What do you put for experience when your just out of school and..

[bkworm8it]

Hi all,

My sister and I have been having a discussion about what to put for months / years of experience when applying for an RN job. I got my license in November of 2012 and have been working at a LTC facility since January.

I've been putting 6 months but less than a year since I have only 'worked' for 6 months. My sister says I should count the last year of school and license being in November to put at least 1 year.

We did to a lot of hours during the 2nd year and I did 240 hours in the ICU as a preceptor so do I count those?

She thinks because I don't include that time that my applications are being overlooked.

I'm curious what others do/think

Thanks!

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

Your RN experience is only the time you have had a license and worked actively in an RN role, not a student role.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I agree with the previous poster. You have approximately 6 months of paid RN experience, so you would be fabricating by stating you have one year of experience.

Most hiring managers and HR personnel do not count your student preceptorships and clinical rotations as RN experience.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I don't put an experience quantity on my resume. I list my jobs and the dates worked there. Since you're a pretty fresh grad you could list your preceptor ship under education. When asked how much experience you have, it's time worked as an RN.

[NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN]

There a a few different kinds of resumes depending on where you want to work and how much experience you have. As a new grad nurse, I'd stay away from an experience based resume (chronological), and go for a functional one. Here is a great place to start to make a resume that highlights your best features... http://jobsearch.about.com/od/resumes/p/resumetypes.htm.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I don't say this to criticize (this is only a message board after all), but just to emphasize the importance of the resume:

You need to go over it with a fine tooth comb to avoid typos, spelling errors, or grammar mistakes such as you made in the thread title ("your" instead of "you're"). I know hiring managers who would pass over a candidate who did that because it might make them question just how detail oriented the applicant is. Get someone to proof it for you as well, as we often don't spot our own mistakes. I often make typos on message forums and such, but I would make sure that anything I turned in to a prospective employer was flawless. It needs to be perfect with respect to both accuracy and form.

I agree with those who advise you to not overstate your RN experience. You could certainly list any jobs you had as a student, but it would need to be very clear that you were employed while you were still in school vs. trying to make it sound as if you were functioning as a registered nurse. I would not mention any rotation you had in school unless you did something very notable there, such as helping to develop a new policy or conducting some sort of study which resulted in positive change of some kind.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I just noticed this comment you made:

We did to a lot of hours during the 2nd year and I did 240 hours in the ICU as a preceptor so do I count those?

How were you able to work as a preceptor in an ICU when you were a student? Are you saying you worked with a preceptor? "Preceptor" usually refers to an experienced nurse who is teaching someone either new to the field or new to the specialty.

[BloomNurseRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

I don't put an experience quantity on my resume. I list my jobs and the dates worked there. Since you're a pretty fresh grad you could list your preceptor ship under education. When asked how much experience you have, it's time worked as an RN.

I think the poster is referring more to applying online or in applications where it specifically asks for how many years of experience do you have in this role? I know the main hospital in my city includes that question and has options like 0-1, 2-5, etc. I just graduated in May but have 10 years of healthcare experience so I always hate when I have to put 0-1 but it's the truth since I'm applying for RN positions.

[antania31]

I agree with the other posters... Only put time work as an licensed RN as you been doing. I'm not too sure that employers can see your actual graduation date But they (and anyone else who knows your full name and state) definitely can see the exact dated you was license. Which would of course not show a year of experience. So again stick to what you been doing... The Truth!

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

You were not a nurse during your final year of school/during your preceptorship no matter how many hours you completed, so NO, that is not "nursing experience". And I'm going to have to agree with Horseshoe- you probably need to go over your resume and cover letter with a fine tooth comb and check for spelling or grammar errors. If I received any resume with basic mistakes such as using "your" instead of "you're" it would go right in the recycling bin.

[trauma_lama, BSN]

I listed my school clinical experience on my resume under relevant skills and experience by hours. ie "clinical rotation, hospital name, cardiovascular surgery intermediate care; 68 hours. Hospital name, medical-surgical unit; 120 hour preceptorship. Etc" it worked out well for me- I got several interviews pretty quickly. The job I ended up taking told me they actually picked me (I applied for a 2 year experience required as a new grad) because of my Rez and cover letter. Sure, school experience is not nursing experience, but damned if taking a full patient load, starting umpteen IVs, inserting tons of foleys, changing dressings, maintaining chest tubes, participating in codes, interpreting labs, giving meds based on interpretations of parameters, and collaborating with members of the interdisciplinary health care team don't count for something, whether or not it was under a preceptor's watchful eye. Good luck!