Resume help....

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I will be graduating in in 7 weeks. I have to get a resume together and the problem is...

I started working as an LPN in 1985 ( wow...I am old lol) in a nursing home for a few years and then onto an agency that no longer are in business. Starting in 1990 I worked on the "surgical floor" in a hospital for a little over 2 years and then took off to have a baby. I returned to work in 96 and worked with MDS and did consulting til 2000. From 2001 until going to school in 2008 I owned a gym and worked as a personal trainer.

I am told I should only go back 5 years but that will not tell much in regards to my nursing skills/abilities.

Anyone have any thoughts on the best way to do my resume?

thanks

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

I would leave off everything prior to 5 years ago as suggested. I was a manager who hired new grads. We were not interested in all that old work stuff, believe me. The older information is often not even verifiable. Everything we needed to get we had to go to your current LPN instructors for. We know that new grads need more polishing. Your instructors are the only people who can give prospective employers any info about how you are going to perform as LPNs since they are the only people who have observed you doing LPN things. Whether you realized it or not, you have been in on-the-job training and what your instructors have to say about you to prospective employers will have an important impact on whether or not you get hired. Most employers will want a recommendation from at least one of your instructors, so start thinking about who you will be asking to give you one.

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Thanks for the reply.. I felt it would be nice for them to see that I had practiced over the years as an LPN with surgical floor and acute care experience. I will take your advice and use only the past 5 years and get instructor references.

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Thanks for the reply.. I felt it would be nice for them to see that I had practiced over the years as an LPN with surgical floor and acute care experience. I will take your advice and use only the past 5 years and get instructor references.

I wouldn't do it. My first question to you as an interviewer would be, "why did you have to go back to school?" Does that story really need to be told? What went on 5+ years ago is old and outdated.

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You know I did the 5 year thing and would you believe that employers are asking me what I did with my life before that. I also gave my med-surg instructor for reference who also works for the same hospital system as me. Easy for them to find her and she spent the most time with me. Before I left LPN school, I got permission from several so if I chose a certain area I could give that instructor.

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