New RN needing help building resume with no experience

[niecejr]

I'm trying to make my first resume as a nurse. The only experience I have in the medical field is through nursing school and my preceptorship. What can I put to make myself stand out as a description of my professional background.

Honestly, the answer to your question is: Nothing... you have no experience that's not shared by many, many other people and there's nothing that you can do in that regard to "stand out."

Some ways in which you don't want to stand out: Be sure to have meticulous grammar and spelling in all of your communications, be succinct, and be professional. In person, have meticulous grooming and a moderate, professional appearance.

Since you have nothing to have your "professional background" stand out, emphasize your GPA, your volunteer experience, you non-nursing work history, special school projects, etc. For example, I had one NM tell me that they were very interested in a school project that I'd done on mass vaccination clinics in response to bioterror events. It turns out that they were interested in the same thing and provided us a lot to talk about (though I didn't get hired).

In most cases, your education won't let you stand out; it's the rest of you that stands out.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Do you have other types of experience that might be of interest? What types of things have you done in life other than work in the medical field? Did you have other jobs? Were you involved in school activities? etc. Start there. You have to go with what you've got -- so start considering your life experiences in other areas, particularly those that may have taught you things of value to a nurse.

[niecejr]

I was a Student Ambassador, a leadership organization that got to travel to different countries and interacted with different cultures. I was part of the Student Nursing Association through my college. I worked as a cocktail waitress at an always packed bar; great with multitasking. 144 hours precepting in the ER. NIH Stroke Scale Certified. 6 years of Spanish. Licensed in Florida and California.

Multicultural experience is great.

Spanish is beyond great in California and Florida... emphasize it.

Spend some time building concise statements of how your work experience translates into the ED (from my perspective in a busy level 1 trauma center, cocktail server might be the most beneficial work experience I can think of... honestly... have several colleagues, including one of the docs, who spent years behind the bar and hustling drinks to the masses.