Am I unemployable as a nurse if....

[Manny92]

I have never held an actual full-time job (retail, fast-food, desk job, etc.)? Throughout my life, my parents have always told me to not worry about having to work and just focus on my education. Well, here I am, about to start nursing school without any kind of real-world job experience. The good thing, however, is that I have attempted to get my "foot in the door" by volunteering and going to health events to network with doctors and nurses and even got my CNA license so that I could work while in nursing school. Maybe this could help make up for not having any real work experience? The only experience I have is working my butt off making straight A's...

I feel that, even with all that I am trying to do to make up for not working, it still won't be enough because there will be so many applicants looking for RN jobs who already have extensive work histories...

Should I just continue what I am doing? What suggestions do you have?

[BeachsideRN, ASN]

I am also worried. I only had one part time job, 4 years ago. My parents wanted me to focus on school and covered my education. But now that I am job hunting I wonder if I should have worked in retail or something. I have a ton of volunteer experience, and I thought it would help, but a lot of places ask about paid experience only. I guess taking on leadership roles, devoting hundreds of hours of my time, and being loyal to a place for 4 years counts for squat.

Hire a professional resume writer. It's worth the money. They are trained to highlight your skills and accomplishments through paid, nonpaid and life experiences in an appropriate way. Don't sell yourself short. You just have to think outside the box when putting your package together. Including a stellar cover letter.

[Wrench Party]

One trick I used in my cover letter and resume was to highlight key concepts in the job description and connect those to my accomplishments and work experience. If you think creatively enough, you can really connect anything.

Examples:

Volunteer experience at non-profit= financial management skills, working on a team, valuing serving the community

working in school = time management and ability to handle stress

last job=attention to detail

[Manny92]

Wrench Party, thank you for your help! I will definitely try and do that on my resumé. I feel like sometimes people have more experience and qualifications than they think, but have difficulty communicating them via resumé, cover letter, interview, etc. So, I will definitely do what you have said. Again, thank you. :)