Am I unemployable as a nurse if....

[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. :)