How can you make sure that your nursing resume stands out in a competitive applicant pool?
An effective resume not only highlights your qualifications and experiences but also showcases your dedication to patient care and the impact you can bring to a hiring facility.
Step by step, we’re going to explore how you can craft a resume that will land you an interview for your dream nursing role.
Research and Preparation
To land an interview with a resume alone, preparation is key. Before you begin writing your resume, gathering all necessary details and documentation is crucial, as is thoroughly researching the specific requirements for the job you are applying for.
Understanding what exactly potential employers are looking for in an applicant can help you to tailor your resume to meet their needs.
Here are a few things you need to prepare:
- Keywords: Review the job description to identify the required qualifications and skills. Look for keywords or phrases that you can mirror back to the hiring manager when crafting your resume.
- Company Culture: Research the healthcare facility’s mission, values, and work environment to align your resume with its ethos. This can also help when preparing for your interview.
- Networking: If appropriate you can connect with current or former employees to gain insights into what the employer values most. You can learn more about new projects and focuses that your skills and experiences might be valuable for.
Formatting For A Nursing Resume
How should you format your nursing resume to maximize its impact?
Bullet Points
When writing a resume, it’s important that every single element stands out and is easy to read. This is where bullet points are invaluable.
Bullet points are a powerful tool for presenting your experiences and qualifications succinctly. With the right formula, they can be crucial for highlighting your impact and past successes.
- Action-Oriented: Each bullet point you write should begin with a strong action verb to convey your accomplishments and responsibilities.
- Quantify Achievements: Where possible, try to include quantifiable achievements to highlight the impact of your actions. (e.g., “Managed a team of 10 nurses” or “Reduced patient wait times by 20%”).
- Relevance: Make sure that everything in your resume is relevant to the hiring manager. Adapt your resume to suit each hiring business.
Formatting For ATS
An ATS or Applicant Tracking System, is a tool used by recruiters or hiring businesses to screen resumes when there are many applicants.
To ensure your resume passes through these systems, try to follow these formatting guidelines:
- Keywords: Incorporate keywords from the job description throughout your resume.
- Standard Formatting: Avoid using complex headers and footers as these can confuse an ATS.
- Design: Designed resumes, like those made on tools like Canva, aren’t always readable. Unless design is a specific requirement for your role, a traditional resume is much more effective.
- File Type: Submit your resume as a .docx or .pdf file. These formats are usually ATS-friendly.
@ultmeche #greenscreen 10/10 resume for those of you in nursing or healthcare #nursing #healthcare #resume #nurse #registerednurse ♬ original sound – Engineering Career Coach
How To Write A Nursing Resume
Let’s look at how you can craft the perfect nursing resume.
1: Contact Details
Your contact details are an extremely important part of your resume, and should always be first, no matter the industry you’re applying for.
They should fill a small section at the very top of your resume.
In this section be sure to include:
- Your full legal name.
- Your phone number.
- A professional email address.
- A LinkedIn profile if it is professional and up-to-date. (Optional)
2: Experience
Hiring managers will likely be most interested in your experience section, and this is where you can take advantage of the bullet point formula we discussed earlier.
Here’s how you should structure this section:
- Employer: Include the name and location of your employer.
- Job Title: Clearly state your job title.
- Dates of Employment: Specify the start and end dates (month and year).
- Responsibilities and Achievements: Use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and highlight your achievements, focusing on those that are most relevant to the nursing position you’re applying for.
Example:
MEDICAL FACILITY/LOCATION OF ROLE
Specialty Unit Staff Registered Nurse
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 2022 – Present
- Administered medications and treatments to patients in a 30-bed unit.
- Collaborated with a multidisciplinary team to develop patient care plans.
- Implemented a new patient tracking system, reducing patient wait times by 15%.
3: Education
Your educational background should be listed in reverse chronological order, listing your most advanced qualifications first.
- Institution: Include the name and location of the institution where you earned your degree.
- Degree: State the name of the degree you obtained.
- Dates: Include the date you graduated or the date you expect to graduate.
Example:
LOS ANGELES COUNTY COLLEGE OF NURSING AND ALLIED HEALTH
Associate’s Degree in Nursing
Apr 2020
4: Certifications and Licenses
Certifications and licenses are crucial in the nursing field. They are an essential addition when crafting a nursing resume.
- Certification/License Name: Clearly state the certification or license.
- Issuing Organization: Name the organization that issued the certification or license.
- Date of Issuance and Expiry: Include the date you obtained it or the expiration date, whichever is most relevant.
Example:
- Registered Nurse License #: XXXXXXXXXX, Expiration Date: Month YYYY
- Basic Life Support (BLS), Expiration Date: Month YYYY
Getting Started: A Template For Your Nursing Resume
Now that you have the format, here’s the template.
To land your dream role, it’s important to take the time to properly write and review your resume. Use keywords, proper formatting, and accurate information to ensure you catch a hiring manager’s eye.
Remember to keep your resume concise, focused, and tailored to the specific job you’re applying for.
See resume templates to increase 10X chances of getting job interviews and job offers.
About the author
Mollie Buttery
Writer | SEO | Articles & Blog Posts | Social Media
Mollie supports ULTMECHE through website growth, social media, SEO, and also other digital marketing tricks. Mollie has 10+ years experience of in house and freelance marketing experience in industries such as Finance, Law, SAAS, Automotive, Building Services, Commerce, and more. Some of her favorite writing topics consist of sports and finance. Mollie has been key to the growth of ULTMECHE’s SEO and digital marketing efforts.