New Graduate Registered Nurse - RESUME
Hello fellow new graduate nurses or student nurses!
The first part of the nursing portfolio. A resume is a document that should quickly highlight some pertinent information about yourself such as work history, clinical rotations, awards, and extracurricular activities. This is a good way to start building your professional profile. Your resume is an outline of your professional nursing portfolio. In another post I will write about what I included in my professional portfolio.
Your Name Here, RN or Your Name Here, BSN, RN depending on your degree.
Street Number, Street Name, Apt/Suite Number (If Applicable), City, State, Zip Code
Telephone/Cell Phone Number
Put the number that is easily contacted, whether it is your house number or cell phone number. If you are hired for the job or contacted put the best way to contact you. You definitely want to be contacted for job offers!
Make sure your email is not one that you created when you were in 6th grade (i.e. [email protected]). Be mindful of the email address your use. Gmail, Yahoo, etc. provides free email services and create one that is professional and easily identifiable. Nobody wants to email [email protected] regarding a new graduate RN job, lol.
Name of School, Location, Start Date - Expected Graduation Date/Graduate Date, Major, Honors (Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude, if applicable), GPA
Ex: ACLS, PALS, BLS, First Aid Card, RN License, Fire and Life Safety Card, Driver’s License/ID Card, Respirator Fit Testing, EKG, Stroke Certification, ETC.
There are so many certifications out there, make sure to keep track of them all!
Location, Job Title, Start Date-End Date, Job Responsibilities
Location, Hours, Population, Unit, Start Date-End Date
Name of Award, Date Presented/Given
Extracurricular Activities
Organization, Position (If applicable) Date Performed
Professional Presentations
Title of Work, Date Performed
There is this unspoken rule about how resumes should be no longer than 2 pages. When the resume is longer than 2 pages it can be hard to captivate the audience (HR, managers, supervisors, etc). They may become bored and will no longer want to continue reading, which is NOT what we want. Your resume should be short enough to captivate the audience, but have pertinent information that is required of the institution.
Use a font that is easily read. I personally always use Times New Roman, but I have seen other fonts used. What is most important is that the audience can easily READ the resume. It is pointless to use a font that cannot be read.
I would suggest using higher quality paper such as 28 lb paper or resume paper. I personally believe generic copy paper is too thin. If I want to show professionalism and show how important this job is to me I would use a higher quality paper.
I updated by resume whenever an event happened: rotation end, new job, job resignation, presentation, joined an organization, received an award, etc. Main point: UPDATE OFTEN. We are only human and tend to forget things. The best way to keep a more detailed document is to update as soon as it happens.
I have a LinkedIn account and it used as an online resume. I have all the same items on my resume in my LinkedIn profile. Employers do search up your name on Linked In and why not update it so they have a better picture of your accomplishments, awards, and work history? Another way to impress prospective employers. (:
