Graduate Nurse Resume and Cover Letter Help!!!!!

[jes07]

Hi, I wanted to get help on my resume and cover letter. I have applied to many jobs and I have not heard about them. I only had one interview once but that did not get it. I have just graduated and feel frustrated that I can not get an interview. I am wondering what my resume and cover letter are missing and if the lack of experience of working in the health care field is affecting me opportunities for a job. Also what else should I do to make my resume stand out. Any helpful advice will be appreciated!! Thanks!!

XXAddressPhone:

XXEmail:

XXJune 3, 2013

XX Hospital

0888 XX St.X, XX

Zip code

To whomever it may concern:

I am interested in the position that is advertised on the XX website in the careers section for the Graduate Nurse position in Critical Care-ICU. I have graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from The University of XX in May, 2013. I will take my NCLEX- RN licensure exam on July 2, 2013. With my educational background and hands on nursing experience with patient care in the clinical atmosphere, I can make an important contribution to your facility. I will use my bilingual skills in order to provide quality patient care to a diverse group of clients. Also, I support the holistic and compassionate view of delivering patient care. I will incorporate these important values into my nursing practice.

Throughout my career as a nursing student, I have gained the essential skills in order to provide quality patient care. During my clinicals I learned how important it is to collaborate with others in order to deliver safe patient care, provided patient education, and I was also given opportunities to practice on assessing patients' state of health to implement effective nursing interventions. Through my clinical rotations, I had the opportunity to work in different settings such as critical care, cardiac, and maternal/child. In one of my clinical rotations, I was placed in the Neuro ICU. There, I was able to provide care to patients with neurological critical conditions. I provided mechanical ventilation care, oral care, checked residuals on patients placed on tube feedings, and performed neurological assessments. My clinical experiences in the Neuro ICU and other settings have enabled me to develop skills to face any challenges as a nurse.

I am very interested in beginning my nursing career at XX Hospital. Enclosed is my resume for your review. I am eager to discuss with you over the graduate nurse position soon and how my knowledge and skills can best serve the hospital.

Sincerely,

Name

Name

Email: XX

Ph: XX

Home Address XX

OBJECTIVE

I am seeking to obtain the Graduate Nurse position in the Critical Care- ICU at XX Hospital, which will allow me to develop my practical experience and at the same time provide quality and compassionate health care to patients.

QUALIFICATIONS

 Ambitious graduate nurse aspiring to practice, learn, and acquire new skills.

 Effective time management skills in organizing, prioritizing and carrying out tasks.

 Compassionate and trustworthy.

 Effectively collaborate with others by communicating and working together in order to provide safe patient care.

 Detailed orientated in documentation.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Nursing, BSN (May, 2013)

The University XX

Associates of Science (May, 2009)XX College - XX

 Graduated with Academic honors

WORK EXPERIENCE

XX Intelligent Staffing (Seasonal/ Part-Time) - XX (March - May, 2010 & March - May, 2011)

Cashier at the Visitor Center, Zoo

 Provided quality customer service to the visitors by communicating efficiently with them and responded to their questions.

 Was responsible for the handling of money during ticket transactions.

 Collaboratively worked with others in order to provide timely, quality customer service.

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

XX Hospital- City, State 08/2012 - 04/2013

 Neuro ICU, Pediatrics, Labor & Delivery, Mother/Baby, NICU, ER

XX Medical Center- City, State 08/2011 - 05/2012

 Orthopedics/Bariatrics, Cardiac Telemetry

CERTIFICATES/HONORS

 BLS for Healthcare Providers (CPR) Program - American Heart Association

 Certified for NIH Stroke Scale - American Stroke Association

 Cultural Competency in Nursing Certificate

 Academic Honors List Fall 2007 and Fall 2008 - XX College

 President's Honor Roll in Fall 2010 - The University XX

ORGANIZATIONS/MEMBERSHIPS/COMMUNITY SERVICE

 Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing 04/2013 - Current member

 National Student Nurses' Association 06/2011 - Current member

 Psi Beta National Honor Society in Psychology 04/2008 - 05/2009

 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society 04/2008 - 05/2009

 Hospice Volunteer (City, State) 03/2006 - 05/2009

* Performed basic clerical duties at the office

* Actively involved in helping out at local events and fundraisers

Special SKILLS

 Bilingual in English and Spanish

 Competent in Electronic Medical Record documentation using Epic system

 Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite 2007, 2010

** Format might have changed because I copy and pasted but I am more concern on what changes to do in the content.Thanks!!

[labordude, BSN, RN]

My 2 cents... bear in mind that many HR systems are inadequat...incomplet...incompetent (that's better) and part of the game is getting your resume through the system. One of my mentors (he's a CNO and has 40 years of nursing experience) always has me get a copy of my resume DIRECTLY to the manager's desk along with my application. Most times I Fedex or use USPS priority mail. It can get a little expensive with Fedex. Others may argue that this is too aggressive or too forward, but when you are competing against 100+ people for 2 positions, you have to stand out.

Cover letter:

1) First thing right off the top, get rid of the "To whom it may concern" and replace that with the name of the hiring manager. You may have to call the unit directly to find out their name, but it's usually not too hard.

2) There is almost nothing in your cover letter that "stands out" setting you apart from every other graduate nurse seeking employment. Try to think about things you may have done that were improved by the intangibles you bring to the table. How did your bilingual skills help you better care for your patients in nursing school?

3) In the second paragraph you list a bunch of tasks you have done, which is great except that every other person applying for the job has done the same things. Think about combining some of the information from the bottom of your resume in the certificate/honors, organizations, and special skills sections with patient care scenarios in the cover letter.

Resume:

1)OBJECTIVE STATEMENT. Get rid of the objective statement. Others may disagree, but I believe it to be a waste of your ONE page of space (that's all you get).

2)QUALIFICATIONS In this section (again, I say get rid of this and find other ways to include the information), you say you are "Detailed Oriented." Bang, your resume just went in the No pile. This exact error is found on several "common resume errors" websites. The problem with the qualification section is that as a hiring manager, it doesn't tell me anything. I read it and say, "great, but how does this help the unit?"

3)EDUCATION section, ensure your formatting is identical for both lines. The dates should be right aligned and not in parentheses. Include information about honors, projects, special groups, committees, etc in this section.

4)WORK EXPERIENCE: Change title to EXPERIENCE and include your volunteer/community service in this section. Since you are looking for your first "real" job, you are trying to demonstrate that you have skills that are relevant to this industry. Remove the reference to "seasonal/part-time" as you are only diminishing your experience for no good reason. Each of the bullet points should start with an action verb and demonstrate something that you did to improve things/stand out/etc. Use numbers (if you have them) to quantify things. You also use the same bullet point twice in different words under the Intelligent staffing job (1st and 3rd bullet points).

5)CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: I'm debating in my head whether this could be placed ahead of EXPERIENCE, particularly since you are looking for a GN/new grad position.

6)CERTIFICATES/HONORS: Move the academic honors to the school they are related to.

7)ORGS/MEMBERSHIPS/COMMUNITY: I would move the volunteer experience as described in the EXPERIENCE section to really highlight it.

8)SPECIAL SKILLS: Watch your formatting with capitalization. I also dislike the title of this section. My issue here is that the 3rd bullet point is a space filler. If a nurse manager actually cares about someone being proficient with Office, I'd be shocked. Also, you will learn new medical record systems depending upon your employer. If they ARE using Epic, you can leave this, otherwise get rid of it, you will learn this as a orientee. How can we include the bilingual part with no other bullet points. If you keep the qualifications section, use it as bullet point #1.

Things missing...I see no references to leadership at all in this resume. This is important because someone who take initiative makes a better candidate.

Hope I have been helpful

nicuguy

[Bayat]

One problem noted is you really didn't list skills you picked up in clinicals that's transferable to critical care. So look over that section and use the bullet hints supplied to develop. Also look over the skill highlights section and tailor the hints supplied with your skills that's transferable. Then go over the both the professional statement and professional profile and be sure the statement are tailored to match your actual skills, knowledge and abilities. This should give you some ideas:

Je S07

123 Street * City, ST 12345 * [phone] * [email protected]

Entry-Level Registered Nurse

Loyal, collaborative professional with a steadfast commitment to quality care and patient care advocacy after completing clinicals working towards board certification in . Desire full-time residency in a Critical Care-ICU position at XX Hospital.

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

* Dedicated nurse with a broad range of health care skills across age groups and a particular passion and talent for Critical Care nursing.

* Valued by instructors for independent judgment, excellent client-nurse interactions, and critical thinking ability.

* Demonstrated aptitude for developing new skills.

LICENSURES & CERTIFICATIONS

RN - BSN, pending NCLEX exam, anticipated early July 2013

BLS/CPR certified by

NIH Stroke Scale certified by American Stroke Association

Cultural Competency in Nursing certified by

SKILL HIGHLIGHTS

. . . * Patient assessment / care . . . * Microsoft Office Suite

. . . * IV therapy management . . . . * Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software

. . . * Patient / family education . . . * Bi-lingual in English and Spanish

. . . * Telemetry nursing . . . . . . . . . * Strong medical ethic

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Bachelor of Science: THE UNIVERSITY XX - Nursing . . . . . . . . . . . . 05/2013

Location, ST

. . . * President's Honor Roll: Fall 2010

. . . * Relevant coursework in []

Associate of Science: XX COLLEGE -

Location, ST

. . . * Academic Honors List: Fall 2007, Fall 2008

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

XX HOSPITAL: City, ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08/2012 - 04/2013

. . . * Neuro ICU. . . . . . . . . . . . xx hrs . . . .* Mother/Baby . . . . . . xx hrs

. . . * Pediatrics . . . . . . . . . . . . xx hrs. . . . * Emergency Room . . . xx hrs

. . . * Labor & Delivery . . . . . . . xx hrs . . . * NICU. . . . . . . . . . . . . xx hrs

XX MEDICAL CENTER: City, ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08/2011 - 05/2012

. . . * Orthopedics/Bariatrics. . . xx hrs . . * Cardiac Telemetry. . . xx hrs

Summary:

. . . * Use action verbs to begin sentences.

. . . * Focus on the populations you have treated and include the diagnosis.

. . . * Be specific regarding treatments and give examples when applicable.

. . . * Show rather than tell your experience.

. . . * What did you learn, develop, or teach to patients and their families?

. . . * List "Documented diagnoses and treatments on EPIC Medical Software."

ADDITIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE

Cashier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03/2010 - 05/2010 / 03/2011 - 05/2011

XX INTELLIGENT STAFFING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Location, ST

Seasonal contract position at the Zoo Visitor Center

. . . * Operated a cash register to process cash, check and credit card transactions, while communicating and responding with customer inquiries.

. . . * Worked collaboratively with staff providing timely, quality customer service.

AFFILIATIONS

Member, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing . 04/2013 - Current

Member, National Student Nurses' Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06/2011 - Current

Psi Beta National Honor Society in Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04/2008 - 05/2009

Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04/2008 - 05/2009

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Volunteer, HOSPICE - City, St . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03/2006 - 05/2009

[Bayat]

Though simplified, you can look over this cover to gain ideas on improving yours. The main thing is to keep it pithy:

Je S07

123 Street * City, ST 12345 * [phone] * [email protected]

June x, 2013

XX Hospital

0888 XX St.X, XX

Zip code

Dear Human Resources Professional,

Please consider me a strong candidate for the Graduate Nurse position in the Critical Care-ICU unit advertised in the XX website. Upon reading this announcement, I wanted to provide you the enclosed resume, recommendations, and transcripts. As you will note from my resume, I hold a bachelor degree in Nursing, achieving the President's Honor Roll, and am scheduled to complete NCLEX this July. Described on each of the supporting documents, I have gained the essential skills in order to provide quality patient care, becoming valued from my instructors. Thus it is with a comprehensive foundation knowledge and clinical experience that I now seek to interview for and, I hope, serve within the capacities of the Graduate Nurse.

My qualifications include, but not limited to, the following:

. . . * A wide variety of working in different settings such as critical care, cardiac, and maternal/child.

. . . * Bilingual skills and associated cultural awareness provides quality patient care to a diverse group of clients.

. . . * Hospice volunteer and casher positions provided considerable experience in working with those in need.

When I rotated to the Neuro-ICU, I knew I found my true calling in ICU settings. While there, I was able to provide care to patients with neurological critical conditions. I provided mechanical ventilation care, oral care, checked residuals on patients placed on tube feedings, and performed neurological assessments. The work was demanding, but found great satisfaction.

Though my resume is detailed and comprehensive, it cannot fully demonstrate the manner in which I have achieved success. Character, personality, and the ability to work in a team environment can be demonstrated in a personal meeting. I would welcome an interview at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your time and consideration. I am certain that I would become a valuable addition to your staff.

Respectfully yours,

Je S07

[phone]

[email protected]

enclosures

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

Just an FYI you may not have been called back or anything is because you are not yet a licensed nurse...why would they want to hire somebody they do not know when they aren't even a RN yet?

Get your license first and then reapply. Network with your classmates that DO have jobs already and see if they can get your resume to the right people.

Good Luck!

[RRMarsh]

You've done with it in a proper way. However, slight concise writing and proper formatting is needed. You can use per-defined CV templates and cover letter format to mold your information instantly to create a highly professional CV. I've done with mine and worked like a charm. It looks very descent and professional.

[happyclinicRN, RN]

Not sure why this hasn't been mentioned before, but you must have a paragraph that parallels your work ethic with the organization you are applying for core values or mission statement. Also in your résumé you should list specific skills you are proficient in and specialty units you have gad clinical experience in. It also can't hurt to ask your friends who are employed to let you know of any openings. Perhaps they can put in a good word for you to the manager and he/she can pull your application.