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Medical Equipment Preparer resume example

A resume for a Medical Equipment Preparer needs to show the work itself: prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. Day to day that means work like this: operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed; clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization. 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.

  • Central Service Technician
  • CST
  • Central Sterile Supply Technician
  • CSS Technician
  • CRCST
  • Sterile Processing Technician
  • Sterile Processing Tech
  • Central Processing Technician
  • CPT
  • Instrument Technician
  • Sterile Preparation Technician
  • SPD Tech
  • Sterile Technician
  • Sterilization Technician
  • Central Sterile Processing Tech
  • Central Sterile Tech
  • CSPDT
  • Instrumentation Tech

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

What people in this job call themselves

Titles reported by people actually doing this work, which is often not the title on the job posting.

  • Central Processing Technician (CPT)
  • Central Service Technician (CST)
  • Central Sterile Supply Technician (CSS Technician)
  • Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST)
  • Sterile Processing and Distribution Technician (SPD Tech)
  • Sterile Processing Technician (Sterile Processing Tech)

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.

  • Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed.
  • Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
  • Record sterilizer test results.
  • Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed.
  • Examine equipment to detect leaks, worn or loose parts, or other indications of disrepair.
  • Report defective equipment to appropriate supervisors or staff.
  • Maintain records of inventory or equipment usage and order medical instruments or supplies when inventory is low.
  • Stock crash carts or other medical supplies.
  • Start equipment and observe gauges and equipment operation to detect malfunctions and to ensure equipment is operating to prescribed standards.
  • Check sterile supplies to ensure that they are not outdated.
  • Attend hospital in-service programs related to areas of work specialization.
  • Disinfect and sterilize equipment, such as respirators, hospital beds, or oxygen or dialysis equipment, using sterilizers, aerators, or washers.

15 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.

  • Operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Record sterilizer test results, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Organize and assemble routine or specialty surgical instrument trays or other sterilized supplies, filling special requests as needed, 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.

  • Calendar software
  • Database software
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • Email software
  • Inventory tracking software
  • Kronos Workforce Timekeeper
  • McKesson ANSOS One-Staff
  • MEDITECH software
  • MEDITECH Supply Chain Management
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft SharePoint

19 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.

  • Aerators
  • Automatic dryers
  • Bar code scanners
  • Bowie Dick test packs
  • Chemical sterilization indicators
  • Cleaning or sterilizing scrubbing brushes
  • Computerized scope washers
  • Desktop computers
  • Equipment bar code readers
  • Ethylene oxide gas sterilizers
  • Gas sterilizers
  • Heat-sealer machines

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.

  • Calendar
  • Inventory tracking

What this job rates as most important

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

  1. 01Critical Thinking
  2. 02Monitoring
  3. 03Quality Control Analysis
  4. 04Active Listening
  5. 05Operations Monitoring
  6. 06Reading Comprehension
  7. 07Speaking
  8. 08Troubleshooting
  9. 09Active Learning
  10. 10Coordination

Knowledge areas

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

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • English Language
  • Biology
  • Production and Processing
  • Public Safety and Security

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.

  • 44%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
  • 31%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
  • 15%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Medical Equipment Preparer do?
Prepare, sterilize, install, or clean laboratory or healthcare equipment. Day to day that includes work like operate and maintain steam autoclaves, keeping records of loads completed, items in loads, and maintenance procedures performed and Clean instruments to prepare them for sterilization.
What skills should a Medical Equipment Preparer put on a resume?
O*NET rates Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Quality Control Analysis, Active Listening, and Operations Monitoring 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 Medical Equipment Preparer list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Calendar software, Database software, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Email software, and Inventory tracking software. 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 Medical Equipment Preparer work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Central Service Technician, CST, Central Sterile Supply Technician, and CSS Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Medical Equipment Preparer need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 44% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Medical Equipment Preparer 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.