Wondering why you can't get hired or promoted: Resume + Interview hints!
I've been reviewing resumes in my department and can't believe the resumes I've received: misspelling, words crossed off, no cover letter, including personal information about family life. Read to learn "Why am I not getting hired?!"
I was taught in LPN and BSN program how to prepare a resume. Is this a lost art being skipped??
Also agree with our BB members that calling facility and finding out who is department manager, then forwarding your resume to them along with hr is great idea.
I work in smaller organization than hospital but has taken me over two months to get open positions advertised and three weeks to get resumes sent to me...those that sent to me directly have interview same week.
Resume Writing
Resume writing and interview tips for nurses from Univ. of Pennsylvania:
If I called a member of your current staff and asked them to tell me about you, what would they say?
What actions would you take if you came on board?
How do you lead?
What's your secret to getting subordinates to follow you?
How do you motivate employees?
How do you reward employees?
Describe your management philosophy and management style.
Some managers supervise their employees closely, while others use a loose rein. How do you manage?
How have you improved as a manager over the years?
How many people have you fired? how do you go about it?
How would you deal with an employee who broke a policy (ie: late for work)?
How would you deal with an employee who was not open and honest in communication?
It is very hard to attract (critical care, er, or, ob etc.) nurses to this area. What are some strategies you might use to have enough qualified nurses to be sure patients get quality care in the facility?
What single professional event made you most proud to be a manager/leader?
What event made you least proud to be a leader?
In prior positions did you have budgeting responsibilities? If so, what was the size of your operating budget?
Do you know how to figure fte's?
What is your definition of empowerment?
What is your definition of quality assurance (QA), and who should be responsible, for QA?
Tell me about a time when your manager made a decision you disagreed with. What actions did you take and why?
Tell me about a time when you had to handle a disruptive employee. what did you do? what were the results?
Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an irate physician, patient, employee etc. how did you handle it and what was the result?
How have you managed to foster a successful team in your past positions?
What methods have you found successful in determining the priorities when you start in a new facility?
What methods do you use to foster open communication with staff and management?
Tell me about a work incident when you were totally honest, despite a potential risk or downside for the honesty.
How did you handle a recent situation where the direction from above was unclear and circumstances were changing?
Describe how you motivated a group of people to do something they did not want to do.
Who is your most effective subordinate and your least effective subordinate?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? What have you done to develop each of these subordinates?
Tell me about some of the people who have become successful as a result of your management. What was your role in their development?
What are the major training and development needs of the people in your department? How did you identify them? What are you doing about them?
Are there any techniques you have found useful in identifying particular subordinates' needs and potentials? Tell me how they worked with a particular person.
What do you do differently than other managers? Why? Examples?
What is the farthest you've had to bend your standards in order to succeed?
What job duties would you like to avoid if at all possible?
Describe a time in which you weighed the pros and cons of a situation and decided not to take action, even though you were under pressure to do so.
All of us have been in situations where we assigned work to other people and they didn't do what we intended. Can you tell me about some of those? What were the circumstances and how did you handle it?
Have you ever had problems in getting your subordinates to accept your ideas or department goals? What approach did you use? How effective was it?
Have you ever needed cooperation from groups that did not report to you? What did you do to gain cooperation? What were the satisfactions and disappointments?
Is there a trait or characteristic about you that you find is frequently misunderstood, that surprises you when you find out that people think that about you?
What 3 things do you hope to accomplish in your first year?
What do you expect of those who report to you? If candidate responds with a one word answer (for example saying, "support" you can probe further by asking the candidate to describe three behaviors that she/he would view as being supportive.
If you had an unfavorable plan (I.e., budget) to implement, what would you do to get the managers' buy in and support?
With the current nursing shortage, what are two solutions you would like to see put in place?
What kind of support do you offer managers, directors and front-line staff, knowing the stress of the nursing shortage and the increasing acuity of our patients?
Tell us about a high level innovative idea/change that you implemented. Was it or was it not successful?
Questions to ask the employer:
What unique challenges has this unit faced over the last year? (I.e. successes, failures, etc.)
What sets this organization apart from it's competitors?
How long is the orientation phase and what can I expect?
Will I work with one preceptor throughout or will I have several different preceptors?
How does the administration view nursing in terms of importance to the hospital?
How much independence do nurses have in being creative problem-solvers?
What kind of professional advancement is available to nurses here?
What are some of the attributes of working for your hospital?
If I were to get a job offer from another hospital, why would I want to work for this one?
What is the criterion you will use to select the person you are looking for?
What kind of support can I expect from the nursing educators and preceptors?
How does the hospital handle new grads that might be slow in becoming oriented to their new jobs?
How long have you been the manager of this unit and what is your nursing background?
How many nurses have quit and how many hired for this unit in the past 6 months? How long have some of the nurses been working on this unit?
Who will be precepting me? Can you tell me something about them? Will I always have the same preceptor or will there be more than one?
Have you ever had a new grad who didn't seem to work out? How was it handled?
If for any reason it seems that orientation is just not going well for me what will happen and who should I talk to about it?
Questions about the following are illegal to ask at a job interview here in the US:
your personal life (married, divorced, children)
family planning
pregnancy
provision for child care
religious preference
club memberships
height
weight
dependents
age (birth date)
ethnic background
maiden name
native language
physical problems
psychiatric problems
spouse's employment and/or earnings
credit rating
home ownership
automobile ownership
Resigning from position
Check your facilities policy and procedures--most require that you give notice equal to amount of vacation provided, often 2-3 weeks; long term employed rns can be 4-5weeks.
Managers often need 1-3 months notice to be eligible for rehire -- Don't burn your bridges.
I'm in the process of updating my resume and have experience as a CNA, LPN and RN. I have my LPN and RN experience on the resume, but should I put my CNA experience down too? My resume is getting longer and longer because I have had so many jobs as a nurse.....
Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.
I would mention prior experience as CNA but not list positions as that may sway some hiring mgrs who feel that CNAexperience makes one more understanding of teamwork, especially avoiding dumping on CNA as you've walked in their shoes....
This is such a great thread with so much info -- thank you all!
One question: Is it really acceptable (even expected) to put your GPA on your resume? I managed a 4.0 in my ADN program so would like to put it out there if it will be helpful, but don't want to seem like a show-off, you know?
To the last poster: First of all, congrats on your outstanding GPA in nursing school. But I'm not sure if it's acceptable to put a GPA on a resume or not. If you have some sort of distinction from your GPA, such as summa cum laude, I would think it would be more acceptable to place that title after your degree on your resume.
Thanks so much for the kind words and advice, both of you. I seriously never heard of putting a GPA on a resume until I looked at some of the samples linked to in the original thread. I've been doing some googling, and it does seem fairly common practice, at least in certain professions. I always thought my grades were just a point of personal pride -- cool that they *may* help me get a job!
I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find examples of resumes of current nursing students who also work as CNAs. I have a BS in psych and I've had various non-nursing related jobs, so I just want to know how I would arrange that in my resume. Thanks.
Ok I'm beginning to think it is something with me. I have applied for probably 20-30 jobs here and have had 4 interviews. Nothing became of any of the interviews. All the response I'm getting on these applications is that I dont have the experience they are looking for, there are more qualified applicants, application gets forwarded to manager but never hear back, or I just don't get a response at all. The interviews went very well and they said they were impressed with me/my answers. I don't know where to go from here. There is a hospital that I am applying for that makes you agree not to call for "status checks".
I know there are the jobs out there that I have applied for that I am not considered for because I do not have a full year of experience, but it seems even a lot of the floor positions "require 1 year experience" now.
my resume and a general cover letter are in the link below. i tailor each cover letter to the position/hospital I am applying for.
You've replied to my post "need feedbacks on resume" a few days ago. I have sent you an email using my personal email because I'm a new member and not allowed to send private msgs on here. Just wondering if you received my email?
Ok, here's my situation, in as short a form as possible. I graduated in May 2008, took boards and was licensed in October 2008. Lost what I was hoping to be a dream job in October 2008 after 4 weeks of orientation as an RNA. Gave up apply for job in my home state in Jan 2009. Applied for and was interviewed for several positions in NC in Feb 2009. Was actually offered a job and was excited and started said job in NC on a intermediate unit in June 2009. 9 weeks into orientation I wasn't progressing and after some soul searching on my own, I decided to talk to my nurse manager about it. We both decided that it would be to my best interest to transfer to a less acute floor as my transition from being an LPN to an RN was much harder than I expected. The nurse retention manager was contacted and I started working with her in August. By October 31st all options to find me a new position was exhausted as all the new grad RN positions were gone and there were no openings anywhere on the general medicine units. I am now officially unemployed...again. Hubby and I are moving back home at the end of this month since my job prospects where we are a slim and we have a baby on the way.
My resume is littered with short stay jobs, my RNA job and this one being the most recent. Also HUGE gaps between jobs. Should I even bother applying for jobs knowing my resume most likely won't make it past the recruiter? This last job has me only employed for 4 months, but it was actually less than that since the policy at this particular place states you can't work on the unit your trying to transfer from during the transfer process. How in the world do I make myself stand out to even get an interview? DO I put something in my cover letter? Also, should I even bothe applying for positions I've found back home since my baby is due at the end of January?
I've made many mistakes in my career, most of them while I was an LPN which I have to list on my resume. I am eligible for rehire at both this employer and the one previous to it. It's just my resume screams "don't bother".
Hi people am a foreign nurse and i just pass my nclex rn. Trying to look for a job and i have a question , i really don't have relevant work history and am a new grad and i don't know if am to write a resume and how should i write it? any advice will be appreciated. Thanks
Nacki, MSN, NP
344 Posts
I'm in the process of updating my resume and have experience as a CNA, LPN and RN. I have my LPN and RN experience on the resume, but should I put my CNA experience down too? My resume is getting longer and longer because I have had so many jobs as a nurse.....