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Health Coach Resume Examples for You to Use This Year

We'll help coach you towards a great health coach resume -- just use our writing tips and health coach resume example.

Ho Lin Profile
By Ho Lin 5 minute read

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Tips for a strong health coach resume

A health coach helps others make lifestyle changes to improve their health. They not only provide dietary and weight loss suggestions and motivate their clients but are also knowledgeable about health and wellness. Oftentimes, a major corporation will hire health coaches to support its employees.

This article will teach you how to structure your resume and what you should include to impress hiring managers.

Create your resume

What to highlight in a health coach resume

Improving people’s relationships with their health and bodies starts by creating the best resume that shows you have the right skills. To do this, you’ll need to highlight:

  • Health coach skills
  • Education and certifications
  • Work experience
Create your resume

How to write a health coach resume

There are three resume formats that will decide the structure of your resume. If you choose a chronological resume format, you’ll focus on your years of work experience. If you are a new health coach with little work experience, you will want to focus on your skills using a functional resume format. However, if you have gaps in your employment history or are changing careers, you will want to use a combination resume format to highlight skills and experience.
 
Once you have decided on the resume format, you will write the following resume sections:
 

Header

The resume header contains your contact information. This helps the hiring manager contact you with information or updates on your application. In this section, you should include your full name, email address and phone number. Also, include your city and state in this section. You can include professional portfolio links. This is a good way of giving the hiring manager or recruiter more information about your health care knowledge and accomplishments. 
 

Resume summary or objective

A resume summary is a 2-3 sentence paragraph highlighting the most engaging parts of your resume. You should strive to catch the hiring manager’s attention by highlighting your key skills and qualifications in health education. You can also summarize your years of experience in this industry. 
 
If you’re just starting your coaching career, you should consider using a resume objective. A resume objective is similar in length to a resume summary but instead focuses on your career intentions and goals with your wellness programs. You should explain why you’re the ideal candidate by focusing on how your skills will translate into making you a great health coach.
 

Skills

A resume skills section offers the hiring manager a mixture of health coach-specific hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are specific to a health coach role and are gained through training or certifications, such as healthy lifestyle techniques. Soft skills aren’t role specific but revolve around interpersonal skills, such as communication skills. 
 

Refer to the job description and highlight the key skills for the job. Adding these keywords to your resume will showcase you as the ideal candidate. Here are some bullet points listing common skills for a health coach that you can include in your skills section:

 

  • Interpersonal skills 
  • Understanding of dietary requirements 
  • Vital signs (blood pressure, etc.)
  • Counseling clients 
  • Disease management 
  • Planning coaching sessions 
  • Knowledge of health conditions 
  • Health screenings
  • Motivational interviewing 
  • Understanding of mental health issues
  • Encouraging physical activity 
  • Social media 
  • Microsoft (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
  • Health promotion 
  • Designing action plans 
  • Protecting well-being
  • Working with personal trainers
  • Weight management 
  • Wellness coach
  • Holistic health coach
  • Compassion 
  • Empathy 
  • Stress management

Work history

If you’re applying for a senior health coach role or if you choose a chronological resume format, your work experience section might be the most important. You should list your experience in reverse-chronological order, starting from the most recent job. 
 
Under each job title, you can provide 3-5 brief bullet points that highlight your key duties. You can also provide metrics such as your success rates with previous clients. This helps to support the claims made in your resume summary or objective. 
 

Education

Typically, health coaches need a bachelor’s degree in health and nutrition or sports science. Alternatively, you can gain certification in health coaching. To become a certified health coach, you’ll need an ACE Health Coach Certification from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). It is possible to become a health coach without a bachelor’s degree. For example, you can pursue a Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification or a Health Coach Certificate (HCC) to learn the trade.
 
Focus on including your most recent and highest degree or certification in your resume’s education section.

Create your resume

Do's and don'ts for a health coach resume

check sign Do's
  • Use a resume builder or health coach resume template to structure your resume.
  • Scan the job description to select keywords and include them in your resume. These keywords help to describe your qualities and help your resume get past applicant tracking systems (ATS).
  • Proofread your resume before you submit it and make sure it's error-free.
close sign Don'ts
  • Include your high school GPA. Recruiters aren’t interested in your high school information, especially if you have a college degree.
  • Forget to use a health coach resume sample to help you inspire your content.
  • Include solid walls of text in your resume. Instead, use bullet points to make your resume easier to read.

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FAQ: Health coach resumes

Have questions? We’re here to help.

Yes. Cover letters are an important chance to explain your qualifications and experience in greater detail. You should use a cover letter to refer to your credentials and explain why you’re the ideal candidate for the role. With a cover letter, you can refer to previous wellness plans and explain your success rate with clients.

To write a resume with little experience, you should use a functional resume format and write a resume objective to focus on your career intentions and transferable skills. Refer to your training and explain why your wellness knowledge compensates for a lack of experience. 

All successful resumes need to be customized for each application. The job description will use many keywords to describe health coach traits and qualities. To match yourself to the role, include these keywords throughout your resume. An ATS designed to select keyword-dense resumes will then select your resume for further screening. This can increase your chances of securing an interview.

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Ho Lin Profile
WRITTEN BY Ho Lin

Ho Lin is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and editor with two decades of experience in content strategy, creation, and development. He holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University and his background includes experience aiding military veterans as they transition to civilian careers.

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