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Respiratory Therapist resume example

A resume for a Respiratory Therapist needs to show the work itself: assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Day to day that means work like this: provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation; monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur. 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.

  • Certified Respiratory Therapist
  • CRT
  • Registered Respiratory Therapist
  • RRT
  • Respiratory Care Practitioner
  • RCP
  • RT
  • Staff Respiratory Therapist
  • Staff Therapist
  • NICU Respiratory Therapist
  • Travel RRT
  • Hospital Respiratory Therapist
  • Inhalation Therapist
  • Oxygen Therapist
  • Travel Registered Respiratory Therapist
  • Travel Respiratory Therapist

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.

  • Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Respiratory Therapist
  • Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT)
  • Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT)
  • Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP)
  • Respiratory Therapist (RT)

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.

  • Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
  • Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
  • Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment.
  • Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties.
  • Maintain charts that contain patients' pertinent identification and therapy information.
  • Read prescription, measure arterial blood gases, and review patient information to assess patient condition.
  • Relay blood analysis results to a physician.
  • Inspect, clean, test, and maintain respiratory therapy equipment to ensure equipment is functioning safely and efficiently, ordering repairs when necessary.
  • Explain treatment procedures to patients to gain cooperation and allay fears.
  • Make emergency visits to resolve equipment problems.
  • Determine requirements for treatment, such as type, method and duration of therapy, precautions to be taken, or medication and dosages, compatible with physicians' orders.
  • Enforce safety rules and ensure careful adherence to physicians' orders.

22 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.

  • Provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Set up and operate devices, such as mechanical ventilators, therapeutic gas administration apparatus, environmental control systems, or aerosol generators, following specified parameters of treatment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Work as part of a team of physicians, nurses, or other healthcare professionals to manage patient care by assisting with medical procedures or related duties, 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 and scheduling software
  • Database software
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • Electronic medical record EMR software
  • HMS
  • MEDITECH software
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word

Tools and equipment

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

  • Aerosol masks
  • Air compressors
  • Ambu bags
  • Apnea monitors
  • Bedside spirometers
  • Bilevel positive airway pressure BiPAP ventilators
  • Blood collection syringes
  • Blood gas kits
  • Blood gas machines
  • Bronchoscopes
  • Cannulas
  • Capillary catheters

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. 01Active Listening
  2. 02Critical Thinking
  3. 03Monitoring
  4. 04Speaking
  5. 05Active Learning
  6. 06Reading Comprehension
  7. 07Service Orientation
  8. 08Social Perceptiveness
  9. 09Complex Problem Solving
  10. 10Coordination

Knowledge areas

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

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Medicine and Dentistry
  • English Language
  • Education and Training
  • Psychology
  • Biology
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Chemistry

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.

  • 83%Associate's Degree
  • 12%Bachelor's Degree
  • 5%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

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 Respiratory Therapist do?
Assess, treat, and care for patients with breathing disorders. Day to day that includes work like provide emergency care, such as artificial respiration, external cardiac massage, or assistance with cardiopulmonary resuscitation and Monitor patient's physiological responses to therapy, such as vital signs, arterial blood gases, or blood chemistry changes, and consult with physician if adverse reactions occur.
What skills should a Respiratory Therapist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Monitoring, Speaking, 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 Respiratory Therapist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Calendar and scheduling software, Database software, eClinicalWorks EHR software, Electronic medical record EMR software, and HMS. 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 Respiratory Therapist work?
O*NET records 16 titles for this occupation, including Certified Respiratory Therapist, CRT, Registered Respiratory Therapist, and RRT. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Respiratory Therapist need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 83% 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 Respiratory Therapist 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.