Resume boosters

[jsm87]

Calling all nurses who have been through the hiring process. I am currently a senior nursing student and i want to make my resume look strong. Are there are key words that may make my application different from other nurses. What kind of activities/ experience do employers look for in newly graduated nurses.

currently I am in a national nursing club, I worked as a caregiver for a few months, i have completed over 300 hours of clinical work, I have a few certificates regarding BLS and other academic qualifications. What else is important that makes a nurse seem well rounded on paper?

[Sour Lemon]

I wasn't a member of any clubs and I had no medical experience as a new graduate. What I always got comments about from people involved in the hiring process was my very stable work history. It gave them the impression that I might actually stick around for a while if they hired me. A lot of new graduates move on from their first job(s) rather quickly.

[Possum_RN]

Honestly? I compared resumes with a few in my nursing class, and there really seems to be no "magic recipe" for resumes. Like Sour Lemon, my stable job history was the "focus" of my resume: mine is a 'minimalist' chronological resume - just a clean list of jobs/education/clinical experience/certifications/extracurriculars with times and dates. Others in my class had in-depth descriptions of responsibilities and objective statements....this is known as a "functional" resume, and focuses on skills over job history. I would say that if your resume is more skills-based, do your research: if they mention something in the job description to which you are applying, or on their "who we are" or "our mission" section of their website - make sure you include that language in your resume.

I reserved flowery writing for my cover letter, in which I "told my story": what inspired me, why I thought I was a good fit for the position, etc. To me, the resume was a boring but functional document that proved my basic qualifications - easy to read at a glance. The cover letter was my chance to make a connection and entice. I had several potential employers mention being impressed with my cover letter in the interviews, and ask questions based on it - so it was a fantastic way to have some measure of steering the interview to MY strengths.

Basically, I would say to relax- there's no magic words or formula. Decide what type of resume will make you look the best on paper - chronological, functional, combination, or targeted - and make a clean, easy-to-read document.

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Using keywords from the job description can be helpful, especially when employers use applicant tracking software (ATS).

Your resume should be pristine. So many applicants make grammatical errors that you will stand out by presenting an error-free, visually pleasing document.

Avoid dense blocks of text by using bullet points and white space. Prime real estate is the upper 1/3 of your resume and this is where you either capture or lose the recruiter's attention.

I wrote my book exactly for candidates like you, to stand out from all the other applicants when composing a cover letter, resume and when interviewing. You will learn so much from an insider hiring manager point of view!

Best wishes, Nurse Beth