What does a Phlebotomist do?

Draw blood for tests, transfusions, donations, or research. Day to day that includes work like dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies and Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use.

What skills should a Phlebotomist put on a resume?

O*NET rates Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, and Critical Thinking 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 Phlebotomist list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Donor management system software, Electronic medical record EMR software, Iatric Systems MobiLab, JavaScript, and Laboratory information system LIS. 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 Phlebotomist work?

O*NET records 20 titles for this occupation, including Lab Liaison Technician, Mobile Examiner, Phlebotomy Technician, and Patient Service Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Phlebotomist need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 45% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Phlebotomist 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.

Phlebotomist resume example

A resume for a Phlebotomist needs to show the work itself: draw blood for tests, transfusions, donations, or research. Day to day that means work like this: dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies; organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use. 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.

Lab Liaison Technician
Mobile Examiner
Phlebotomy Technician
Patient Service Technician
PST
Registered Phlebotomist
Certified Phlebotomist
Certified Phlebotomy Technician
Clinical Phlebotomist
Collections Technician
Laboratory Phlebotomist
Long Term Care Phlebotomist
Mobile Phlebotomist
Outpatient Phlebotomist
Phlebotomy Services Representative
Phlebotomy Services Technician
Phlebotomy Technologist
Research Phlebotomist

O*NET records 20 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.

Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies.
Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use.
Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods.
Match laboratory requisition forms to specimen tubes.
Dispose of blood or other biohazard fluids or tissue, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, or policies.
Conduct standards tests, such as blood alcohol, blood culture, oral glucose tolerance, glucose screening, blood smears, or peak and trough drug levels tests.
Collect specimens at specific time intervals for tests, such as those assessing therapeutic drug levels.
Process blood or other fluid samples for further analysis by other medical professionals.
Provide sample analysis results to physicians to assist diagnosis.
Enter patient, specimen, insurance, or billing information into computer.
Document route of specimens from collection to laboratory analysis and diagnosis.
Draw blood from capillaries by dermal puncture, such as heel or finger stick methods.

23 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.

Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Match laboratory requisition forms to specimen tubes, 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.

Donor management system software
Electronic medical record EMR software
Iatric Systems MobiLab
JavaScript
Laboratory information system LIS
Medical procedure coding software
MEDITECH Blood Bank
MEDITECH Laboratory and Microbiology
MEDITECH software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Word
Scheduling software

Tools and equipment

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

Aliquot tubes
Barcode scanners
Biohazard spill kits
Blood collection syringes
Blood culture bottles
Blood culture incubators
Blood drawing syringes
Blood gas kits
Blood glucose monitoring equipment
Blood lancets
Blood specimen refrigerators
Capillary tubes

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.

feed patients

What this job rates as most important

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

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

Knowledge areas

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

Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Administrative
Education and Training
Psychology
Computers and Electronics
Medicine and Dentistry

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.

45%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
32%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
14%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Phlebotomist do?: Draw blood for tests, transfusions, donations, or research. Day to day that includes work like dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies and Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use.
What skills should a Phlebotomist put on a resume?: O*NET rates Service Orientation, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking, and Critical Thinking 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 Phlebotomist list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Donor management system software, Electronic medical record EMR software, Iatric Systems MobiLab, JavaScript, and Laboratory information system LIS. 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 Phlebotomist work?: O*NET records 20 titles for this occupation, including Lab Liaison Technician, Mobile Examiner, Phlebotomy Technician, and Patient Service Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Phlebotomist need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 45% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Phlebotomist 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.