Resume Critique Please

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Feb 7, 2014

Totally erase the clinical in school and all the jobs before your nursing job, also your high school education is properly dropped off after you graduate from college. (Note also, not that you said it, but I see it a lot: the college graduates students; the student graduates from college.)

Nobody wants to see that you worked a cash register (note, not hyphenated) at a laundry or in maintenance; these have nothing to do c nursing.

If you think you learned something really important that directly benefits your nursing career in those jobs, like you were so great that they made you a team leader in maintenance and you managed a team of four including doing evals and budget, you can mention them in your interview.

kiszi, RN · Feb 16, 2014

I personally would place experience before education. Agree with leaving off clinicals and jobs prior to nursing. May help to include anticipated relocation date in objective so they know you are serious about relocating.

kaufer01 · Feb 19, 2014

It's a bit hard to critique a resume in a forum. I generally recommend (especially if you are just out of college) listing things on your resume in the following order: Education, Certifications (these should be listed separately from your formal educational experience), Informal Trainings (i.e. if you attended a conference, have CEUs, etc), Experience (I would recommend having a full resume of all your job experience and then creating a separate resume that is job specific), Clinical experience (this should be separate from your job experience), Service/Volunteer Experience, Skills section (general things that would otherwise be under multiple sections or are not specific to any one experience), Awards, Extra Curricular Activities.

It seems like the practice of writing a professional objective statement is falling out of fashion and doesn't really seem to play a big role in your resume other than taking up space. You are applying for a specific job, they're going to assume that it is what you are looking for. You can also leave off your references. If you get an interview, have them available on a separate sheet that you can leave with them if they ask. A lot of times you'll have to fill out an online application or a supplemental application that will ask for references. Again it just takes up valuable space.

Formatting is a big issue, make your resume your own. (I know you said it's hard to copy and paste from a word doc.) I use a word table to make sure all of my formatting is correct. If this isn’t something you are sure of how to do Google is a great resource for learning how to use Word.

Your resume is really just marketing – why is one product better than another, why are you as a candidate more qualified. As far as content for your resume goes, a big thing you want to keep in mind is that your resume is pretty much all you have to market yourself to an employer. This is all you have to let them know that you are the right candidate for your job. Use statistics as much as you can – numbers are concrete while words provide a vague image. Everything you have done can be played to your advantage, you just have to word things in a way that is still truthful, but shows what you did in the best way possible. Long lists of skills you’ve performed or diagnosis’ you’ve cared for really don’t showcase you as the person to hire.

Sorry for the novel, I just spend a lot of time updating my resume as well. It’s something you’ve got to invest time in. Keep it up to date, polished, and shiny. :)

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Feb 19, 2014

It's a bit hard to critique a resume in a forum. I generally recommend (especially if you are just out of college) listing things on your resume in the following order: Education, Certifications (these should be listed separately from your formal educational experience), Informal Trainings (i.e. if you attended a conference, have CEUs, etc), Experience (I would recommend having a full resume of all your job experience and then creating a separate resume that is job specific), Clinical experience (this should be separate from your job experience), Service/Volunteer Experience, Skills section (general things that would otherwise be under multiple sections or are not specific to any one experience), Awards, Extra Curricular Activities.

I disagree with your format in the OP's case; most employers don't have time to sift through the education; the OP has a recent nursing job; they need to see if the experience is there and will zero in on the job, then where you graduated from/IF you graduated, etc.

Another biggie is using a bulleted point of skills or listing of your license number; THAT's important; you can sell your strongest skills and experience; make sure that there is a license listed to confirm you actually HAVE a license and available to work.

Long lists of skills you've performed or diagnosis' you've cared for really don't showcase you as the person to hire.

I've heard otherwise from recruiters and personal experience that at least having a list of important nursing skills and familiarity with some nursing skills IS important; ie ACLS, PALS, transplant pts, vented pts, etc; keep it brief though; and CEUS are a good thing to list as well; being a part of a particular nursing organization beyond the ANA at least shows that your are interested in being in that particular specialty and obtain CEUs from that org does show that you are willing to stay in the specialty.

I would also add that having a particular format does help and finding a nursing format can generate more of a notice that the usual Word document; having spoke to a recruiter and tweaked my résumé to what recruiters are looking for, I have een able to land interviews and get the job.