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Behavior technicians need to develop trust with their patients while simultaneously analyzing their behavioral changes. Framing a behavior technician’s wide range of skills in a resume can be crucial to make you stand out to hiring managers. To help you with this, we’ve created a resume-writing guide paired with resume examples and job-specific tips.
Browse our free resume templates and job-specific examples designed by career experts to help you get your next job.
Behavior Technician Resume
Study this behavior technician resume example and note its sections, the accomplishments and skills in each section, and the language the applicant used to convey professionalism and industry knowledge.
When writing your behavior technician resume, always include:
Important message
Leaflet
It is crucial to get organized before starting work on your resume. Sifting through old documents could unearth new job-related accomplishments you want to highlight for this particular position. Research for your role might even teach you a different aspect of your job. Before you begin, complete the following steps:
All resumes fall under three categories: chronological, functional or combination. These categories, or formats, help different types of applicants highlight their strengths and downplay any weaknesses.
The most common format, best for candidates with over ten years of work experience, is the chronological resume format, which lists achievements in the work history section.
Entry-level candidates with an internship or part-time work experience should use a functional format to highlight their job-relevant skills.
A resume with an equal display of skills and experience, often used by career changers, individuals returning to the workforce or those applying for a promotion, is the combination format.
Check out our resume formats guide to read up on these formats and make a more informed decision about which one works best for you.
Chronological
Functional
Combination
After gathering your data and choosing an appropriate format, you can start writing your resume. We’ve created an easy-to-follow writing guide to help you finish crafting your resume as quickly as possible.
1. Select an opening statement strategy.
A resume's opening statement or professional summary should inform the reader of the candidate's goals and skills. It follows one of two strategies depending on what you wish to highlight: A career objective showcases your career aspirations, and a summary statement displays your experience in the job.
Since the role of behavior technician requires a specific skill set and preferably a few years of professional experience to be hired, we recommend you go ahead with the summary statement approach.
Let’s compare a poor summary statement example with a good one to know what to avoid when writing your resume.
Poor example:
“I am an experienced behavior technician with the knowledge of handling clients suffering from behavioral issues. I have previously worked in treatment centers and have helped many patients get better.”
This summary statement fails to provide any information on the job tasks and doesn’t quantify the candidate’s achievements.
Good example:
“Dedicated behavior technician with over seven years of experience implementing behavioral plans and designated interventions for patients. Dealt with dissociative, bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders patients and skilled in building relationships based on communication. Expertise in time management and helping patients develop functional skills to be independent.”
The example above rectifies the mistakes of the poor example by:
If you're an entry-level candidate with no work history to display, use the career objective approach and follow the tips below to get more out of your statement:
Study this career objective example and choose your strategy wisely:
“Aspiring behavior technician with knowledge of creating behavioral plans to treat ADHD and Autism. Experienced in handling patient records and tracking patient behavior through a six-month internship. Eager to learn the procedures of implementing a behavior treatment plan.”
2. Categorize your skills as soft, hard and technical.
Every resume has a dedicated skills section with a list of six to eight of your soft, hard and technical skills. In addition to that, you can document skills in other areas of the resume, such as the work history and professional summary, to enhance their content.
The skills section compensates for the candidate's lack of professional experience in functional resumes. Therefore, you will showcase your accomplishments in this section based on the three core skills you want to highlight. You will include three to four informative bullet points describing instances where you successfully utilized each core skill to complete a job task.
Refer to the example of an expanded skills section entry below:
Skills
Patient Care
The quantifiable achievements paired with job-related tasks make it a great alternative to an elaborate work history entry.
Diversify your resume skills and show your expertise in different areas of the job with the following skill types:
Soft skills determine how well you do a task and how you interact with others in a professional environment. Below is a list of soft skills applicable to a behavior technician:
Hard skills represent the necessary knowledge you need to do a specific job. The top hard skills for a behavior technician are as follows:
Technical skills define your knowledge of tools to make your work life more efficient. Some of the tools you require to function better at your work are:
Use our Resume Builder to find more behavior technician-related skills. When using our resume-writing tool, you will also get customizable resume templates and pre-written content for your particular job to create a brand new resume in minutes.
Your work history section should list your professional roles in reverse-chronological order. You start with your most recent position and work your way to your first role in your behavior technician career.
A work history entry consists of your job title, company name, work location and employment dates. This information is followed by three to four bullet points detailing the candidate's work achievements.
Let’s look at two examples of a work history entry:
Poor example:
Work History
This entry covers the job's tasks but doesn't give a personal insight into their capabilities.
Good example:
Work History
This work entry goes in-depth with the candidate's experience by mentioning specific instances and quantifying tasks to give the reader a better sense of the candidate's skill set.
Follow these tips to improve your work history entry:
The education section, placed usually at the end of your resume, shows a list of your formal educational achievements with the title of the degree you received, the institute's name and location and your graduation year.
The minimum qualification required for a behavior technician role is a high school diploma or a GED. Candidates with this level of education should avoid including graduation dates to avoid hiring bias. You also need to complete 40 hours of training and pass the registered behavior technician (RBT) exam.
Since there aren’t a lot of educational requirements to become a behavior technician, you can stand out from the rest of your peers with a few specialized certifications. Add a customized section below your education to showcase your extracurricular accolades.
Below are a few certifications that can come in handy for a behavior technician:
Registered Behavior Technician Certification (RBT)
A candidate must have this certification to work as a professional behavior technician. It provides a paraprofessional certificate to work under the supervision of behavior analysts.
Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst (BCaBA)
To further specialize in behavior analysis, technicians can apply for a BCaBA, which certifies them to work as an assistant behavior analyst under the supervision of a certified professional analyst. This certification requires a bachelor’s degree in psychology or a related field.
With this certification officiated by the Red Cross, you will get the training to use CPR and other life-saving skills on individuals needing urgent help.
This credential trains candidates working in a setting requiring working with individuals under the autism spectrum. This certification doesn’t require any pre-requisite degrees to attain.
The following courses will help you in your training process as a behavior technician:
Your contact information consists of your name, location, phone number and email address. Place it in a highly visible part of your resume, centered at the top or in an upper corner.
Download the resume templates below and edit them using your preferred word processing software. Use the job-specific tips in these resumes and craft your ideal resume in no time!
A behavior technician requires a lot of patience and care to build trust with their patients and understand their behavioral changes. The three essential skills they need to function at their job successfully are communication skills, empathy and strong knowledge of applied behavior analysis (ABA).
Showcasing your skills in being more emotionally responsive and sharing instances where you received positive feedback from a patient can make you stand out as a behavior technician.
A behavior technician candidate should use an objective statement to showcase what they aspire to gain. A good objective statement would mention the individual's subject knowledge to grab the recruiter's attention. An example of such an objective statement would be, “Proficient in creating behavior and treatment plans. Eager to work on implementing these plans and refine intervention management skills.”
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