Phlebotomist Skills for a Resume

Labs and hospitals hire phlebotomists who draw blood safely on the first try, label every tube correctly and keep patients calm. Show your daily volume, the patients you draw from and your accuracy.

Updated

13 skills at a glance

Hard skills

What the work takes, how a hiring manager judges each skill, and a bullet point that shows it.

  1. Venipuncture with straight and butterfly needles

    Give your daily volume, and your first-stick success rate if you track it.

    Example bullet pointDrew blood from 50 to 60 outpatients a day at a hospital lab, using butterfly needles for fragile veins.

  2. Capillary and heel-stick collection

    Mention newborns and children if you draw from them. Not every phlebotomist does.

    Example bullet pointPerformed heel-stick collections for newborn screening on the maternity unit.

  3. Blood culture collection

    Show that you follow the sterile technique that keeps contamination low.

    Example bullet pointCollected blood cultures with strict sterile technique, helping the hospital keep contamination below its target.

  4. Order of draw and tube selection

    Accuracy here prevents repeat draws. Say so.

    Example bullet pointFollowed the correct order of draw for multi-tube orders, avoiding additive carryover and repeat collections.

  5. Patient identification and specimen labeling

    Show your record. Labs track mislabeled specimens closely.

    Example bullet pointLabeled every specimen at the bedside with two patient identifiers, with no mislabeled tubes in a year.

  6. Specimen processing and transport

    Mention centrifuging, aliquoting and time-sensitive samples.

    Example bullet pointCentrifuged, aliquoted and packed specimens for courier pickup, meeting temperature and timing requirements.

  7. Glucose tolerance and timed collections

    Show that you keep to the schedule and help patients through long tests.

    Example bullet pointRan two-hour glucose tolerance tests for pregnant patients, with every draw on time.

  8. Laboratory information systems

    Name the system and say that you receive, label and track orders in it.

    Example bullet pointReceived orders and printed labels in Epic Beaker, flagging duplicate orders before collection.

Soft skills

Shown through what you did, never claimed as adjectives.

  1. Steady hands

    Show it through first-stick success and difficult draws.

    Example bullet pointWas called to draw patients other staff could not, including those with rolling or scarred veins.

  2. Reassuring manner

    Show how you help needle-shy patients and children.

    Example bullet pointCalmed needle-shy patients with clear steps and distraction, so fewer draws had to be stopped.

  3. Accuracy

    Point to your labeling and identification record.

    Example bullet pointChecked each requisition against the patient's wristband before every draw, catching two wrong-patient orders.

  4. Working fast without rushing

    Show your volume with safety intact.

    Example bullet pointKept the morning outpatient wait under ten minutes without skipping a single identification step.

  5. Reliability on early shifts

    Mention early starts and attendance. Morning draws depend on them.

    Example bullet pointCovered 4 a.m. inpatient draws five days a week, so results were ready for physicians' morning rounds.

Licenses and certifications

Give them a section of their own, with who issued each one and the year or expiry date.

  • Phlebotomy Technician, PBT (ASCP)
  • Certified Phlebotomy Technician, CPT (NHA)
  • Registered Phlebotomy Technician, RPT (AMT)
  • State license, where required (California, Louisiana, Nevada, Washington)
  • Basic Life Support (BLS)

Keywords from phlebotomist job postings

Use the ones that are true for you, in your bullet points as well as your skills list.

  • venipunctures
  • capillary
  • first-stick
  • blood culture
  • specimens
  • order of draw
  • patient identification
  • draws

Each posting has its own words. Our guide to tailoring your resume to a job description shows how to find them and where to put them.

Where to put your skills

  • In a skills section: a short list of the hard skills the posting names, in its words.
  • In your bullet points: every skill that matters should show up in something you did, with a result. That is where a hiring manager believes it.
  • In your summary: two or three of the skills the job asks for most.

More on choosing them in how to choose and prove the skills on your resume.

Questions

What skills should a phlebotomist put on a resume?

Venipuncture, capillary collection, blood cultures, order of draw, patient identification and labeling, specimen processing and the lab system you use, plus steady hands, accuracy and a reassuring manner.

Do phlebotomists need a certification?

Most employers prefer one, such as the PBT, CPT or RPT, and a few states require a license. List it in a section of its own.

How do I show my skill without much experience?

Give the number of successful draws from your training and any clinical placement, and mention the patient groups you practiced with.

Put them to work

Start from a phlebotomist resume that already uses these skills, for an invented person, and make it yours in the builder.

Use this exampleRead the phlebotomist resume example