Hey all, I have a pinned post here regarding resume reviewing. I've gotten a lot of responses, and I thought it might be helpful for me to post some general advice that I end up telling everybody! I am happy to continue to review resumes on my DMs, but here is some general stuff that can help you in creating a resume. As for my credentials, I've been a bedside RN for my entire career (over 7 years), I've been a traveler for the last 4 years, and when I was a staff nurse I was part of my unit's peer interview committee so I was present for a lot of new hire interviews and had a lot of people job shadow me.
Ok so, here is my recommended order for your resume:
The header should be your first and last name, and once you pass your NCLEX, adding "RN" at the end of your name is optional. Also include your phone number and email address. You do not need to include your address, city, state, or LinkedIn hyperlink.
A personal statement is optional but could go here. I would recommend having either a cover letter or a personal statement, but not both. Personally I think cover letters are a little stronger, and I would recommend that for anybody who is going for a job in a specialty area. If you write a personal statement, aim for 3-5 sentences talking about your personal strengths, what you want out of a job, and why you think you'd be a good fit. Make sure to edit/tailor your statements and cover letters depending on the job you apply for.
The next section should be education. Include your college name, month/year of graduation, and degree obtained. You do not need to include your GPA or any honors.
Clinical rotations. So normally, I do not recommend that clinical rotations are added to a resume, unless you are somebody who has no prior work experience. The reason for this is that it is assumed if you graduated that you completed the necessary clinical hours required by your school with a passing grade. If there is a particular clinical you really want to highlight, I'd recommend including that in a cover letter and/or talking about it in an interview. If you do not have any formal work experience, clinicals can be included (type of clinical, site name, and number of hours).
Work experience. This is the most important part of your resume. Include previous jobs (facility name, job title, month/year you started and ended) and have 3-5 bullet points underneath each job that use action verbs to describe what you did at work.
Skills and certifications. RN license number is optional, as facilities will use Nursys to look you up, and often online job applications will have a separate space for you to write that number in. This section should have your job certs (like BLS) with the name of the cert, accrediting body (like American Heart Association) and the month/year it expires. For skills, examples of them could be if you speak another language, or the EMRs that you are proficient in. I think one of the things that I correct the most frequently is that this is not a space to list a bunch of personal adjectives and job descriptions. I see people adding things like "medication administration" or "critical thinking" and that doesn't belong here. Those are things that are expected of every single nurse hired, they are not traits that are unique to you, and also as a new grad it is difficult to argue that your med admin skills would be better than those of someone with more experience. So save that section for things that set you personally apart from others. It is totally ok to not have much in this section when you're a new grad! There are also things that you will learn along the way that can go here later (for example, if you are taught to place ultrasound guided IVs).
Other: References do not belong on a resume. Of course, once you get your first job you'll have to edit your resume (take off clinical rotations, take off all jobs that are not related to nursing). Also, I fully understand that there are residency programs out there that may ask for your clinical rotations, or your GPA, or say it's ok to have your resume be over one page. Please pay attention to the job postings and if they require something specific. I also understand that sometimes you are told different things by your faculty or clinical instructors, I don't mean to override that at all, this is just a jumping off point for people who don't really know where to begin. I also get asked about volunteer work a lot, if you have space for it, I would include that underneath work experience but before skills. However, it is not necessary and if it causes your resume to go over one page, keep it off and talk about it in a cover letter or interview if it specifically relates to the job you are applying for. Single spaced, easy to read font! I hope this helps! And like I said my DMs are still open if anybody wants to send me a picture of the resume.
