Phlebotomist Resume Skills Checklist: What Employers Want

Phlebotomy is a competitive but rewarding career in which you will help save people’s lives. Once you’re working as a phlebotomist, you’ll typically benefit from job security and attractive wages. However, with many applicants for each role, getting your foot in the door can be challenging.

To impress recruiters and receive job offers, you’ll need a stellar resume. It should show you have the most in-demand phlebotomist skills, from venipuncture site selection to the ability to put nervous people at ease.

Keep reading as we explain how to best describe your phlebotomist skills on your resume. Plus, our phlebotomist skills checklist will make sure you don’t forget anything important.

How to Best Present Your Phlebotomist Resume Skills

Impressing recruiters isn’t just about including the right skills on your resume. It’s also about presenting them well so that they’re the first thing a recruiter notices. Make sure to do these three things:

1. Choose the Right Resume Structure

There are numerous resume structures that you can use, from the traditional chronological one to the modern functional resume. For most phlebotomists, however, the hybrid resume will be the best choice.

With a hybrid resume, you start by listing your key skills, before detailing your career history. By placing your phlebotomist resume skills at the beginning of your resume, you can increase the chances of a recruiter noticing them. If they’re impressed, they’ll keep reading.

2. Use Recruiter-Approved Phrasing for Your Phlebotomist Resume Skills

More and more employers use software to filter out applicants, which means that choosing the right phrasing is more important than ever.

If the software is looking for “contaminated items disposal” but your resume lists “appropriate disposal of used materials”, your application could be automatically discarded — even though you have the skill in question.

To avoid this, make sure to use the phrases listed in the job application as well as those recommended by recruiters. (Our resume builder will help you build your resume by automatically suggesting recruiter-approved phrasing for phlebotomist roles.)

3. Back Your Phlebotomist Skills Up with Evidence

Any applicant can claim to have key phlebotomist skills. Your claims will be more convincing, memorable and impressive, however, if you include evidence.

Ideally, your evidence will be in the form of either:

• Quantifiable data, e.g. “averaged 35–40 blood draws per shift”
• Certifications and/or training, e.g. “attended 8-hour patient consent training on [recent date]”
• Achievements and/or responsibilities, e.g. “oversaw hygiene control for a team of five phlebotomists”
• Anecdotes, e.g. “commended for making blood draws a positive experience for vulnerable children”

While the first two options are best, it’s not always possible to provide objective evidence. That’s when you should turn to responsibilities and anecdotes.

A Phlebotomist Skills Checklist for Your Resume

You no doubt have a wide range of skills. Some are more relevant than others, however, and you only have limited space on your resume. You don’t want your knowledge of HIPAA and patient confidentiality to be overlooked because you also included all your data entry and written communication skills.

Use this phlebotomist skills checklist to make sure you’re not leaving off a major skill that employers want.

Venipuncture Site Selection and Blood Draws

As a phlebotomist, this will be your main responsibility. You can back it up by referring to your experience, e.g. “500+ blood draws” or “two years experience of performing blood draws”.

Hygiene Control and Contaminated Items Disposal

Make sure to carefully review the job listing and then adjust your wording. For example, common variations of this skill include:

• PPE usage
• Biohazard waste disposal
• Infection control protocols
• Site decontamination

Support your claim by mentioning your training and/or experience.

Sample Management and Blood Specimen Storage

This might be described as “sample management”, “sample labeling” or “sample recording”. Check the job listing and use the same phrasing.

Patient Identification and Confidentiality

A thorough understanding of patient confidentiality and data management is essential for phlebotomists. Potential evidence for this skill includes the training you’ve received as well as your familiarity with healthcare privacy and ethics. You could also mention compliance with HIPAA.

Confirming and Recording Patient Consent

Patient consent is another major point for legal compliance. Make sure to double-check the job listing for phrasing. If it’s not mentioned, you can use the phrase “confirming patient consent” and support it with training or data, e.g. “confirmed patient consent before performing 500+ blood draws” or “assisted 16 hours of voluntary training on confirming consent”.

People Skills

They might be soft skills, but employers know the importance of interpersonal skills. You’ll work with a wide variety of patients, many of whom will be nervous. Some will have phobias of needles or blood. Others might not be fully fluent in English or have developmental disabilities. And while some patients will be anxious, others will respond with anger and irritation.

As well as mentioning people skills, you could also highlight experience performing blood draws on children, neurodivergent people, refugees and other people who typically need greater support. This is especially relevant if you know that you are likely to work with a particular type of patient in the position you are applying for. As an example, if the role is in a children’s hospital, you could state: “regularly performed blood draws on children aged 2+.”

Get Invited to Interview with a Phlebotomist Resume that Shows Off Your Skills

It doesn’t matter how skilled a phlebotomist you are if your resume doesn’t back you up. Most resumes are discarded after just 7.4 seconds, which means you need to quickly demonstrate that you have the skills and experience for the job.

(And that’s not including all the resumes that never make it to a recruiter’s inbox, thanks to applicant tracking systems, i.e. software that filters out resumes.)

Your resume has to be machine-readable, professionally laid out and customized to the role in question. It should include all the key skills mentioned in the job description, as well as your career history and qualifications.

Writing an excellent resume doesn’t have to be challenging, though. We’ve published a huge range of phlebotomist resume templates that you can use as inspiration. All our templates are machine-readable and easy to customize.

Plus, our resume builder will make the process simple. It will guide you through writing your resume, from choosing a skills-focused structure to recruiter-approved phrasing for phlebotomist resume skills and keywords.

Build your resume in 10 minutes so you can catch a recruiter’s attention and get invited to an interview.