Deciding whether to have the COVID vaccine and/or the booster is just the first step. If you’re on the job market, you have another decision to make—should you put your vaccine status on your resume? Why is this even an issue? We explore the idea in this blog to give you something to think about as you revamp your resume in preparation for your next job search.
Why Would You Consider Adding Your Vaccine Status to a Resume?
Your resume is a summary of your job credentials. It isn’t a summary of your health decisions. Yet we’ve begun to see some candidates post their COVID vaccination status on their resumes. It’s a new trend that seems to be in response to the employer mandates requiring the COVID vaccine.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) recently researched 3.8 million job postings on popular job board, the Ladders. They state, “the number that included a vaccine mandate grew significantly this year, from slightly more than 100 postings with vaccine requirements in January to more than 2,300 such postings in August.”
What’s interesting here is that these types of requirements are normally mentioned in an employee handbook, not on a job posting. But is requiring a vaccine and then placing it in a job ad even legal? The latest federal guidelines suggest that, as long as the employer makes allowances for candidates that have either medical conditions or religious beliefs that make them vaccine-adverse, it is not discriminatory to evaluate a resume based on vaccine status.
But how would you even disclose your vaccine status on a resume filled with no other health information?
How to Disclose Your Vaccine Status on a Resume?
If you’ve decided to share your vaccine status, it probably fits best on the top of a resume—especially if you think employers are screening for this characteristic in the ad. It’s a black and white/yes or no characteristic that makes it an easy way to sift through resumes quickly. So, you want the recruiter to see your status right away.
Since the resume will go through an applicant tracking system (ATS), you should make your vaccine status search-friendly. For example, use the words “vaccinated” and “COVID-19” to ensure your resume stands out in a search. Do not use slang terms like “vaxxed” or “coronavirus.”
If you’re sharing the information as part of your job search, it’s okay to add it both to your resume and LinkedIn with a phrase such as, “Fully vaccinated against COVID-19.” On LinkedIn, you could place this in the summary section
In the same way that you would review a job description and then personalize your resume to fit, you’ll need to determine whether mentioning your vaccination status could make you a more attractive candidate. This decision is yours, just as is the decision to have or not have the vaccine.
Disclosing your vaccine status is a personal choice, whether you’re having a conversation or sending out a resume. Talk to your staffing team at Gecko Hospitality for more helpful advice on your next career opportunity.
