What skills should a Health Education Specialist put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Learning Strategies, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Health Education Specialist list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Photoshop, Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge, Blackboard software, Blogging software, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC WONDER. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Health Education Specialist work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Clinical Instructor, Health Educator, Public Health Educator, and Certified Diabetes Educator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Health Education Specialist need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 62% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Health Education Specialist role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Health Education Specialist resume example

A resume for a Health Education Specialist needs to show the work itself: provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Day to day that means work like this: prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns; develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Clinical Instructor
Health Educator
Public Health Educator
Certified Diabetes Educator
Community Health Consultant
Education Coordinator
Health Education Coordinator
Health Promotion Specialist
Public Information Officer
CBE
CLC
CHW
PCT Preceptor
RN Educator
Breastfeeding Educator
Certified Breastfeeding Educator
Certified Health Education Specialist
Certified Lactation Counselor

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns.
Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care.
Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs.
Document activities and record information, such as the numbers of applications completed, presentations conducted, and persons assisted.
Develop and present health education and promotion programs, such as training workshops, conferences, and school or community presentations.
Collaborate with health specialists and civic groups to determine community health needs and the availability of services and to develop goals for meeting needs.
Develop, conduct, or coordinate health needs assessments and other public health surveys.
Supervise professional and technical staff in implementing health programs, objectives, and goals.
Develop operational plans and policies necessary to achieve health education objectives and services.
Provide program information to the public by preparing and presenting press releases, conducting media campaigns, or maintaining program-related Web sites.
Develop and maintain health education libraries to provide resources for staff and community agencies.
Design and conduct evaluations and diagnostic studies to assess the quality and performance of health education programs.

16 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Maintain databases, mailing lists, telephone networks, and other information to facilitate the functioning of health education programs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Document activities and record information, such as the numbers of applications completed, presentations conducted, and persons assisted, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Adobe Photoshop
Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
Blackboard software
Blogging software
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC WONDER
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info
Edpuzzle
Facebook
JamBoard
LogMeIn GoToWebinar
MEDITECH software
Mentimeter
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel

23 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Desktop computers
Digital video disk DVD players
Laptop computers
Liquid crystal display LCD projectors
Overhead display projectors
Personal computers
Personal digital assistants PDA
Photocopying equipment

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge
Blackboard

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Speaking
03Writing
04Learning Strategies
05Active Learning
06Social Perceptiveness
07Critical Thinking
08Reading Comprehension
09Coordination
10Instructing

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
Education and Training
English Language
Administrative
Psychology
Public Safety and Security
Mathematics
Sociology and Anthropology

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

62%Associate's Degree
31%Bachelor's Degree
3%Master's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a Health Education Specialist do?: Provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Day to day that includes work like prepare and distribute health education materials, such as reports, bulletins, and visual aids, to address smoking, vaccines, and other public health concerns and Develop and maintain cooperative working relationships with agencies and organizations interested in public health care.
What skills should a Health Education Specialist put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Learning Strategies, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Health Education Specialist list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Photoshop, Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge, Blackboard software, Blogging software, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC WONDER. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Health Education Specialist work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Clinical Instructor, Health Educator, Public Health Educator, and Certified Diabetes Educator. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Health Education Specialist need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 62% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Health Education Specialist role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.