Hiring managers typically receive dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of resumes for a single job posting, and if you’ve found a few addiction counseling facilities where you really would love to work, a great resume can put you at the head of the pack. At Sober College, we can provide you with the education required for addiction counselor jobs, but we also want to help you create a fantastic resume that attracts positive attention.
Whether you are just getting started in the world of addiction counseling or you have years of experience, a great resume can be a powerful tool to possess. Demand in the industry is high, and while there are plenty of addiction counselor jobs posted online, a great resume can make it easier for you to find a fantastic working situation rather than a position that just pays the bills.
4 Tips For A Job-Winning Resume
- Keep It Simple & Short
While you might see examples of colorful resumes with funky, unique designs on the internet, it’s best to stick with a simple, crisp style. If a hiring manager is trying to fill addiction counselor jobs, they aren’t interested in your design skills anyway. They just want to find good employees with strong skills.
Resumes typically shouldn’t run beyond a single page or two at most. Longer resumes might be fine for those in high-level executive positions, but for entry-level and general professional applicants, a single page is best.
- Provide The Most Important Information Only
So, you’re applying for addiction counselor jobs and you know that your resume needs to be short and to the point. What should you include? All resumes should have a section for Work Experience and a section for Education, as well as contact information and perhaps sections that highlight your skills and certifications.
Typically, at the top of the resume, you add your name followed by your contact information, including your phone number and email address. Ensure that your email address is a simple, professional email address, such as JoeSmith@gmail or AnnaMendez@yahoo, etc.
After this, some people will add a quick line about their goals, which is known as an Objective. This isn’t a necessity, but if you would like to an Objective, keep it simple and short and focus more on what you can offer an employer than what you want. For instance, you might say that you are a “Certified substance abuse counselor with five years’ experience looking for a position that allows me to apply my knowledge of the 12 Core Functions to help patients achieve a successful recovery.”
In this sentence, you have identified that you are certified, have several years of experience and are familiar with the 12 Core Functions of substance abuse counseling. This is helpful information for a hiring manager to see and it’s right at the top, where it will attract attention. Typically, you will want to customize the objective to ensure that it fits the job description in the job posting.
Once you’ve added contact information and your career objective, you should add your work experience, beginning with the most recent position you’ve held and working backward in time. In general, it’s best to only add job positions that relate to your career as a certified addiction counselor or related jobs, such as a RADT or Prevention Specialist or previous counseling experience.
However, if you are changing careers or just getting started in your career as a certified alcohol and drug counselor (CADC), you will want to put non-industry work experience on your resume just to showcase that you have had some work experience in general.
Beyond this, you will want to add a section highlighting your education, including any college degrees, but, most importantly, your training to become a CADC or other type of addiction specialist. If you have special certifications, you can add a section for Certifications & Skills. Additionally, if you have relevant volunteer experiences, you could add a section for this, as well.
Some people also like to add a section for Hobbies & Interests, and you should only do this if you have space on the resume. It’s not a crucial section, but it can showcase a bit of your personality and even your character. For instance, if your hobby is running marathons, this showcases your ability to work toward a goal. If one of your interests is volunteering at a pet shelter, this showcases your compassion. But, again, this section is not a requirement, just a suggestion to consider should you have room to add it.
- Quantify Your Skills
Under each job listing in the Work Experience section, you will want to add a bulleted list of the responsibilities you handled. This is perhaps the most important part of any resume, where you express to a hiring manager what you accomplished and how your work benefitted an employer.
It’s not enough to say that you were responsible for patient records or you managed patient care, you need to be very specific so that hiring managers truly understand what you can handle as an employee.
For instance, instead of stating you were “responsible for patient intake,” you could state “managed patient intake for 300+ patients, streamlined process to decrease intake time by 25%.” This provides a hiring manager with an idea of how many patients you managed and showcases that you also came up with ways to help make the process easier and more efficient.
If you are changing careers and applying for your first addiction counselor jobs, you can still quantify your skills so that hiring managers see that you are capable. For instance, if you worked in a restaurant and managed employees, employee schedules and handled conflict resolution between employees, these are all skills that can be helpful in your career as an addiction counselor.
Basically, hiring managers will want to see that you can handle a variety of tasks with ease, as well as evidence of strong communication skills and organizational skills. If you can highlight those skills on a resume, a hiring manager is likely to take an interest in you as a potential job candidate.
- Edit, Edit & Re-Edit
When polled, many hiring managers will tell you that a couple of spelling errors or grammar errors can cost you an interview. You might feel that this is nitpicky, but errors showcase a lack of attention to detail. If the hiring manager has to decide between a resume with errors or without, it’s easy to understand why they would be more likely to select a candidate with an error-free resume.
While your word processing’s spellcheck program is helpful, it’s by no means foolproof so don’t simply depend on that program to edit your resume. Not only should you edit the resume, give it to a few other trusted individuals to edit. We recommend reading the resume out loud, as well, as this can highlight errors or awkward sentences.
3 Items To Exclude
There’s only so much a hiring manager needs to know about each job candidate, and the focus should be on your qualifications.
- High School & High School Job Experiences
If you are fresh out of high school and just getting started with your addiction counselor training, your high school work experiences might still be relevant, but for most adults, this information can be left off of a resume.
Typically, it’s best to include work experiences that occurred after you graduated high school as those are considered more professional in scope although if you held a management position as a high schooler this does speak to your ability to handle a variety of tasks at a young age and showcases your managerial skills, so if this is the case, it’s probably fine to include, especially for younger, entry-level applicants.
- A Photograph
In some countries, adding a photograph to a resume is expected, but not in the United States. While some people do add a photograph, it’s just not needed and eliminating the picture provides you with more room to expound upon your qualifications.
- Sensitive Personal Information
There are many questions that hiring managers aren’t allowed to ask, such as your age, your marital status, whether or not you have children, your gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, etc. Hiring managers should not ask and you shouldn’t volunteer the information on your resume.
Hiring managers, however, can ask about your ability to perform your job based upon the requirements of the job. For instance, if addiction counselor jobs are needed at a facility where round-the-clock care is provided, you may be asked if you can work nights and weekends. If you have responsibilities that would prevent your ability to work weekends or nights, you will need to make that clear during an interview.
Just Getting Started? Enroll At Sober College Today!
If you aren’t quite ready for resumes but want to become a certified drug and alcohol counselor, Sober College can help. We offer a comprehensive addiction studies curriculum, and our program can be completed in just six months. Our curriculum is CCAPP-approved, NAADAC-approved and IC&RC-approved, and our entire program can be completed online from the convenience of your home or anywhere with an internet connection.
We offer rolling admissions so you can get started at any time. To learn more, head to the Counselor Training tab on our homepage and learn more about our counselor training programs. Once you’ve completed your educational requirements, be sure to circle back to this article and use our resume tips to help you find the best addiction counselor jobs.
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