resume boosters?

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Hello!

I just graduated with my BSN, and I'm looking for a job in the Philadelphia area (although I've started to look in NJ and DE as well). I started as a volunteer nurse at a clinic nearby, and I've got some small things on my resume (college sports, month-long mission trip last summer, ANA member). But I also understand I'm competing with other new grads and have no real nursing experience, and I'd like to know what else I could do to help me land that first nursing job.

Anyone have any recommendations? Certifications that aren't too expensive, maybe? Someone posted something on here recently and mentioned they took one-day wound care & IV certification courses, but I can't find anything.

Thanks!:nurse:

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Specializes in hoping to be in pediatrics..somedaysoon..

me too, im with her/him. please help us boost em! :redpinkhe

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Please don't look at classes as 'resume booster'. Instead look at them as NETWORKING OPPORTUNTIES! You'll meet other nurses....nurses who are WORKING and know where the job openings are and who make the decisions to hire!

Don't got to classes with your unemployed friends. Go alone and meet OTHERS. Invite someone to lunch, exchange numbers....meet as many other nurses in your area as you can. Don't forget about seminars that don't offer CEs. When asked why you attended the lecture/seminar/class, your answer is "I want to know more about xyz...so I can be a better nurse". Make an impression. Make friends......wait until they say "I wish we had a nurse like you where I work" to tell them you are looking for work.

Look for the classes that will give you the most EXPOSURE, not necessarily the ones that are inexpensive or 'sound good.'

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Specializes in geriatrics, IV, Nurse management.

Local colleges offer cheaper one day to 2 day weekend courses that look great on a resume and the cost isn't too bad. I recommend the book "Your 1st year as a nurse" by Donna Wick Cardillo RN, as it showed me how to network with resources in my area. A resume looks great updated, but I also recommend keeping your portfolio up to date with information at well. A business card is handy when attending other nursing conferences.

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