One of the coolest parts of my job is the process of hiring a Nurse and then doing my part to help her achieve her personal and professional goals.  Some RNs look for scheduling flexibility to have more time with family, some want help getting in shape, some (read: most!) want more money.  Whatever the end goal, working through the details and building a plan with the RN is very rewarding. 

But this posting isn't some dopey soul-bearing narrative about work and passion.  Instead, it's about Resumes.  I review a number of them on any given day, and every single one is unique in its own right (that's good).  Unfortunately, some of them need a lot of help.  I've seen the extremely wordy and redundant ones that spill on to 4 pages and are redundant, the unstructured ones that don't position the RN's work appropriately, and resumes that simply don't include any of the most important information, like Licenses, Certifications or even contact information.

I'm sure I've been guilty of passing on some perfectly well-qualified, outstanding Nurses because their resume, for whatever reason, didn't grab me.  I know these same RNs are saying 'Why didn't that idiot offer me a job?  Can't he see I'm perfect for it?'



So that's what this is about:  building the optimal Nursing resume.  Hell, not for my sake.  For the Nurse's.

Business schools regularly teach their students how to craft a well-organized resume, but that class is nowhere to be found on a typical Nursing curriculum.  Articles abound on business-related websites that offer advice and tips, but RNs typically have no reason to search out such sites.  So it's not surprising at all that Nurse resumes vary wildly in structure and quality.  A strong resume always increases your chance of receiving a call-back from the employer(s) you're targeting.

Here's a neat video I found that is a great place to start.  It offers valuable tips and ideas that can apply to any Nursing resume and cover letter:

Monster.com has also published a great Nursing-specific Resume tip article that should be a big help.  Find that here.

Keep your resume fresh and incorporate some of these tips and you'll be sure to elicit a lot of response when you decide to look for a new position.

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