Help with a resume for a new graduate nurse

[willow298]

Hey everyone. I will be graduating this May with an ASN. I am already starting to try to compose a resume so I can apply in advance and it is sooooo confusing!!!!!

Cover letter or no cover letter? Objective or no objective? Fonts, size, tables, ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

I have downloaded multiple templates geared towards nursing and all of them seem to be good, but they all have different sections and setups. I am at a loss of which one to use, which sections are necessary, and what order the sections should be in, etc

Obviously, I have no experience being a nurse since I will be a new grad, so is it smart to start with the education section? And what exactly should go under that..some just put the degree and school, while others put related course work and list the GPA. I wouldn't mind listing the GPA because it is one of my definite strong points. I have a 3.9 right now, so I really want to emphasize that.

Should I list clinical experience as far as what I have accomplished in clinicals? "administered medications via different routes, inserting foley catheter, assessed and cared for multiple types of drains and dressings including chest tubes, JPs, Percut. nephrostomy tubes, maintained sterile technique..blah blah blah etc? I am abbreviating on here for the sake of all of your eyes lol. I dont want to make it too long and drawn out though. And also, should I be listing all the hospitals in which I have had clinical rotations at?

Also, for my last question, as far as work experience, should I be putting that I was a hostess for a summer? That seems kind of stupid since it has absolutely nothing to do with the job I am applying for. However, I did work with adults with developmental disabilities and passed meds to them under the license of a RN, so I figure that that job experience might be good to include.

Any help from you guys would be amazing. The more I look on the internet about this topic, the more and more confused I become. All I want is a job when I graduate, so I want to really make sure I do this right!

Thanks

[Nursestudent14]

Hi! I am graduating in May 2014 but have just started a résumé because I applied for nursing internship and externships for this summer. I have at least two family members in human resources so I asked them what to put. I did start off with am objective, a very compact but descriptive statement. The next thing I did was my clinical experiences with where they were. Example I would put Spring 2013 blank hospital cardiac unit. I did not explain everything I experienced. I then did the schools I attended with grade point average and the degree I will achieve. Then I did work history, and since I do have work history within the medical field I focused in those points emphazing what I did have experience with. I also had jobs at clothing stores when I was younger I wrote what they were but not what I did. I also did a section about community involvement including what activities I have been involved in at school and other volunteer organizations. Hope this helps! I know that everyone does a resume different it justo needs to be professional and brief! You obviously want to highlight your points, but if they do have questions they will ask you in an interview! Make them want to pick you!

[willow298]

Thanks for your response. It must be so helpful to have relatives in HR! I think I am just going to make a resume from scratch using some of the points you emphasized. I feel like it will be better than trying to go strictly by a template.

Good luck in your last year of nursing school!

[agencynurse_rn]

A meandering career path and going from job to job can actually be an asset in your interviews, rather than something you have to defend against when it comes up. Don't worry too much if you are just starting out in your chosen path. However, by doing your homework before the interview, you should learn enough to be ready to explain how your experiences in all of your previous jobs have led you to the person you are now with the perfect combination of skills and experiences, drawn from each previous job, for the position you're applying for.

Don't be embarrassed, embrace it, the interviewer(s) will take note.

[Katniss88]

I am graduating in May and I started working on my resume. I have only had two jobs, my first job I had after high school I only worked there for about two months and I quit without giving two weeks notice, so should I just be honest and include that on my work history and resume? I have one good reference from my last job. I noticed that employers want you to put a manager or supervisor's name on your application and resume, but what if the manager or supervisor no longer works there anymore?