Do you list your agency on your resume?

Sunnysandy · Oct 16, 2017

Take a look at the examples on PanTravelers.

I did. Nothing special. They have 2 samples. 1 for experienced nurses - which basically just lists place of work, location, and date. And the other is for fresh graduates. No duties to list like every other resume sample on the interwebs. That got me wondering, are there special rules for travel nurses when it comes to resume building?

Personally, I'm an OR nurse so other that saying I scrub and circulate I don't say anything about each assignment. The skills checklist reveals more about my skill set if the manager needs to explore further before deciding to interview.

Yeah but the resume kind of needs to have an enticing enough bait to get an interview, no? Or is it - again - different rules for travel nurses?

If I had multiple specialties, I would differentiate what I did per assignment. Resume building is an art, not science, and there are lots of directions you can take creating one. The way I personally prefer is certainly not the way everyone else would go.
Travel nurses are a commodity. We are only at a facility for a few weeks. If I was a manager reviewing a stack of traveler profiles, I would put the twenty page profiles at the bottom to read last, or preferably not at all if I have found a couple of good candidates to interview before. When composing profile documents, keep the end user in mind. You are not making this for yourself, but to get an interview with a facility. Make it easy on them. They won't care you were floated to some special unit for two days. Skills will be on a separate skills checklist.

Got'cha! Very contradicting info out here, i must say. I really appreciate your input NedRN!

Everyone else...C'mon now! Feel free the chime in! Don't be shy! :)

NedRN · Oct 17, 2017

Sum up your strengths or special skills in a couple sentences. That is a lot more powerful than describing in a few sentences what you did on each specific assignment or even staff jobs. The manager doesn't want to marry you, just wants to determine if your skills and experience are a good fit for 13 weeks. If you drone on, she may think you are insecure about your skills and pass. You might be with only a couple years of experience. In that case, lengthening your resume to a full page with education or prior non-nursing jobs is a good idea. Character over experience.

Sunnysandy · Oct 17, 2017

Sum up your strengths or special skills in a couple sentences. That is a lot more powerful than describing in a few sentences what you did on each specific assignment or even staff jobs. The manager doesn't want to marry you, just wants to determine if your skills and experience are a good fit for 13 weeks. If you drone on, she may think you are insecure about your skills and pass. You might be with only a couple years of experience. In that case, lengthening your resume to a full page with education or prior non-nursing jobs is a good idea. Character over experience.

What about the ATS?