Updating Your Nursing Resume

Updating Your Nursing Resume    

If you have not done so already, get your resume updated and formatted to handle the electronic recruiting tools now used by human resource departments everywhere.  A resume is best at one page long regardless of your time in the nursing profession. The resume describes your education, work history, and other relevant experience in bullet points. Many large employers now have computers that scan resumes for keywords, and these computers do the screening of the numerous applicants before an actual person even sees the resumes.

 Most positions require online applications or electronic submission of a resume. In order to keep your resume from being rejected by screening software, it must be one page long, with a lot of "white space".  Use only plain sans serif font, no bold, italics or underlining.

Here is a Web site for samples. http://www.nursing.umich.edu/about-our-school/computing-technology/electronic-portfolios/nursing-resumes-portfolios  Look at the overall template in these examples, but be sure to use plain font in your own resume.

Begin the resume with a one sentence statement of your career goal for a position. Next, develop a table of 3 or 4 columns and 2-3 rows that lists all of your skills, especially those related to the position for which you are applying. Work experience should be next. List your employer, position, and time frame in that position. Then, using bullet points, list your accomplishments during that position. The listing of accomplishments is different than listing job responsibilities so be sure to focus on what awards, projects, etc. occurred while in the position. If the accomplishment was basic patient care, try to include things like patient satisfaction scores related to the care provided. Next, list education, and include GPA if appropriate.  For example, 3.74/4.0 tells prospective employers your grade point average out of the school maximum GPA.  Finally, list your nursing license(s) including the number for easy verification. Keep in mind that a resume is different that a curricula vita which can be longer to reflect more scholarly activity. More on CV’s in a later blog.

Dr. Maggie