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A guide to creating a great EHS resume

  • Publish Date: Posted over 1 year ago

​​Building your resume is a staple part of any job hunt, but each industry differs slightly. In the environment, health and safety world (EHS), there are some tips you can follow to ensure your credentials stand out from the competition.

Here’s how to create a killer EHS resume.

Ensure it includes the right information

First off, any resume has to contain the right information to sell you to a potential new employer. This is what should be included at a minimum:

  • Experience – a chronological list of your (relevant) EHS work experience, with key responsibilities and achievements

  • Skills and qualifications – relevant EHS industry accreditations, qualifications and skills that make you a strong candidate for the role

  • Education – appropriate higher level education (such as degrees)

  • Contact details – make it easy for potential employers to contact you, by including your email address and phone number

The resume should also be easy to read, so choose an uncluttered design or layout; there are plenty of free templates online and available in programs like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Alternatively, you can have one designed by a professional.

Keep it brief

The key to a successful resume is to keep it brief; just include relevant information, and present it as succinctly as possible. Ideally, it should be no more than a couple of pages long. In fact, two pages are now seen as the standard - hiring managers are almost three times more likely to choose a candidate with a two-page resume for a managerial position.

Remember: recruiting managers will have dozens, sometimes hundreds, of applications to sift through, so make sure yours doesn’t bore them and end up in the trash.

Make it relevant to the role

It seems obvious, but your resume needs to be super-relevant to the role you’re applying for. If that means tailoring your achievements and experience to suit the role even more, then do so.

Show off your achievements and responsibilities: Make sure you include relevant EHS qualifications, certifications and appropriate employment history. Once you’re into your EHS career, prospective employers and hiring managers likely don’t need to know about the summer job you had delivering pizza while at college.

Include your contact info

This is an absolute must. It’s so frustrating as a recruiter to get a perfect resume for a position and not be able to contact the candidate because their phone number and email address were missing, or worse, they have outdated contact info.

If you have a LinkedIn profile, include a link to that. However, make sure your LinkedIn aligns with your resume, there is nothing more confusing than seeing different job titles on the resume and the LinkedIn page.

Check for errors

In EHS, attention to detail is paramount – so make sure your resume reflects that. Before sending it, check, double check and check again to make sure there are no grammatical errors or spelling mistakes.

If you’re unsure, have a friend cast an eye over it, or your recruiter can also offer their expertise.

You only get one chance to make a good first impression, so make yours count.

Ready to put your new EHS resume to the test?

In today’s job market, resumes are only the first half of getting a new position, but they are the first impression you make on a company, so take your time to make a good one.

As careers consultants, we have talked to many candidates who just struggle to write a resume, and it can be difficult, not to mention time-consuming. While the tips above are a great start, if you need extra help reach out to one of our careers consultants in your field for help. 

If you’re looking for your next career move, check out our extensive EHS job listings by clicking here.

Good luck!