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.
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.
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.
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.
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.