Instructor Says Resume is Wrong, Please Help With Content.

yadi87 · Mar 13, 2014

i notice alot of "filler" in your resume, a nurse is expected to know skin grafts , surgical wounds, ect ect an HR rep would expect that you know this as it is in your scope of practice so i would do away with those lines under your education explaining med surg ect ect...

under professional profile do away with the second bullet point. in there you need to include certifications and specific skills for ex.

CPR/BLS certifications ACLS/PALS/ECG/Pharm/Phelobotomy certs, are you bilingual if you are put that.

leave the deans list and presidents list, but take out co captain of cheerleading club..it is not relevant and they wont care

remember HR is getting hundreds to thousands of apps so looking at apps if they immediatly spot a bunch of "filler" and generic stuff like ( completing vitals, assessing patients, wound care) yours will prob hit the trash bin because EVERY nurse is expected to know this. they want to be able to skim quickly and see YOUR accomplishments and individual skills.

i learned this the hard way after 3 HR reps tore apart my resume for the same "filler" sentences . As a new nurse they know you have zero experience so take out the certifications and the BSN that will help you stand out a bit more. make it easier on them to screen your resume. also remember clinical rotations isnt experience and they know this so i did see you kept it to the ortho rotation since thats what your interested in and thats ok but i would re write your last bullet points there and be more specific like what did you do with the skin graft, and what kind of surgical wounds you have experience dealing with ...

just my $.02

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2014

Corrections:

1. (under professional profile, bullet 2) Evidence based practice (was evidenced based practices)

2. (under volunteer involvement, bullet 1) I'm aware of what you're trying to explain in this section, but "baby wearing" just sounds odd. Had I not read your explanation in your OP, I'd have been confused. How about "wearable infant carriers" or something of that nature versus the original wording? "A community leader and educator for a local parent group that advocates for the use of wearable infant carriers to promote bonding, breastfeeding etc etc". I think that something along those lines might convey your message more clearly.

3. (under clinical experience, bullet 2) Safe, patient-centered care (added a comma).

Rewording: (in no particular order)

1. Assisted taxpayers in deciphering and effectively completing tax forms.

2. Researched answers to questions using tax law and additional authorized resources. (Keep in mind that "all resources" is a very broad statement. Don't want to imply that you were looking up answers on Wiki!)

3. Provided telephone assistance to taxpayers seeking tax information.

4. Under your clinical experience, bullet #1, I'd change it to patient assignment. Census would indicate a floor census versus an individual nurse's patient load.

General Thoughts:

Under your experience as a bakery clerk, you might break up your final bullet point as those are two tasks that aren't necessarily related to each other. I'd imagine that taking orders and supervising production are your primary responsibilities at work and training new employees is more of an occasional thing? It'd be good to emphasize your main contributions at work in a bullet all its own.

It's good to include your pertinent experience in clinicals. As the PP mentioned, you're a new nurse, so you're not going to have previous work experience in your field, but definitely expound a bit on what your experience was with skin grafts, external fixation, etc in ortho specifically. Contrary to the PP, I can assure you that not all nurses--new or otherwise--are familiar with skin grafts, external fixation, etc, so listing that you do have experience with those things is not a bad idea at all. It's a given that it's in your scope of practice (otherwise you wouldn't be listing it!), but most nurses aren't familiar with every task that's in their scope of practice as experience and exposure varies widely by circumstances.

I agree with cutting out the captain of the cheerleading team bit as it doesn't seem relevant on a professional resume.

Also, do you in fact have BLS, ACLS or other certifications? It's not a bad idea to list them here. Once you're actually a licensed nurse, don't forget to include your license number, issue and expiration dates, and state(s) of licensure.

I hope that this gives you some ideas if nothing else! Good luck!

MissM.RN, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2014

Mevsmom,

I think the formatting of your resume is great.

I might steer away from listing your school clinicals as "clinical experience" because (in my opinion) it really isn't. I think that gives the recruiter the wrong impression. It almost seems like you're applying for a position on the unit where you're precepting: is that right? If so, try to get a PCA/CNA/whatever it's called :) where you are now. Then you can list that as clinical (albeit assitant-type work) experience. I realize you graduate in May and it's now March, but it will really be invaluable. PS: half the time instructors haven't applied for a job in 5 years - take what they say with a grain of salt!

msygrnbw · Mar 14, 2014

Things I would change:

- You perform not preform things. I made this mistake for a long time. Spell check never picks it up because they are both real words. But yes, the one you are looking for is perform.

- Take out clinical experience. Employers understand when you list a degree that you have clinical experience - With the EXCEPTION being clinical preceptorship in your field. In this case, I see that you're going looking for an ortho position and have ortho experience. I would keep this, but greatly shorten the section and maybe add it as a single bullet point under your degree. For example, 135 hour externship on orthopedic unit at XYZ hospital.

- I would not keep the 'professional profile' portion. I think you address skills in other sections and a large part of the material you have there should be covered in your cover letter instead.

- Under volunteer involvement I would write it as you have your degree/jobs listed out. For example

XYZ Parental Group

- Collaborated with an interdisciplinary team to ensure better bonding outcomes by promoting breastfeeding, etc, etc.

If you want to PM me with your email I would be happy to send you some of the resources we got last semester for building resumes.

Nonetheless · Mar 14, 2014

I think you should get rid of the objectives and professional profile and elaborate more on being co-captain of the cheerleading club. Someone above me said to get rid of it, but I disagree. I think it shows you are a leader and hard worker. Just describe and word it correctly.

mevsmom · Mar 14, 2014

i notice alot of "filler" in your resume, a nurse is expected to know skin grafts , surgical wounds, ect ect an HR rep would expect that you know this as it is in your scope of practice so i would do away with those lines under your education explaining med surg ect ect...
under professional profile do away with the second bullet point. in there you need to include certifications and specific skills for ex.
CPR/BLS certifications ACLS/PALS/ECG/Pharm/Phelobotomy certs, are you bilingual if you are put that.
leave the deans list and presidents list, but take out co captain of cheerleading club..it is not relevant and they wont care
remember HR is getting hundreds to thousands of apps so looking at apps if they immediatly spot a bunch of "filler" and generic stuff like ( completing vitals, assessing patients, wound care) yours will prob hit the trash bin because EVERY nurse is expected to know this. they want to be able to skim quickly and see YOUR accomplishments and individual skills.
i learned this the hard way after 3 HR reps tore apart my resume for the same "filler" sentences . As a new nurse they know you have zero experience so take out the certifications and the BSN that will help you stand out a bit more. make it easier on them to screen your resume. also remember clinical rotations isnt experience and they know this so i did see you kept it to the ortho rotation since thats what your interested in and thats ok but i would re write your last bullet points there and be more specific like what did you do with the skin graft, and what kind of surgical wounds you have experience dealing with ...
just my $.02

Thank you for taking the time to look at my resume.

I agree that there is alot of "filler," without it, my resume seems very empty and nonspecific.

I have no certifications other than bls/cpr but I felt it wasn't worth putting since we HAD to be certified to participate in school clinicals, so I assume that everyone applying is certified.

What do you mean by individual skills? I have skills such as assessment, VS, pt education... But all nurses have that. I'm very friendly and personable, most of my PTs thank me for being very gentle and kind as they have painful devices... But thats not really resume worthy ya know?

mevsmom · Mar 14, 2014

Corrections:
1. (under professional profile, bullet 2) Evidence based practice (was evidenced based practices)
2. (under volunteer involvement, bullet 1) I'm aware of what you're trying to explain in this section, but "baby wearing" just sounds odd. Had I not read your explanation in your OP, I'd have been confused. How about "wearable infant carriers" or something of that nature versus the original wording? "A community leader and educator for a local parent group that advocates for the use of wearable infant carriers to promote bonding, breastfeeding etc etc". I think that something along those lines might convey your message more clearly.
3. (under clinical experience, bullet 2) Safe, patient-centered care (added a comma).
Rewording: (in no particular order)
1. Assisted taxpayers in deciphering and effectively completing tax forms.
2. Researched answers to questions using tax law and additional authorized resources. (Keep in mind that "all resources" is a very broad statement. Don't want to imply that you were looking up answers on Wiki!)
3. Provided telephone assistance to taxpayers seeking tax information.
4. Under your clinical experience, bullet #1, I'd change it to patient assignment. Census would indicate a floor census versus an individual nurse's patient load.
General Thoughts:
Under your experience as a bakery clerk, you might break up your final bullet point as those are two tasks that aren't necessarily related to each other. I'd imagine that taking orders and supervising production are your primary responsibilities at work and training new employees is more of an occasional thing? It'd be good to emphasize your main contributions at work in a bullet all its own.
It's good to include your pertinent experience in clinicals. As the PP mentioned, you're a new nurse, so you're not going to have previous work experience in your field, but definitely expound a bit on what your experience was with skin grafts, external fixation, etc in ortho specifically. Contrary to the PP, I can assure you that not all nurses--new or otherwise--are familiar with skin grafts, external fixation, etc, so listing that you do have experience with those things is not a bad idea at all. It's a given that it's in your scope of practice (otherwise you wouldn't be listing it!), but most nurses aren't familiar with every task that's in their scope of practice as experience and exposure varies widely by circumstances.
I agree with cutting out the captain of the cheerleading team bit as it doesn't seem relevant on a professional resume.
Also, do you in fact have BLS, ACLS or other certifications? It's not a bad idea to list them here. Once you're actually a licensed nurse, don't forget to include your license number, issue and expiration dates, and state(s) of licensure.
I hope that this gives you some ideas if nothing else! Good luck!

Thank you for looking at my resume and the suggestions.

I will apply all those corrections. I agree to a that wearable infant carriers makes more sense.

The rewording suggestions are great too. Patient assignemnt sounds perfect, I wanted to say patient load but I knew that wasn't right... So census was the next word that came to mind.

I agree that my bakery position needs to be reworked... I want to emphasize skills and tasks that I did that would help strengthen my customer service skills as it was a demanding job with some very intense customers partially due to the inner city location.

I have BLS/CPR and I will add that. I didn't add it because I felt it wasn't note worthy since we all had to be certified before we could begin clinicals.

mevsmom · Mar 14, 2014

Mevsmom,
I think the formatting of your resume is great.
I might steer away from listing your school clinicals as "clinical experience" because (in my opinion) it really isn't. I think that gives the recruiter the wrong impression. It almost seems like you're applying for a position on the unit where you're precepting: is that right? If so, try to get a PCA/CNA/whatever it's called :) where you are now. Then you can list that as clinical (albeit assitant-type work) experience. I realize you graduate in May and it's now March, but it will really be invaluable. PS: half the time instructors haven't applied for a job in 5 years - take what they say with a grain of salt!

I listed it as clinical experience, because that is what we call it in school, Clinicals. I assumed if I had relevant nursing experience I would list it as Work Experience. I'm not trying to give the nurse recruiter the wrong impression which is why I labeled it a Preceptorship. At my hospital in the computer I'm labeled Student RN, but on my resume I will probably change it to Student Nurse Preceptee. I guess I will move it under education, and not in its own category.

Will getting a PCA job help me this late? I have 8 weeks till my final and 10 till graduation... I hear hiring takes 4-6 weeks at my particular hospital, I will barely be off of orientation by graduation. They would be investing good time and money in training me to become a PCA, so I wouldn't want to feel like they were wasting that on me... Or feel like I was deceiving them.

mevsmom · Mar 14, 2014

Things I would change:
- You perform not preform things. I made this mistake for a long time. Spell check never picks it up because they are both real words. But yes, the one you are looking for is perform.
- Take out clinical experience. Employers understand when you list a degree that you have clinical experience - With the EXCEPTION being clinical preceptorship in your field. In this case, I see that you're going looking for an ortho position and have ortho experience. I would keep this, but greatly shorten the section and maybe add it as a single bullet point under your degree. For example, 135 hour externship on orthopedic unit at XYZ hospital.
- I would not keep the 'professional profile' portion. I think you address skills in other sections and a large part of the material you have there should be covered in your cover letter instead.
- Under volunteer involvement I would write it as you have your degree/jobs listed out. For example
XYZ Parental Group
- Collaborated with an interdisciplinary team to ensure better bonding outcomes by promoting breastfeeding, etc, etc.
If you want to PM me with your email I would be happy to send you some of the resources we got last semester for building resumes.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Some homonyms get me every time! ;-)

I'm going to put my preceptorship under education, and not in its own category.

I also agree about the professional profile part, I just feel like taking all this out makes my resume appear rather empty ideally I wanted a full page. :-/

I like your ideas about the parenting group. My job in our group is similar to one of the C suite titles probably most like COO with a lot of other tasks intertwined.

I will PM you thanks! :-)

mevsmom · Mar 14, 2014

I think you should get rid of the objectives and professional profile and elaborate more on being co-captain of the cheerleading club. Someone above me said to get rid of it, but I disagree. I think it shows you are a leader and hard worker. Just describe and word it correctly.

I thought it showed leadership... I was voted on by my peers and had specific tasks of making up cheers, dances, and making specific decisions... I know that all sounds trivial now that I'm older and have almost survived nursing school.