resume ideas and help please!

as a former manager who hired new grads and was part of an orientation program in a large teaching hospital for new grads i can offer some insight here. facilities and people who hire new grads know that you have no experience at the job you are being hired for, so don't even try to overimpress them. they depend on one or more recommendations from your instructors from the nursing school to learn about your capabilities. your instructors are the only ones who have intimate knowledge of how you are going to perform and handle yourself as an lpn or rn in your new role. other than that, prospective employers are aware that the schools have to give you well rounded clinical experiences and that they will be minimal. they know you will need some time to develop and mature as new grads. the only worth that previous jobs will contribute to a resume is they can attest to your stability as a worker (attendance, loyalty, followed the rules, that kind of thing). otherwise, other jobs really have no cross reference importance that will make you a better hire to get a nursing job. it never made a difference to us when hiring a new grad. what we looked for were these qualities on written recommendations and when interviewing applicants (and we were good at reading between the lines at what was and wasn't said):

• initiative – autonomy
• dynamism – energy
• positive outlook
• responsibility
• orientation to the client and co-workers (ability to provide customer service)
• learning capacity
• productivity
• high adaptability – flexibility
• leadership
• team work
• tolerance to pressure
• analytic ability
• professional development

the professional websites change periodically, but these are what is out there currently relating to nursing and writing a resume. keep it simple and keep it down to one page. think of a resume as a application for a job without actually filling out one of their forms; think of it as your form.

• http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/resume-writing-tips/resume-tips-for-nurses/article.aspx
• http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/resume-writing-tips/avoid-the-top-10-resume-mistakes/article.aspx
• http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/resume-samples/sample-resume-nurse/article.aspx - sample resume for a nurse
• http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/36957.html - "resume-writing 101". includes a set of links at the bottom of the article to the resume information at the major job seeker sites.
• http://www.nurseweek.com/features/99-8/resume.html - "looking good on paper: professional advice for building powerful resumes" from nurseweek. a short article on the critical basics to incorporate into your resume

good luck on your nclex-pn and your job hunt. try to get a job and a start date before you even graduate if you can before they get taken up by your fellow classmates. don't grab the first offer, but consider it. a job is about the people you will work with. it took me years to figure that one out. call the nurse recruiters at the acute hospitals in your area to not only ask for interviews, but to also get information about where the jobs for lpns grads are. the recruiters are information specialists for the area. i worked very closely with the one at our facility. if you see any job fairs being advertised, go to them with copies of your resume whether you are serious about getting a job or not because the learning to be had there is worth the time spent. my mom was an lpn who worked in icu and ccu for many years. they had to practically throw her out and force her to retire at age 68, she loved it so.

Daytonite,

I was wondering if there was any way you would be able to review my resume. I just recently graduated from nursing school and have no clinical background other than clinicals from schools. I've been putting my resume together and I feel that nurse recruiters like yourself would maybe laugh at it. I don't think i can private message anyone, but you could to me if that would be okay. thank you for your time.

we had to attend 2 resume building/cover letter classes prior to graduation.
My instructor was nice enough to take the time and review all of our resumes, and help/guide us to make a sharp resume.

I can help yall if you need it!

Helpingothersinlife-

That would be wonderful if you could look over it. I really want to make my resume stand out. i don't think i can private message yet, but if you sent me your email i would be able to email it to you! we never had a resume building class (i wish we did) while i was in school. the more eyes that look at it the better!

RE: Daytonite - see the sad notice at the top of every page on this site.

how do you add autonomy in a resume and all those other big words you used.

Moved to Nursing Resume Help for more response.