Continuing education hours and resumes

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 8, 2005

It really is not appropriate form to enter CE's on a resume and/or CV. It is implied that you have to do this. Just stick to the original way of making out a resume and you will do fine.

sgent · Jul 8, 2005

It really is not appropriate form to enter CE's on a resume and/or CV. It is implied that you have to do this. Just stick to the original way of making out a resume and you will do fine.

If it's just standard CE, I agree. If its a two week training course on team membership in hyperbaric medicine, or something else that's pretty intense and specialized, I would probably list it.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 8, 2005

I agree with the above posts. I have never listed CE's on my resume/vitae ... but can see that it might be appropriate in certain circumstances. For example, if you have been out of the workforce for a while and want to show that you have kept current -- or if you are trying to switch specialties and want to show that you have taken some classes related to your desired "new" specialty -- or it was a lengthy CE course that gave you some special qualifications for roles that other people can't fulfill -- etc.

Depending on the specific situation, you might put a summary statement on your resume at the bottom of your education section. You might say something like, "Completed 35 hours of continuing education over the last 5 years. For a compete listing, see the attached sheet."

For a big, specific CE program that provided you with some sort of special advanced training relevant to the job for which you are applying, you might list it in the education section. I would probably list it at the bottom of that section, below my BSN. I would also mention it in my cover letter.

If the course was related to becoming a "certified ...whatever," I would put it in a section entitled "Licensure and Certifications" or something like that in which I would list my nurse's license and any certifications I held. Once again, if it pertained to the job for which I was applying, I would mention it in the cover letter.

But if it is just regular CE related to your current job, I wouldn't clutter my resume with it. I might consider the summary statement I mentioned above if the rest of my resume was weak and I needed something to strengthen it a bit. A knowledgable reader will see right through that strategy, but won't hold it against you if it is done discretely. If you try to blow it out of proportion and make it seem more gradiose than it is, then it will make you bad instead of good.

Good luck,

llg

Almabella · Jul 8, 2005

Thank you for the responses. I guess I wasn't clear at first--it wasn't just general CEs that I was thinking of. I took a 4 day course in HIV counseling and earned 29.7 nursing CE hours, and wasn't sure how to list it on my resume. I also attended a day long seminar in STD interventions, but I see that maybe it's not appropriate to include that on my resume (only 6 CEs)

I suppose I could list that under under the education section. Or it could go under the 'licensure and certification' section.

Truthfully, I don't have a 'licensure and cert' section yet on my resume. I assumed it's a given that I'm a licensed RN. How exactly do you list your license (do you include your number)?

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 8, 2005

Truthfully, I don't have a 'licensure and cert' section yet on my resume. I assumed it's a given that I'm a licensed RN. How exactly do you list your license (do you include your number)?

I don't have a special section either, but have seen other people have one when they have more than 1 item to put in it. I just list my license right under my name and address, etc.

I list the state and the date of expiration. e.g. "Registered Nurse, XX license number 123456, expiration 8/31/06" or whatever. Simple, straightforward information provided in a simple, straightforward way.

llg