Phlebotomist job description for a resume

The short answer

A phlebotomist writing a resume should describe what they actually did — work like dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies — rather than copying a generic bullet list. The U.S. Department of Labor classifies the role as Phlebotomists (SOC 31-9097.00). Its 17 published duties are the place to start, and the 14 most relevant are listed below. Service Orientation is the capability O*NET rates highest for the work.

What follows is the published duty list, not a set of bullets to copy. The difference matters: a line describing work you did not do is one interview question away from falling apart.

What a phlebotomist does

Draw blood for tests, transfusions, donations, or research. May explain the procedure to patients and assist in the recovery of patients with adverse reactions.

O*NET occupation: Phlebotomists (SOC 31-9097.00).

Phlebotomist duties you can put on a resume

O*NET publishes 17 core duties for this occupation. These are the 14 its incumbents most often report performing, ranked by O*NET's published relevance rating — not a complete list of the job. Which ranking is a fact from the source; which of them you personally did is not something any dataset knows. Use the list as a memory aid, never as a list to paste.

1. Dispose of contaminated sharps, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, and policies.
2. Organize or clean blood-drawing trays, ensuring that all instruments are sterile and all needles, syringes, or related items are of first-time use.
3. Draw blood from veins by vacuum tube, syringe, or butterfly venipuncture methods.
4. Match laboratory requisition forms to specimen tubes.
5. Dispose of blood or other biohazard fluids or tissue, in accordance with applicable laws, standards, or policies.
6. Collect specimens at specific time intervals for tests, such as those assessing therapeutic drug levels.
7. Train other medical personnel in phlebotomy or laboratory techniques.
8. Conduct standards tests, such as blood alcohol, blood culture, oral glucose tolerance, glucose screening, blood smears, or peak and trough drug levels tests.
9. Enter patient, specimen, insurance, or billing information into computer.
10. Draw blood from capillaries by dermal puncture, such as heel or finger stick methods.
11. Transport specimens or fluid samples from collection sites to laboratories.
12. Process blood or other fluid samples for further analysis by other medical professionals.
13. Document route of specimens from collection to laboratory analysis and diagnosis.
14. Conduct hemoglobin tests to ensure donor iron levels are normal.

Skills a phlebotomist can list

O*NET rates these at importance 3.0 or above for this occupation.

Service Orientation

importance 3.62

Social Perceptiveness

importance 3.50

Active Listening

importance 3.38

Speaking

importance 3.38

Critical Thinking

importance 3.25

Reading Comprehension

importance 3.12

Writing

importance 3.12

Monitoring

importance 3.12

What not to claim

• A duty from the list above that you did not personally perform. It describes Phlebotomists as an occupation, not your particular job — and interviewers for phlebotomist roles ask about the specifics.
• Duties from the 3 published items not shown here, unless you genuinely did them. A longer list is not a better one.
• A percentage, a headcount or a volume you did not measure. "Improved satisfaction by 35%" is the single most copied line on resume-example sites, and almost nobody who pastes it can source it.
• Service Orientation at a level you have not worked at. O*NET rates it highest for this occupation, which makes it the most likely thing to be probed.
• A tool, system or certification you have not used or hold. This is the fastest claim to disprove.

Source and method

O*NET data are provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence.The duties and skills above are reproduced as published. The resume guidance, the prompts and any generated lines are RoleSprint's, and O*NET did not write them.

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Same occupational family in the SOC classification, so the duties often overlap with work you have done.

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