New Grad, Sad Resume

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I will graduate in December and would like to start applying for positions. I don't have a current resume and am baffled as to what I should include in it. I know there have been numerous threads on resumes with lots of website references, but they don't seem to address my questions.

I have zero previous medical experience. I chose to stay home and be with my 3 kids as much as possible, therefore I was never a tech/extern/CNA, etc. (Actually, this summer I took 2 prerequisite classes towards the BSN instead.)

I've been in school for the past 3 years. My last job was 4 years ago part-time in a print factory as a quality control inspector for 2 years. The 2 years prior to that I worked part-time for a contractor unloading and sorting boxes for UPS at the airport. (Both of those jobs were strictly to help support my daughter's VERY expensive ice skating habit.) Previous to that, I was a TOTAL stay at home mom for 8 years. Before that, I was a project supervisor (with 100 employees over 3 shifts under me) for a now defunct computer drafting company for 4 years. But sheesh, now we're talking about over 15 years ago! Before that, I fixed manufacturing equipment at IBM for a couple of years.

Do you see my problem? Do I include any of that lame work history? How much, how far back?

I am an excellent student. I've gotten A's in all of my nursing and science classes. I was nominated by my instructor last semester and received the Nurse Leadership Award from my school. I get excellent reviews from my clinical instructors. I'm just afraid my resume will be lacking the appropriate representation of what I am really worth because of the work history of the past 15 years with no medical experience and I have no idea how to put that into convincing writing.

Any thoughts would be apprediated.

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What's lame about your work history? Being a CNA or in the health care field isn't a prerequisite for being a nurse. They don't expect you to come out of nursing school with years of experience in another health-related field.

You have nothing to be ashamed of.

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I would go with the 3 most recent employers. If you fill out an application they may ask for all of your employers, but for a resume I like to keep it short and sweet.

Do you volunteer? If so, put that down. Employers like that. If you don't volunteer know, a quick and fast way is to volunteer at a soup kitchen. 2-4 hours a week or what you can give them make them happy. I have a friend who works in HR and she says that you are much much more likely to be hired if you volunteer.

Some have even put stay at home mom on their resume but they give it a different title like "Children's Activity Coordinator". Gives it a professional sounding name to sahm.

Be sure to list any rewards you have received in school. Also, list school and GPA.

Also, you might check out your college. Some have a dept devoted to helping students with resumes.

Good luck!

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I second what motorcycle mama said.

You're not lame and I bet there are alot of people out there that weren't CNA's prior to becoming a nurse.

I was nominated by my instructor last semester and received the Nurse Leadership Award from my school. I get excellent reviews from my clinical instructors. I'm just afraid my resume will be lacking the appropriate representation of what I am really worth because of the work history of the past 15 years with no medical experience and I have no idea how to put that into convincing writing.

Show off your excellent reviews and awards! Ask your instructors if it's ok that you use them as a reference.

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.

It's all in how you look at it.

What skills did you learn in your previous jobs that could be valuable to your new employer? Quality control inspector: that would say attention to detail, wouldn't it? Find a way to point that out. Project supervisor: managing other people. Repairing machinery: problem solving!

All those things could be useful to an employer. They don't expect you to be an expert in nursing skills yet, but you have other skills that might be equally valuable.

Also, just about anything could be considered volunteer work. Teaching Sunday School, working in the church nursery, being a room mother at school, Cub Scout den mother, Brownie or Girl Scout leader, etc. etc.

You may not have the nursing experience yet, but you do have life experience; make the most of it!

And by all means, use the grade point average, awards, etc.

Make the most of all your assets to show that you will be the kind of employee they are looking for. The skills and so forth will come with time.

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Put your clinical rotations down in your resume..I did not work for the past 10 years..That is experience..I graduated in May 2006 and been hired three times to work as a nurse so far..I am currently at my 3rd nursing job..

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Specializes in Tele, Med-Surg, MICU.

Think about using your clinical instructors as references.

It doesn't matter if you developed a new rocket for NASA.

Your employer will want to know how your skills are as a nurse and how you are with patients and co-workers.

Definitely emphasize life experience.

And PLEASE look for a good employer with a solid orientation and low patient ratios.

Best of luck!

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Specializes in Post Anesthesia.

I would list your most recent 2-4 employers. The hospitals you are appling to will want some idea of your work ethic not your health care background. Were you fired? Did you show up on time? Were you a good employee,- a team player?. The hospitals know you are a new grad and even if you worked as a NA, lab tech-, whatever, those jobs don't give you much RN experience. I would list any exceptional highlights from your school time. If they are hiring the "cream of the crop" of new grads the should know it.

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Specializes in med-surg.

I am starting my second year (and FINAL) year of nursing school.

I share many of your concerns...I graduated in 1990 with a Psychology degree and did medical research for 5 years. I then switched to a sales career because I realized that I did not know how to communicate with people. In 2000, I went into environmental research because I desperately missed science.

I was laid-off in 2004 and realized that it was time for re-evaluation of my life at age 35. I looked at everything that I liked (science and psych) and my experience (contributing to the community, helping people obtain what they truly needed) and realized that nursing was the perfect career for me.

I have done well in school and will graduate in May 2008. I am STILL single (but that is an entirely different thing!) with no children and a car payment. My financial aid has run out and I am living off of family charity. I am grateful to my family for their faith in me.

The only stickler is my car payment and daily spending. I have to finance those. I work in a call center troubleshooting internet technical issues. The job pays very well for a part-time position and I have been reluctant to leave because it does provide for my needs.

The positive aspects of remaining there are that I have been doing this for two years and can function on autopilot at this point, it is a low-stress job that pays better than a student-nurse job WITH differential, AND (most importantly) they work with my insane life as a nursing student (without asking me to take everyone's blood pressure!).

I spoke with some of my professor's last year and I was told that not working directly in the health care field was not a detriment. They recommended a resume chronicling my clinical experiences and advised me to consider a 'skills' resume to highlight my life experience (for example, my medical research experience was over 10 years ago, but I have learned so many things since!)

For the record, many of my classmates have spent time in the working world without obtaining any clinical experience. Many are women who worked and became stay at home moms (who are the hardest worked women on the planet except moms that have to work but crave to be at home--SISTERS I SALUTE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!) and are coming back for a second career. Others worked until starting nursing school.

The point is...you are an intelligent, productive, critically-thinking nurse. No skill that you have learned up to this point (before, during, after nursing school) is put to waste. I don't want my future RN coworkers only to be former PCTs. I also want people like me that have experienced many different things to provide their input and thoughts so I may see what I may be missing when I am only focused on clinical values.

Have Faith in Yourself!!!!!!!!!

:smiley_ab

that's me...always fighting the dark side...oops--i'm just fighting myself again!!!

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Specializes in ICU.

My resume when I was finished school was 1/2 page, haha, and that was with an 3 sentence objective, no worries, it's more about " who YOU are, and your personality " that that other stuff....after school and this being your first RN job, I don't think a long resume filled with things is neccesary, just make sure you add in the nursing award, that is something ALOT of people won't have on it.

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skip listing employers entirely. yours are obsolete. i mean, really, are the people you worked with still there? traditional resume format with a list of employers would not work best for you.

organize your resume by skills and (as was said before) stress your recent academic successes.

land k. shark

101 ocean boulevard

seaside, new jersey

objective: blah blah nursing stuff blah blah

skills and accomplishments:

*able to organize and prioritize multiple job tasks to maintain focus on goals and reach milestones

*proven capable of supervising groups of various skill levels (as a project supervisor for abc affiliates, also as recipient of nurse leadership award in 2007 at bestever nursing college)

*proponent of highest quality standards (as quality control inspector at wonderful printing company; dean's list, gpa 4.0)

personal information (this is always voluntary, but often tips the employer to some of their obvious questions --- what were you doing all this time???) married, mother of 3, member of b'nai temple/1st baptist/etc., garden club of seaside, seaside kiwanis, pta board member

best of luck. don't "dog" your resume. you are quite accomplished.

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Please, don't neglect the hard work you do at home. I am in your boat and have had several different "professional" career titles prior to staying at home. This has been by FAR the most challenging position I have ever held!!! I don't think you need to fancy up the name (i.e. sanitation engineers..;) but you absolutely can find ways to discuss the SKILLS you have used at home, finances, time mamagement, nutrition, communication, NEGOTIATION! SAHM mom's don't get enough credit IMO and I think it has to start with us taking pride in our work and giving ourselves that credit first!

Bless you and congrat's on all your academic accomplishments! That is definitely something to be proud of.

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