Is this sneaky?

Nurses Job Hunt

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Rehab.

On the top of my resume, I have my name listed, followed by my credentials with my highest degree. I have an ASN and a BS in Biology, so I write it as: Jane Doe, BS RN

Do you think this is sneaky? I went on an interview recently where the recruiter was kind of taken aback once she realized I did not have a BSN, and she said it was misleading. While I agree that it may be misleading, it got me an interview, and I got the opportunity to further impress her from there. It got me thinking that maybe I should remove it. Any thoughts?

Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.

Do you have your degree listed on your resume saying "Biology"? Then I don't think it's sneaky, but I'm not the best judge since I don't have a BS.

Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I think you need to indicate on your resume that your degree is in biology. No, I don't think it's sneaky

Specializes in Med/Surg, Rehab.

Yes, under the education section, I have listed:

2007-2011 ASN, Nursing School ABC Anywhere, MA

2002-2006 BS, Biology School DEF Anywhere, MA

So I do have those degrees listed. In fact I'm surprised she didn't catch it prior to the interview. She just seemed really annoyed by it, like I had tricked her, and I actually felt a little guilty.

Specializes in Forensic Psych.

I'm not sure how much you impressed her if she found your resume misleading

I'd change it.

The way I see it, you earned the BS, you can list it. But judging from the response, you might want to reconsider.

Specializes in Emergency.

My resume has my name and address email etc up at the top. ( No credentials, and I do now have a lot of credentials) I put all of that in the education section.

While it is accurate, I think I would change it, because it apparently does seem to make recruiters feel you are misleading them. Never a good thing to do to irritate the recruiter.

It got you an interview. Did it get you a job? The goal is employment, not multiple interviews.

i personally do not get into the debate of BSN vs ASN, but as some recruiters are asked to only look at BSN, your recruiter might have been annoyed, as she may know that the person you were going to interview with had no interest in hiring an ASN.

Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.

I would probably change it to just RN. They can look at your resume to see that you have a BS in Biology.

Recruiters tend to 'scan' things very fast, and she probably just didn't read "BS, RN" but read "BSN, RN". If that was, in fact, the case here, she was probably embarrassed at herself for not catching her own mistake, and just reacted in a negative way. I bet it was extremely awkward for both of you.

Easy fix...just list RN after your name. No confusion is the best solution!

To me, it looks sneaky. Typically people list their nursing education next to their "RN," not their education in different fields. It looks like you're trying to purposefully embellish and that could hurt you in the long run.

Specializes in FNP, ONP.

I agree with canesdg. Limit your use of credentials to those that are applicable for the job you seek.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

While I don't think you did anything wrong technically, I think you should drop the BS from your name on your resume. Many (most?) people would assume you had a BS in nursing and then be disappointed to learn they were wrong. That gets your interactions started on a negative tone -- and that's not smart in job hunting.

Just list Jane Doe, RN ... and list both of your academic degrees in the Education section. If they want to know your educational preparation, that's where they will look for it.

You might also address it in your cover letter -- pointing out your BS and stating your intentions to get the BSN in the near future. Seeing that you already have a BS in a related field suggests that you shouldn't have a lot of trouble adding the BSN -- and that might be a plus.

Specializes in ER, ICU.

Its not sneaky, its the truth. Doom on her if she misread it. I think your BS is relevant as it shows you highest level of education.

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