Child Psychologist Resume Example & Writing Guide

You’ve chosen to work with children who need assistance, and that’s great! You are doing important work and you are ready to find the right fit for you. It’s time to move onto to your next great job and you need a child psychologist resume that resonates with recruiters.

Our expert advice will help get you there. Resume.io’s powerful resources for job seekers include resume guides and resume examples for 350+ professions. When you’re ready to create your child psychologist resume, our easy-to-use resume builder is there. 

Read on in this resume guide, along with the corresponding resume example, to learn more about the following topics:

• What does a child psychologist do?
• How to write a child psychologist resume (tips and tricks)
• The best format for a child psychologist resume
• Advice on each section of your resume (summary, work history, education, skills)
• Professional resume layout and design hints.

What does a child psychologist do?

Child psychologists are healthcare professionals who treat children’s mental health issues and behavioral disorders. They assess and diagnose children and develop individualized treatment plans to improve their lives. They also help children cope with difficult situations and life events and teach them methods for coping in the future.

Child psychologists work to build trusting relationships with clients, so that they can properly assess, diagnose, and treat. they  may work for individual clients, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, or other healthcare facilities. 

How to write a child psychologist resume

Before you begin compiling your child psychologist resume, let’s take a step back and look at its components. 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

Once you know what goes into your resume, you need to understand how best to write it. This resume sample will teach you why it’s so important to personalize your child psychologist resume for each job, and how to get past the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) designed to eliminate “bad” resumes.

Choosing the best resume format for a child psychologist

The best resume format for a child psychologist is reverse chronological order. This means that within your employment history section, you will list your jobs starting with the most recent and working your way back. You should do the same with your educational history.

Reverse chronological order serves two key purposes: First, it allows recruiters to find the information they seek quickly and easily, because chronological order is the most common format. Second, it makes applying online easier. Why? Because the ATS scans your resume with the assumption that it is in chronological order. If you use a different format, you will end up re-inputting all your data.

Resume education example

We recommend moving your education section to the top of your child psychologist resume because of the serious nature of your position. Recruiters and employers will want to know right away what your qualifications are and where you earned them. 

Clinical psychologists must have a Ph.D. or a Psy.D. (doctorate of psychology) and be licensed by the state in which they practice. Child psychology has specializations within it. If you have expertise in behavior modification or working with children who have learning disabilities or fall on the autism spectrum be sure to list your training in those or any other specialized areas here. 

List your bachelor’s degree and your master’s degree as well as your doctorate. Any honors or distinctions should be noted here as well. You may also want to add your dissertation topic and findings if they relate directly to a specific job.

Resume summary example

The summary section of your child psychologist resume should highlight your key attributes and the talents that prove your qualifications and accomplishments as a mental health clinician is crucial. This paragraph is your one chance to give recruiters a sense of who you are as a person.

Child psychologists must be excellent communicators and although the type of communication is quite different from what you are trying to get across in the summary of your child psychologist resume, you should pay careful attention here to write clearly and professionally. In your summary, also called a profile, you have two to four sentences to exhibit your professional demeanor, style, and greatest successes. You can do this by using strong descriptive words to highlight your skills and experience. 

Consider telling the story of one client with whom you feel you made great strides or of a program or therapeutic group you started to fill a need among your clients. Make sure you tailor this narrative to the job for which you are applying. This is true for all the sections in your resume. As a job seeker, you want your prospective employer to know that this is the job you truly want. Use your profile to explain your affinity toward this type of practice.

Seeking more guidance on this freeform section? Check out more resume samples in our medical category of resume samples. They include a marriage and family therapist resume example, behavioral therapist resume sample, psychotherapist resume example, art therapist resume sample, and a clinic coordinator resume example. 

Employment history sample

Child psychologists work in many different settings from private practice to clinics, schools, and hospitals. In each setting, your job description changes as do your responsibilities. The employment history section of your child psychologist resume should reflect where you have worked and what you have learned and accomplished.

Some psychologists focus on individual therapy, while others may spend time completing psychological evaluations to help assess students with special needs. Because the title psychologist is so broad, you must be very detailed and specific in your employment history. Make sure you are letting prospective employers or clients know that you have the experience they seek. Use relevant examples and data to back up your claims. 

As you craft each bullet item, remember the following:

• Be as specific as possible
• Use strong action verbs to explain problems you encountered, your approach to solving them, and your results
• Add data when appropriate to illustrate your successes.

List all relevant positions. Remember to use powerful action verbs and mention job-specific accomplishments that prove you are an excellent candidate. 

Child psychologist CV skills example

Your skills section is a brief listing of the abilities that best fit the job you seek. Think about all the skills you use in your work. Then, choose five to ten that best match your potential employer’s requirements. Opt for higher-level or rarer skills instead of the basic skills expected of all child psychologists.

Psychologists use many soft, or interpersonal skills, but must also have hard skills. Excellent communication, listening, and problem-solving skills are a must, but an impressive child psychologist resume will also feature your expertise in accurate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral disorders. As a psychologist, you know that privacy and sensitivity are of the utmost importance. Try to illustrate these qualities within your resume or cover letter.

Resume layout and design

You’ve assembled all your sections; now you are ready to think about design. Your layout should reflect your professional demeanor: neat and well-organized with a dash of personality. Keep your resume legible by sticking with the most readable fonts and leaving plenty of white space. 

Don’t try to cram too much information onto the page. Remember that recruiters see dozens of resumes a day, so if your resume is hard to read, they will move on to the next one.

Stick with basic section headings as well. Those same recruiters don’t want to have to figure out what you mean when you title your education section something like “Journey into Wonder.” make sure your personal data stands out so recruiters can easily contact you. Finally, always save your document as a PDF file to avoid creating formatting errors among different word processing software or versions of software.

Key takeaways for a child psychologist resume

1. Child psychologists are entrusted with the mental health of fragile children, so they must be trustworthy as well as caring.
2. The summary section offers a chance to describe your therapeutic philosophy.
3. Bump up your education section to show all the hard work and training you have done to get where you are.
4. Take advantage of our expertly-designed layouts to get your resume in play sooner.