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Speech-Language Pathologist resume example

A resume for a Speech-Language Pathologist needs to show the work itself: assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. Day to day that means work like this: evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders; write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients. 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.

  • Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist
  • Bilingual SLP
  • Speech and Language Specialist
  • Speech Pathologist
  • SLP
  • Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist
  • Pediatric SLP
  • Speech and Language Clinician
  • Speech and Language Teacher
  • Speech and Language Therapist
  • Speech Clinician
  • Speech Therapist
  • Home Health SLP
  • School SLP
  • SNF RN
  • Teletherapy SLP
  • Travel SLP
  • Home Health Speech Language Pathologist

O*NET records 31 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.

  • Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (Bilingual SLP)
  • Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist (Pediatric SLP)
  • Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)

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.

  • Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders.
  • Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
  • Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.
  • Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers.
  • Administer hearing or speech and language evaluations, tests, or examinations to patients to collect information on type and degree of impairments, using written or oral tests or special instruments.
  • Educate patients and family members about various topics, such as communication techniques or strategies to cope with or to avoid personal misunderstandings.
  • Supervise or collaborate with therapy team.
  • Participate in and write reports for meetings regarding patients' progress, such as individualized educational planning (IEP) meetings, in-service meetings, or intervention assistance team meetings.
  • Teach clients to control or strengthen tongue, jaw, face muscles, or breathing mechanisms.
  • Instruct clients in techniques for more effective communication, such as sign language, lip reading, or voice improvement.
  • Consult with and advise educators or medical staff on speech or hearing topics, such as communication strategies or speech and language stimulation.
  • Develop speech exercise programs to reduce disabilities.

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.

  • Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Develop or implement treatment plans for problems such as stuttering, delayed language, swallowing disorders, or inappropriate pitch or harsh voice problems, based on own assessments and recommendations of physicians, psychologists, or social workers, 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 Audition
  • Apple Logic Pro
  • Avaaz Innovations AphasiaMate
  • Avaaz Innovations Computerized Speech Research Environment CSRE
  • Avaaz Innovations Interactive Voice Analysis System IVANS
  • Biofeedback software
  • Bungalow Software Aphasia Tutor
  • Dropbox
  • eClinicalWorks EHR software
  • ELR Software eLr Extra Language Resources
  • Email software
  • KayPENTAX Multi-Speech
  • KayPENTAX Nasometer
  • Language analysis software

27 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.

  • Airflow measurement devices
  • Alternative computer keyboards
  • Audiometers
  • Augmentative communication devices
  • Closed circuit television systems
  • Compact disk CD players
  • Compact stereo systems
  • Desktop computers
  • Diagnostic stroboscopes
  • Digital audio recorders
  • Digital cameras
  • Digital video stroboscopy systems

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. 03Reading Comprehension
  4. 04Social Perceptiveness
  5. 05Learning Strategies
  6. 06Speaking
  7. 07Writing
  8. 08Active Learning
  9. 09Complex Problem Solving
  10. 10Instructing

Knowledge areas

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

  • English Language
  • Education and Training
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Psychology
  • Therapy and Counseling
  • Administrative
  • Sociology and Anthropology
  • 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.

  • 89%Master's Degree
  • 11%Post-Master's Certificate, awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master's degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Extensive Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Common questions

What does a Speech-Language Pathologist do?
Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. Day to day that includes work like evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders and Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
What skills should a Speech-Language Pathologist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Social Perceptiveness, and Learning Strategies 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 Speech-Language Pathologist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe Audition, Apple Logic Pro, Avaaz Innovations AphasiaMate, Avaaz Innovations Computerized Speech Research Environment CSRE, and Avaaz Innovations Interactive Voice Analysis System IVANS. 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 Speech-Language Pathologist work?
O*NET records 31 titles for this occupation, including Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist, Bilingual SLP, Speech and Language Specialist, and Speech Pathologist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Speech-Language Pathologist need?
In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 89% reported their level of education as "Master's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Speech-Language Pathologist 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.