Why CPR Renewal Can Help You Attain Success in Your Professional Career

The dreaded résumé: it’s one of the most difficult aspects of getting hired, especially as the requirements vary so much between different fields. What may work for an IT professional may not be as compelling for a graphic designer, as they require unique skill sets; worse, you can’t truly capture everything that makes you a great worker within two pages or less.

Numerous tweaks and enhancements can help you stand out amongst a sea of potential hires, such as notating whether you have worked remotely in the past; it’s a skill that is highly in demand in some fields where companies are looking to cut costs by letting their office contracts expire. However, one element that remains the same in almost every industry is an underappreciated section at the end of the résumé, which lists additional certifications, hobbies, volunteer activities, and interests. This helps personalize you and can provide great insight into who you are as a person.

There may be one that you never considered would be an amazing asset: a CPR renewal certification. Far from being just another class, getting CPR renewal says volumes about who you are, what you believe in, and how you will work in the office space. Let’s look at a few of the reasons why learning to save a life can also revive your career, regardless of where you are in your professional development.

Learning First Aid Signifies That You’re a Team Player

Teamwork is one of the most important skills in the workplace, as nearly every profession requires some level of collaboration; whether you’re accepting assignments from a superior or working with your colleagues to craft a proposal, you need to be able to coordinate, delineate, and delegate as necessary.

Few things signify a willingness to help others than to be willing to save others in an emergency situation: having a current CPR certificate shows that you truly care about the lives of others. If you’re willing to intervene when someone suffers a heart attack or falls and breaks their leg, there’s no question that you’ll be happy to assist Janet in finishing up the financial reports on a Friday.

Having CPR Skills Shows a Cool Head in Tense Situations

Something else that’s highly critical to nearly every field is handling stress and working effectively under pressure. When deadlines loom, and there’s no time for indecision, you need someone who can work quickly through a situation without faltering because they’re anxious.

In first aid training, you learn the confidence to jump in and problem-solve, working through what you have learned and effectively applying it to save another’s life. This indicates that you’re not going to panic if something far less life-and-death, such as a broken printer on the day of a big presentation, sets your plans askew.

You’ll Demonstrate That You Have Initiative

Unless you’re in the medical field or adjacent public service fields, there’s no one obligating you to learn CPR: you face no negative consequences for failing to keep your first aid certification active. This is why it’s particularly impressive to employees in other fields, such as business or technology, when they come across a resume with an active CPR certification, because it shows that they seek personal development when they’re off the clock.

It’s Never Been Easier to Get Your CPR Recertification

Thankfully for those go-getters who want to really wow the hiring manager, it’s incredibly simple to keep these life-saving skills up to date thanks to online CPR renewal courses. In these programs, you get all the same instruction that you would get in the classroom, but without having to find time in your busy schedule to sit in a classroom and take notes. Instead, you can learn at your own pace with quick, easily digestible lessons that can be completed in half an hour or less.

You have ample time and plenty of resources to ace your exam, and you can go back and revisit any modules that have proven particularly difficult. If you’d really like to go above and beyond, you can schedule an in-person examination of your hands-on CPR technique, though this is not typically required for those outside of the medical profession.

Better yet, these courses are quite affordable, at under $60 for two years of certification. You’ll be able to show potential employers that you are an empathetic, quick-thinking individual with the confidence to intervene when a situation goes awry, whether that is someone having a seizure or a failing project.

If you’ve exhausted your ideas for professional certifications or simply want to have something unique on your résumé that will help you stand out, signing up for an online CPR recertification is a powerful way to demonstrate all the skills that make you such a great worker - and a great citizen of your community.