Nursing Resume Tips

A resume is an employer’s first impression of you. The information and how you present it reflect on you before they even consider hiring you.

Your nursing resume is a summary of your professional and personal experiences, skills and interests and the goal of that resume is to assist you in getting an interview.

Most professionals say a one page resume is best but a two page resume is acceptable if you have the qualifications and experience for the position.

Work on creating a master resume first and then adapt that resume to the position or facility you would like to work at. This way you always have a primary resume as a back up if needed.

Brainstorming Session:
Before you get started on what to include and not include, make a list of all:
Make a list of jobs (paid and volunteer)
Organizations and Positions Held
Awards won and Academic Achievements

Before you start putting the resume together start to identify what you did for each job / organization and then also make a list of things you accomplished in each position. The goal at this point is to have lots of ideas and that you can pull from later. Once you have completed that task start pulling the basic elements of your nursing resume together.

Information You Will Need
- Name, Address and Phone Number
- Job Objective – Share what you are looking for, this is a great place to target the opening you are applying for.
- Qualification Statement – This is stating clearly why you are qualified for this job. Be as specific as possible and make sure it is pertinent to the job you are seeking.
- Education, Awards or Experience (Lead with the one that presents you best). In most cases you will place Education, Awards, Honors and Activities here.
Experience – This will be presented in chronological order or by function. The most common is the chronological order. With each experience you will want to state: Business, Position, Dates worked and then include tasks or accomplishments of that job in bulleted or paragraph form. Note: Accomplishments show initiative, so use them if possible.

Additional Items to include based on room – You will need to showcase the best of these areas and if you do not have anything to list then do not include that section. Remember your resume is to put your best foot forward, so you will be called for an interview.

Certifications
Community Activities
Publications and Presentations
Professional Memberships
Additional Information – Interesting information that does not fit anywhere else but can assist in showcasing your skills and abilities.

These are the key elements you will need to work with to build your resume. We suggest you include everything first and then when you go to format your resume you remove the weakest parts and kept the strongest. You will want to reference an book or online document in order to properly format your resume.

If you are a nurse or student nurse working on your resume consider reviewing job opportunities that can give you real world experience and help build your short term and ong term resume. Florida Hospital has great opportunities for student and graduate nurses. Apply Now for a Nursing Job Opportunity