Do I mention that I am Catholic in a cover letter for Catholic Hospital?

Nurses Job Hunt

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Hi all. I am aware there is a post about this similar topic on the forum as well however my situation is a bit different. I actually am Catholic and am planning on applying to a Catholic hospital. The hospital is obviously faith based. I am just wondering if I should mention the fact that I am Catholic in my cover letter? Or at least that I respect the faith based stance the hospital has?

Thank you for any input!

Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

Absolutely mention it. =) I mean, I wouldn't make the entire letter about your Catholic faith, but I would say something like "As a person of the Catholic faith, I am especially excited to possibly work for an institution that shares my values".

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

I wouldn't.

Specializes in Neurology.

I cannot see how that would help, or harm. Your call.

Specializes in ..

It's fine to mention your religion IF you're active and involved in your church. You're not going to win any points by mentioning that you're Catholic if you can't use your priest for a reference, or if you haven't been seen at mass for months or years. If you mention your faith in a cover letter it must be done subtly and with some other message. You might say, "I was introduced to Catholic Charities when I was in high school and have volunteered at St. Joseph's House ever since."

You might, as NurseCard suggests, say that you share the values of their hospital. But, first, go to their website and find out exactly what their mission statement is, then weave that into your cover letter. I have to respectfully disagree with NurseCard on one point, though, never begin a sentence with, "As a..." Begin the sentence by saying, "I recently graduated..." or, "Throughout my life, I've been dedicated to..." but starting a sentence with, "As a..." sounds pompous and pretentious.

If you want to claim a common mission or shared values, the only way you can legitimately do so without appearing insincere is to have proof on your resume that you actually DO share their mission. You have to back that up with work or volunteer work in a food bank, homeless shelter, mentoring program, or some other program. Saying you are dedicated to some mission, then having nothing on your resume to prove it will get your application tossed.

I wrote a lengthy post/ article about applying for jobs and crafting resumes and cover letters. If you're interested you can find it in my posts/ threads.

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