Residential Counselor Resume Example

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How to write a great Residential Counselor resume

A career in residential counseling is much more than a job. You’re not selling a particular product or meeting a monthly productivity quota. You’re in the trenches, helping people.

A great residential supervisor is genuinely invested in the people placed under their supervision. Morning, noon, or night you’re always on call for your residents.

Working as a residential supervisor means being both the boss and a friend. You’re no prison warden, but a big part of your job is maintaining a structured environment.

To that end, you know when it’s time to be patient and when the situation calls for a sterner approach.

It can be challenging, but there’s nothing quite as rewarding as helping others reach their potential.

Residential Counselors tend to be selfless by nature, but don’t neglect your own potential. A great new Residential Counselor resume can help you get more job interviews ASAP.

Don’t know where to begin? You can always turn to Leet Resumes to write yours.

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Why you need a great Residential Counselor resume

Let’s talk about communication and rules.

As a Residential Counselor, you know all about both of those subjects.

The rules you oversee at your current position ensure the facility or group home functions smoothly and each resident is cared for.

The tricky part is making sure those rules are crystal clear to all of your residents. Similarly, it’s on you to confront residents when rules are broken, or intervene if you see a violation in progress.

All of those scenarios require serious communication skills and poise. The best Residential Counselors assess situations fast, quickly deciding how to go about conveying their concerns.

Many of the very same ideas apply to resume writing. A great Residential Counselor resume will communicate your relevant skills, accomplishments, and aspirations in the most concise, efficient manner possible.

How can you write a great resume like that and land more job interviews? By following our resume writing rules!

A few important resume guidelines

Before we start breaking down the Leet Resume writing format, let’s touch on a few general tips you’re going to want to keep in mind throughout this process.

William Shakespeare once said brevity is the soul of wit, but it should also be the soul of your resume! In other words, keep things brief.

Recruiters and hiring managers routinely sift through dozens, if not hundreds, of resumes on a daily basis. They don’t have time to read an exhaustive resume introduction or long winding paragraphs. In fact, never use any paragraphs at all on your resume.

It’s important not to confuse brevity with boring. You can still craft a unique, compelling resume that shows off your personal career achievements - all while keeping everything concise.

Additionally, avoid silly fonts like Comic Sans. Just stick with a classic like Times New Roman or Arial. You don’t want to write a great resume and then miss out on job opportunities over using the wrong type of font.

There’s also no benefit to adding multiple columns, extra text boxes, or multiple colors to your resume. Such additions may appear visually pleasing, but ultimately make it harder for readers to get to the point.

Keep in mind that the first “person” to read your resume may not be a person at all. Plenty of companies currently use AI algorithms to sort through new resumes.

Computers are even more likely to be confused by multiple columns, etc. If your resume is deemed too messy by one of these algorithms, it will be rejected before ever making it to a pair of human eyes.

How to format a Residential Counselor resume

Still reading? Great.

Here’s the format you’re going to follow while writing a new resume:

• Name + Contact
• Professional Headline
• Professional Summary
• Work Experience
• Education
• Keywords

Sticking with this approach will help your resume stand out among recruiters and get you more job interviews. Let’s break down each section in more detail.

Name + Contact

At the very top of the page, in slightly larger text than the rest of the document, place your professional name. Please, no nicknames or aliases. Whatever name is on your W-2 should be on your resume!

After your name, in smaller text, is where you’ll write your contact information: Email address and phone number. This is probably getting repetitive, but again, keep all of this information professional and serious. Don’t use any silly email addresses.

Professional Headline

Now that the reader knows your name and how to reach you, it’s time they learn about your career.

Your professional headline should grab the reader’s attention and provide a quick sense of what you have to offer - all with just a handful of words.

Here’s an example: “Dedicated Senior Residential Counselor”.

After reading just four words, recruiters will know that you work as a Residential Counselor, you’re serious and passionate about what you do, and you have a wealth of experience to draw upon in your next role.

Professional Summary

This section is for articulating and detailing some of the most important aspects of your career.

The professional summary will touch on the next job you want to land, the skills and expertise you can offer, and any notable career achievements or awards you’ve earned thus far.

Consisting of at least two lines, the summary can feature as many as four lines depending on the resume writer’s individual experience level. Lines one and two are absolutely mandatory. Be sure to at least include those two on your Residential Counselor resume.

Each line should feature three to five phrases/terms separated by bullet points - No full sentences!

Line one: Write down a few job titles/positions you want to land as your next job. “Head Residential Counselor,” for example.

Please note that these are job positions you want moving forward. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never actually held a counseling job with that exact title. This line is about describing your ideal future position.

Line two: List some of your most vital skills in reference to residential counseling. Examples include conflict resolution or strong communication skills.

Line three: While optional, particularly experienced Residential Counselors should list here some of their biggest career accomplishments.

Line four: Here you can write down any relevant awards or promotions you’ve received over the course of your career. This line is also optional.

Remember, if you would rather leave the resume writing to someone else, Leet Resumes is here to help.

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Work Experience

This section may seem relatively straightforward, but it’s actually where most job seekers make their biggest mistake.

Just list your job history in reverse chronological order, along with a few bullet points providing more details right? Well, yes and no.

Don’t make the super common mistake of simply reciting back your daily expected job duties under each position. Doing so tells the reader virtually nothing about your actual performance thus far as a Residential Counselor.

Just by virtue of your job title and chosen career, recruiters already know that you’re responsible for your community’s rules, resident safety, and formulating in-house programs and activities.

What hiring managers really want to know is if you actually produced tangible results for your residents. Here’s how you can ensure your resume does just that:

What are you most proud of?

Ask yourself, what are you most proud of about your career? That’s what you should focus on for each listed job. Document and detail your biggest wins, accomplishments, and successes as a Residential Counselor.

Numbers add instant credibility

You should use as many numbers as possible to help back up the career successes you describe. Why? Numbers add instant credibility and specificity to your career wins. The more numbers, statistics, and metrics the better.

Actions speak louder

Here’s a simple way to bring all of this advice together.

Start each bullet point with an action verb, followed by a professional achievement, capped off with some numbers to add extra validation.

For instance: “Increased resident program completion by over 30%, or “Reduced rule violations by 50%”.

Education

We’re nearing the end now!

This section should be brief. Just list any degrees or certifications you’ve earned, as well as the schools you’ve attended.

Keywords

The last section of your resume is for adding relevant hard skills, soft skills, or awards you’ve earned.

Recruiters actively look out for these keywords, so the more you include in this section the better. Here are some common keywords found on Residential Counselor resumes:

• Conflict resolution
• Medical administration
• Relationship building
• Community outreach
• Counseling

And we’re done! That’s everything you need to write a great Residential Counselor resume.

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