title of the person who gave it. You could even include their phone number.
After that, do the same thing for patient reviews. The only difference is you don’t want to include the patient’s full name. You could even put in a fake name if you are worried their confidence would be compromised in any way. And you may also want to add where the review was left (ie Google Reviews, Yelp, Angie’s List or other places).
Ideally, you would have three quotes from letters of reference and about five or six patient reviews and have them all fit on one page (one side). Obviously, it’s better if the reviews include your actual name and are not simply calling you “the hygienist” or “girl that cleaned my teeth.” But use the best of whatever you have, even if it only references you by title and not name.
We’ll be talking about a resume kit in the next week or two so you can see how this Reference Sheet can be assembled with your other materials.
Bonus Tip: Don’t have many reviews? You should ask for them. Most people are happy to give you one, but you have to ask. Make a point of asking one patient each week or month (you choose the interval) so you have a steady stream of good reviews you are collecting.
