What should a new grad resume look like before actually graduating?

ArrowRN, BSN, RN · Feb 1, 2015

Because you are not yet licensed you cannot list RN on your resume you can however list the current nursing program your are in under your education...Something like:

EDUCATION:

University of Allnurses, Gotham City, NY.

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). Anticipated Graduation date: 01/3099

You can also add the clinicals you have participated in thus far. Such as:

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE:

Long term care: Gotham senior home 50 hours

Community Health: Startrek Health Center 90 hours

Medical Surgical !: Spiderman Hospital 90 hours

etc. Some people say avoid putting clinical on your resume but it just gives the employer an idea of where you are at.

Keep the resume down to one page. you can vary the format but that's the basic information needed. have an experienced instructor review it for you, they are usually glad to give input.

Your chances of success increase once you graduate and get your ATT and actually schedule your NCLEX date you can add that to your resume. and use your ATT letter from Pearson to apply for Graduate nurse positions.

If you are in a state which allows challenging the Nurse assistant exam, you can do that and add the Certified Nursing Assistant license to your resume in the mean time. Some employers looks for that when students apply for nurse tech/graduate nurse positions. If you get that You would list it on your resume under heading like:

LICENSURE/CERTIFICATION:

Gotham(your state) Certified Nursing Assistant # CNA9999999, Current - 2020

Good luck

RunBabyRN · Feb 2, 2015

I agree with the stuff ArrowRN said. Put your anticipated graduation date. Don't put anything about being licensed, because you're not. Put your CPR certification and any other certs with expiration dates. Include your clinicals just as ArrowRN listed- hospital, unit, and hours. No need to waste time and space with more than that, with the exception of your senior preceptorship, but you are JUST getting rolling with your preceptorship, so once that's complete or close to it, then you can go more into that.

Chances are you don't have the kind of experience that requires more than one page for your resume, and also doesn't need a special skills section, so son't waste the space on those. Do you have a rough draft started?

JasonKa · Feb 3, 2015

I only have my regular resume not my nursing resume. I have a question about work experience though. I have a lot of work experience not related to health but involving customer service. For example I worked as a bank teller for years. How can I tailor my work experience so the recruiter sees that I can work well with people and on a team?

RunBabyRN · Feb 4, 2015

You have two places to detail this in very different ways: your resume and your cover letter. The cover letter is the place for all of the warm and fuzzy stuff- go into how you have contributed to a team environment or how people have responded to your special brand of customer service (and how you stand out!). In your resume, keep it objective and to the point, but use language relevant to nursing. Trouble-shooting, problem-solving, multi-tasking, customer service, training new tellers, whatever you actually did that's relevant. I have healthcare experience prior to nursing, but my retail management experience was appealing to my now-manager when I interviewed, because I will be supervising medical assistants. I only mention that job on one line on my resume, but I spoke more to it in my interview.