If you love fitness, then working as an athletic trainer is a dream job. You're responsible for helping clients reach their fitness goals or making sure that teams have the tools they need to succeed on the field of play. To land this industry-essential position, you'll need an athletic trainer resume that conveys your skills, experience and even personality.
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Luckily you've come to the right place. With 300+ occupation-specific writing guides and resume examples, Resume.io is a resource for job seekers at all experience levels and in all industries.
This writing guide and corresponding athletic trainer resume example will show you how to:
- Choose the essential sections for your athletic trainer resume
- Pick the right formatting to impress hiring managers
- Create a layout and design that stands out from the crowd
What does an athletic trainer do?
An athletic trainer is a sports and fitness professional adept in working with athletes to treat and prevent injuries. Athletic trainers might work in fitness facilities, for sports organizations, in schools, or through a private practice. Athletic trainers often work alongside doctors and coaches to develop programs that meet the physical needs of clients. They work to assess the causes of injuries and design exercise programs to strengthen muscles and remedy injuries. Athletic trainers have a strong understanding of exercise and how it impacts the body. An ideal candidate is experienced in working with clients working through different types of injuries or setbacks. Places of employment vary with their educational and licensure requirements, but an ideal candidate holds a certification from the National Athletic Trainers Association, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Athletic Training, Exercise Science, or a related field.
As an athletic trainer, business is booming. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts this occupation to grow by a whopping 23 percent over the course of the decade. For comparison, the average job growth for all professions sits around 4 percent. The median pay for this position is $49, 860.
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How to write an athletic trainer resume
Before you can get started writing a great athletic trainer resume, you'll want to take a look at each section that goes into it. Your CV should contain the following elements:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
A successful athletic trainer resume should clearly convey a candidate’s ability to create and implement successful athletic training programs for clients. Your ability to assess a client’s needs and design an individualized program should be highlighted. An impressive Athletic Trainer resume calls attention to a candidate’s technical knowledge, such as their understanding of sports rehabilitation exercises and conditioning methods. Your resume should showcase work experiences involving the implementation of therapeutic exercises and rehabilitative methodologies. Athletic Trainers should indicate their knowledge of anatomy, exercise physiology, preventative fitness strategies, and nutrition.
When applying to work in large organizations or companies, you'll likely run up against the ATS in use in many online application portals. Applicant Tracking Systems are resume scanners that hunt for keywords and rank your resume against the other applications. Only the top scoring make it to the hiring manager's desk. While there is always a chance of being filtered out, you can reduce the risk by following these simple steps:
- Read the job description closely to pick out any skills, qualifications, duties or experiences that the employer emphasizes.
- Place these "keywords" in the appropriate resume sections making sure to use the exact language from the job description.
- Use common section titles like "Experience" or "Skills" to avoid confusing the bots – and the human hiring manager!
Choosing the best resume format for athletic trainers
For athletic trainers with some degree of work experience, the reverse chronological format is the best choice for your resume. This format begins with your most recent employment and works backwards through the past 10 years (or as much as you have.) This is the format most employers expect to see, so if you have some work history to show, this is a great option.
It's not the only format that could work, however. The hybrid format begins with a "Skills" or "Experience" section that's followed by a shorter employment history. This is a possible choice for recent graduates, personal trainers and others with non-traditional career paths.
Resume summary example
The resume summary gives you 3-5 sentences to offer insight into your biggest accomplishments and attributes before the hiring manager reads the rest of the resume. Since athletic trainers need a fair amount of people skills as well as industry knowledge, you'll want to show off your human side here as well. Remember to use as many powerful action verbs and job specific information as you can. You want to convey your ability and dedication to being an effective athletic trainer in a clear and concise way. Here's the summary from our resume example below.
Experienced and certified athletic trainer with a proven track record of helping clients to overcome physical obstacles and achieve athletic goals. Adept in assessing the needs of individual clients and developing individualized training plans to promote health, athletic ability, and wellness. Experienced in working alongside doctors and coaches to design programs that help to treat and prevent injuries in athletes. Adept in designing injury prevention and rehabilitation programs, and committed to remaining up-to-date on the latest exercise and rehabilitation techniques.
Employment history sample
The employment history section is where you'll be able to showcase all positions relevant to an athletic trainer position. Remember to use powerful action verbs and mention job specific accomplishments that showcases your ability to train athletes. Since numbers and statistics are so important to quantify results in the fitness industry, make sure to share some of them here to prove the impact you can have. Follow reverse chronological order beginning with your most recent position and working backwards until you've included all relevant roles. Below you'll find the employment history section from our resume example.
- Accurately assessed the needs of clients and designed individualized exercise programs to maximize physical wellness.
- Worked with doctors and coaches to understand injuries, treat them, and prevent them.
- Educated clients about at-home care and exercises to strengthen muscles and prevent injury.
- Worked with athletes suffering from acute and chronic injuries.
- Designed therapy programs for post-surgical patients and documented progress along the way.
- Designed an implemented strength and conditioning programs for 40+ athletes in two clinics.
CV skills example
The CV section of your resume is the place to highlight the most important skills you possess in this incredibly hands-on role. Make sure to include a balance of hard skills and soft skills – both the innate qualities that make you a natural leader and the health and fitness knowledge that allows you to train effectively. This section should built a coherent picture of you along with the rest of your resume and should include specific skills from the job description. Check out the skills section from our resume sample below.
- Knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology
- Strong Interpersonal Communication Skills
- Therapeutic intervention
- Injury and illness prevention
- Weight Management
Athletic trainer resume education example
The education section is the place to list all degrees and certifications here. Any honors or distinctions should be noted here as well. Since most athletic trainers will hold at least a bachelor's degree, there's no need to include your high school education. Any certificates, licenses or continuing education courses should also be noted here. Below you'll find the formatting from our resume example.
- 2013-2017 University of Arizona, Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Tempe, AZ
- 2009-2013 Verde Valley School, High School Diploma Sedona, AZ
Resume layout and design
The layout and design of your resume speak to your professionalism and interest in the position before the hiring manager even reads one word on the page. Make the most of this fact by creating an eye-catching header that will encourage the reader to continue. It's a good idea to make sure your formatting matches the look and feel of the company. You may even want to use different page layouts for different openings. Even a simple resume template can make it easy to create a professional header.
- Create a header that stands out, even if it's a simple one
- Stick with professional sans serif font styles
- Keep a balance of white space to text to avoid visual fatigue for the reader
- Go overboard with color or icons
- Submit a resume with grammar and spelling mistakes
- Use more than two different font styles on one resume
Key takeaways
- A great athletic trainer resume is the best way to showcase your skills and land one of the many open positions in this rapidly expanding industry.
- An attractive header will help your resume stand out and make it easy for the hiring manager to find your contact information.
- Don't forget to offer some insight into your personality in the summary since athletic trainers need great people skills.
- Quantify your success and accomplishments with numbers and statistics to show the impact you had.
