Speech-Language Pathologist Resume

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are highly trained medical professionals who treat a range of speech, communication, and swallowing disorders in both children and adults.

The job outlook for SLPs is good, with the SLP industry expected to grow by 29% from 2020 to 2030. Such growth means many people will be looking to get into this field. So if you want to find SLP work, you’ll need a standout resume.

To make your speech-language pathologist resume stand out to hiring managers, use our SLP resume template and follow these job-specific writing tips.

1. Highlight your speech-language pathologist skills and certifications

The ideal speech-language pathologist candidate possesses hard skills, like the ability to:

• administer and evaluate assessments related to hearing and speech
• develop treatment plans to address problems such as stuttering or delayed language
• monitor patient progress
• write reports and maintain patient documentation
• teach mechanisms to control or strengthen breathing mechanisms
• develop speech exercise programs
• provide strategies to cope with or avoid personal misunderstandings

As medical professionals, SLPs also face certain licensing requirements.

The industry standard is the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), although SLPs who wish to specialize further have plenty of options. So list all of your job-relevant SLP certifications on your resume, along with your other hard skills.

And because SLPs administer care to patients, hiring managers also look for a healthy dose of interpersonal skills, such as communication skills and emotional intelligence. Give examples of these soft skills in your speech pathologist resume’s work experience section to stand out from other applicants:

2. Add hard numbers to showcase your SLP achievements

Using numbers in your resume’s work experience section is one of the most effective ways to show hiring managers that you’re a worthy candidate for the job. That’s because numbers show in concrete terms what you’re capable of doing as an SLP.

If you’re unsure how to include numbers in your work experience, ask yourself questions like the following:

• How many patients did you treat each month?
• What was the average number of treatments needed to resolve a specific issue?
• Did you introduce a new treatment method to your facility? What was the impact?
• Did you increase patient satisfaction by a certain percentage? How did you do it?

Here are three examples of work experience bullet points that use numbers to effectively show SLP accomplishments on a resume:

3. Include speech-language pathologist action verbs

Using powerful action verbs related to speech-language pathology on your resume catches hiring managers’ attention by more clearly illustrating your past achievements.

Here are some examples of good action verbs you can use to start each bullet point in your speech pathologist resume:

Take a look at this example to get a better idea of how to include action verbs in your speech-language pathologist resume:

• Developed treatment protocol to address delayed speech issues
• Oversaw 5 speech-language pathologists and 2 speech-language pathologist assistants
• Educated patients and family members on methods to strengthen jaw, tongue, and face muscles