Starting to become hopeless with this resume, please help?

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2012

Well, they aren't anymore.
Just out of curiosity - are you American or European? It seems like Europeans use "CV" while Americans use "resume." I do believe that the European CV is actually quite a bit different than the American resume. Age is actually a protected class in the US, although discrimination is still rampant.
I was taught maybe a dozen years ago or so that it was okay to put hobbies and interests on your resume. By an elderly teacher who insisted that we learn how to fill out job applications using typewriters. The current trend, by all means, is a single-page resume that can be glanced at to glean important information. Whether you play tennis on the weekends or are a hot chick in your early 20s is irrelevant.

I agree... I would never consider putting my age or any information about my personal life (whether I'm married with kids or planning to be) on my resume. In these days, it's best to keep personal things OUT of the professional realm.

Bob_N_VA · Apr 20, 2012

Your resume should read like a sales brochure for you. You are selling yourself to a future employer. Start out with a summary or branding statement. 3-4 lines that describes what kind of nurse you are. Include with that Hard skills and Soft skills.

Follow it up by a professional experience section for all the time where you were employed or in the military. Anything in those jobs that supports you qualifications as a nurse should have a bullet, hopefully in a challenge-action-result format rather than "responsible for", assisted with, etc.

At the end should be education and professional development. These are things that further support you case that you are the best candidate for the job. And I would probably not get into all the different clinical rotations you did, thats all part of the nursing degree and the hiring managers know that. Extra skills like speaking a second language are pretty big, and they allude to your cultural sensitivity. And don't sell short your extra years of work experience. You've shown yourself to be a responsible employee by having a job for years at a time, kids just out of school cant make that claim. Even if you don't list your age on your resume, (and I wouldn't list mine), it still comes out in the time references you make in terms of dates of graduation, etc. If I list my previous bachelors degree as 1980, ya think they don't have a reasonable idea how old I am? ;-)

Keep it short, on point and remember that it may only get 30 seconds review if it is lumped in with a whole bunch of others on somebody's desk. You can help yourself if you can make some personal contacts (networking) or doing volunteer work in a free clinic or hospital if you have time. Once you get your first break and land a nursing job, the next will be much easier. You just have to land the first one. Good luck.

danarooo, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2012

i read in a response someonesuggested adding personal stuff to your resume, i would not include if you'remarried, have kids etc...this is personal and it is not legal for an employerto ask this or to consider you or not consider based off of this. they arelegally required to consider you based solely off information that would eitherhelp or hinder you from performing that specific job (kids and spouses don'tapply to that). i have been asked if i have small kids, which is not anappropriate question for an applicant and i was astounded. i have also beenasked several times if my husband is military, which is another inappropriatequestion, because their hiring decision can't legally be made on my husband'sjob. you want to show aspects of yourself in your resume, but don't getpersonal because it has nothing to do with your ability to do the job. i usedto be in human resources for a large company at one time.