ResumeCreate your job-winning resume using our free resume builder.
PortfolioShowcase your skills and projects with a professional portfolio.
Cake AIUtilize our Cake AI-powered products to accelerate job search and talent match.ResumeCreate your job-winning resume using our free resume builder.Resume BuilderMake a resume for free.Resume TemplatesAccess our extensive library of professional & ready-to-use templates.Resume ExamplesGet inspired by real resume examples to create your own.Occupation GuideAccess resume writing guides tailored for different professions.Resume HelpGet expert advice on all things resume from our team of recruitment specialists.Cake AI Resume CheckerNewAnalyzes your resume using Cake AI for detailed feedback.- Success StoriesBusiness ExcellenceAbout CakeFeatured Reads
Surgical Tech Resume Samples & Tips
You'll learn:
- Step 1: Pick the best layout for your surgical tech resume
- Step 2: Choose the right format for your surgical technician resume
- Step 3: Start with contact information and basic personal details
- Step 4: Create an intriguing surgical technician resume title
- Step 5: Craft a professional surgical tech resume statement
- Step 6: Include skills and abilities relevant to the job
- Step 7: Highlight your best experience and accomplishments
- Step 8: List educational qualifications and background
- Step 9: Include an additional information section to stand out
- Step 10: Write a cover letter for the surgical tech job
- Surgical tech resume sample
Surgeries tend to be very high-paced and critical. For this reason, surgeons usually have a team to assist them in these crucial procedures. One of the surgical team members is the surgical tech (also called a surgical technologist or surgical technician).
📝 Surgical Technologist Job Description
- The management of the surgical equipment
- Preparation of the operating room
- Preparation and transportation of patients to and from surgery.
Surgical tech differs from surgical assistants; although both are there to assist with the surgery procedures, the latter is more focused on assisting the surgeon with the surgery, such as suturing and treating operating wounds.
A great surgical tech resume will not simply focus on skills or experience alone, many other factors make up a professional surgical technologist resume.
Step 1: Pick the best layout for your surgical tech resume
How long should a surgical tech resume be?
Keep your surgical technician resume within one to two pages long. Recruiters tend to have to go through a lot of resumes, they might be put off by those that are too long.
What is the best font for a surgical technologist resume?
Instead, opt to use professional yet classic fonts such as Calibri, Cambria, Helvetica, Garamond, and Palatino.
You want to avoid using generic and overused fonts as they won’t make your surgical technologist resume memorable.
What is the standard margin for a surgical technologist resume?
A one-inch margin is a safe margin size to use for your surgical technologist resume; it balances the resume’s contents and the remaining white spacing.
What spacing should a surgical technician resume be in?
For your surgical technician resume to look professional, opt for a 1.15 spacing. This amount ensures that your resume is not too spaced out or compressed.
What file format should a surgical technologist resume be in, Word or PDF?
Choose to submit a surgical technologist resume in PDF (unless specified otherwise), this format ensures that everything in your resume remains the same as the one you made on your computer.
❌ Note: A surgical technologist resume in a Word format might not work well in every device it’s opened in; the content and template might shift around due to the difference in Word version.
Step 2: Choose the right format for your surgical technician resume
Implementing the wrong format for your surgical tech resume can affect your chances of moving on to the next step of the hiring process.
There are three formats that you can choose from, they are:
🏷️ Chronological resume format
Puts the focus on your past working experiences. To use this format, you would want to start with your latest experience and end with your earliest employment history. This is one of the most generic resume formats, it may not make you stand out as much but it is a safe choice to choose from if you’re unsure on which format to use.
🏷️ Functional resume format
Here, the main focus would be the surgical tech skills in your resume; you can also include relevant achievements that can further highlight your skills. Although very skill-oriented, this format may be ideal for an entry-level surgical tech resume, a surgical tech student resume, or a surgical technician resume with gaps in between jobs.
🏷️ Combinational resume format
The combinational format merges the functional format and the chronological format. To effectively use this format, you would want to start with your skills in your surgical tech resume, followed by your working experiences listed in a reverse-chronological format. This format is a great way to show proof of your skills with your previous working experiences.
Step 3: Start with contact information and basic personal details
Your surgical technician resume must not only contain your qualifications but also your basic personal information.
For this, you…
✅ Must include basic personal and contact details such as:
- Full name
- Email address
- Phone number
👍 May include further details such as:
- Address
- LinkedIn URL
- Personal website
❌ Avoid including unnecessary personal details such as:
- Date of birth
- Sexual orientation
- Religion or belief
- Marital status and dependency
- Expected/Current salary
🙅 Reminder: Putting out a number too early lessens your bargaining power when negotiating for your future salary.
Step 4: Create an intriguing surgical technician resume title
A surgical technician resume title can serve as an attention-grabber for recruiters when reading your resume.
A proper resume title should give readers an idea of who you are as a candidate, all condensed into one sentence. To do this, your resume title needs to showcase your relevant achievements, strengths, or skills.
Surgical technologist resume title examples:
- Patient and Detail-Oriented Surgical Technician with 7+ Years of Experience in Assisting General Surgeons, Anesthesiologists, and Nurses.
- Certified Surgical Technologist with Proven Effective Patient Interaction Skill.
- Experienced and Skilled Surgical Tech Proficient in Providing Support in a Variety of Surgical Procedures.
💡 Tip: You can increase its effectiveness by using strong and catchy words and including keywords from the surgical tech job description for your resume.
Step 5: Craft a professional surgical tech resume statement
Your surgical tech resume statement should elaborate further on your resume title. Your resume statement should describe yourself, your previous experience, and the relevant skills you possess. It should be within one to two sentences as you don’t want it to take up a lot of space.
🔎 Note: A resume statement differs from a surgical tech resume objective; the latter focuses more on your career goals as a surgical tech, making it more suitable for an entry-level surgical tech resume.
Surgical technologist resume statement examples:
- Responsible surgical technologist with more than 7 years of experience in the ER. Trained and led a group of 8 junior surgical techs.
- NCCT certified surgical technician with experience in pediatrics. Proven skills of effective communication between patients and staff.
- Detail-oriented surgical tech able to remain calm under pressure. Suggested changes in equipment maintenance procedure, which increased patient safety score by 13%.
Cake provides the right surgical tech resume templates & formats for you to showcase your skills and experiences. Sign up to create and download the best surgical tech resume now for FREE!
Step 6: Include skills and abilities relevant to the job
Your surgical tech skills in your resume will be incredibly important because of how crucial your job will be in the operating room.
There are four ways you can showcase your surgical tech skills in your resume:
- Simple bullet lists
- Expanded bullet list
Examples of using the listed skills attach to a bullet list.
- Integrating with work experience
You need to have extensive work experience to complement the skills you possess. Thus, this might not be suitable for an entry-level surgical tech resume.
- Categorized skills section
This ways of listing skills requires you to possess a set of various skills. It may not suitable for an entry-level surgical tech resume or a surgical tech student resume, though it can be adjusted accordingly if you’ve gained some related skills from your previous internships or part-time jobs.
Before committing to a format, make sure that you thoroughly go over your background and skillset.
Surgical tech skills for resume examples:
- Hard skills
Draping, operating equipment troubleshooting, medical supply inventory, CPR, HIPAA, Medical Laws & Ethics, operating equipment sterilization, operating room preparation, monitoring patients, patient transport, and set-up - Soft skills
Critical thinking, time management, decision-making, communication, teamwork, staying calm under pressure, detail-oriented, collaboration, compassion, open-mindedness, flexibility - Other skills
Physical fitness, patient interaction, Microsoft Office, research, presenting, e-mail, spreadsheets, writing, eClinicalWorks software, EMR/EHR software
Step 7: Highlight your best experience and accomplishments
Your previous working experience section in your surgical technologist resume will most likely be thoroughly examined by recruiters. This is mainly because they can be very telling on how likely you would fit in the job position.
For this section, you should include:
- Organizations or employers names
- Location of the organizations
- Titles you’ve previously held
- Employment period
- Brief description of your responsibilities and achievements
👍 Pro tips:
- Tailor your previous surgical technician job descriptions in your surgical tech resume to exclude irrelevant ones.
- Quantify the results or achievements in your resume as it can make them look more apparent and convincing than simply describing them with words.
- Use action verbs to provide more information for recruiters of your personality.
Surgical tech work experience examples:
- Surgical technician XYZ Hospital Mar. 2017 – Present
- Organized and prepared operating rooms according to the surgical cases.
- Key achievements: trained and directed an average of 15 junior surgical technicians every year.
- Surgical technician ABC Hospital Mar. 2010 – Feb. 2017
- Supported the diagnostic and surgical procedures.
- Set up charts for new patients.
- Key achievements: recommended changes regarding safe patient care, increasing patient safety and satisfaction scores by 12%.
Step 8: List educational qualifications and background
For an entry-level surgical tech resume or a surgical tech student resume, your educational qualifications and background are particularly important as it is definitive and formal proof of your skills and knowledge.
For this section, you should include:
- Educational institution
- Degree(s)
- Major(s)
- Year of graduation
- Honors, awards, and extracurricular activities (if applicable)
An entry-level surgical tech resume or a surgical tech student resume should have this section placed after the surgical tech resume objective or the resume summary.
✅ Reminder: For those with more experience, it’s recommended to place their educational qualifications after the working history section; the skills and qualifications showcased in your employment history are more crucial.
Surgical technologist educational qualifications examples:
- High school (can be omitted if you have a higher education degree)
- Carnegie Vanguard High School (TX, USA) 2012-2016
- GPA: 3.89/4.3
- Extracurricular activities:
- President of the Science Club
- Class President (2015-2016)
- In progress
- M.D. in General Surgery (in progress) | NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- Incomplete
- NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- 2017-2019: Completed 45 credits towards M.D. in Acute Care Surgery
- NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Step 9: Include an additional information section to stand out
Adding an extra section in your surgical tech resume can help further highlight your personal traits and achievements especially if they align with the job context.
For this section, you should include:
- Hobbies and interests
- Volunteer work experience
- Certifications and awards:
Surgical tech is a very specialized job. If you have any certifications or accreditations from an accredited institute (e.g., NCCT, BLS, CAAHEP, etc.), it can boost your credibility. - Projects
- References
You may consider your previous employers (if you’ve had any work experience) or teachers/professors to be your reference and write you a recommendation letter to strengthen your position or if recruiters would want to verify your qualifications in your surgical technologist resume.
Step 10: Write a cover letter for the surgical tech job
After completing your surgical technician resume, the final step in the process is to craft a convincing surgical tech cover letter to accompany your resume.
Due to the limited space available in your surgical technologist resume, a cover letter is where you can elaborate further on your relevant qualifications, background, why you are fit for the position, and your motivation to apply. Your surgical tech cover letter should be one page long and should include your contact details.
Don’t forget to close your cover letter with a polite tone, thanking the recruiters for their time.
Further reading: The Cover Letter to Land Your Dream Job
Surgical tech resume sample
Sandra Kerrigan
Detail-Oriented Surgical Technician with 6+ Years of Experience in Assisting General Surgeons, Anesthesiologists, and Nurses
+1- 415-674-5643
[email protected]
California, USA
linkedin.com/in/sandrakerrigan
Professional Summary
NCCT certified and detail-oriented surgical technician with more than 6 years of experience in assisting general surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses. Trained, managed, and led a group of 8 junior surgical techs and increased team efficiency by 20%.
Work Experience
Surgical Technician
Caduceus Hospital
Jan. 2019 – Present
- Assist general surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses.
- Transport patients to and from surgeries.
- Suggested changes in the maintenance of operating equipment and increased patient satisfaction and safety score by 15%.
Surgical Technician
Cornerstone Hospital
Jan. 2014 – Dec. 2018
- Organized and prepared operating rooms for various surgical cases.
- Trained, managed, and directed a team of 8 junior surgical technicians and increased team efficiency by 20%.
Education
Carnegie Vanguard High School
2009 – 2013
NYU Langone Health Surgical Technology Program
2013 – 2014
Skills
- Draping
- Operating Equipment Troubleshooting and Maintenance
- Medical Supply Inventory
- CPR
- Patient Transport and Set-Up
- Communication
- Detail-Oriented
- Flexibility
- Patience
- Staying Calm Under Pressure
--- Originally written by Patricia Rosita ---
More Career and Recruitment Resources
3 Benefits of Subscribing to Cake's Newsletter
- Bi-weekly newsletter updates
- Industry trends and skills recommendation
- Latest job openings and job search information
Explore a range of job search tools and resources to achieve your dream career goals. Join the fastest-growing talent platform in the APAC region and expand your professional network.
