A Nurse's Winning Resume

Writing a winning nursing resume is a great way to start searching for the right nursing job. Make your resume stand out above the rest. Differentiate yourself from other nurses and let employers know you have the training, education, skills, and qualifications they're looking for.

The first step in writing a winning resume is to use the best descriptions possible to represent your previous roles and responsibilities. Make effective use of "power words" in your resume. For example: advanced, operate, developed, manage, generate, establish, instructed, supervised and evaluated are "power words" that best describe your accomplishments. Using these words are far more effective than words like: responsible for, in charge of, kept up with, told the doctor, over others, and was part of a team. Using power words allows you to highlight your accomplishments in the most powerful way.

When writing your resume using power words, accent the positive, leave off the negative and irrelevant points. Be clear and concise while highlighting your nursing accomplishments from each position. If you are just beginning your nursing career, highlight your training, internship and any volunteer positions you have held. Experiment with wording and layout to see what format best pinpoints your significant contributions and unique nursing skills. Focus on powerful, meaningful words and descriptions by using bullets with short sentences as appose to lengthy paragraphs.

Another key idea is to individualize your resume to each potential position and employer. This is a key step for landing that nursing interview. In other words, match your resume to the job description. You do this by applying key words used in the job ad to structure the outline of your resume as well as the cover letter. More and more frequently, organizations are using software to briefly scan resumes on computers. This software focuses on key words for specific positions. The closer your resume matches the job description to the position, by using key words, the more likely your resume will be seen by an HR executive.

Last, but not least, you may ask a person who knows your accomplishments to review your resume, as it can be challenging to cover all the dynamics of your nursing skills and experiences. The goal of your resume is to make your first impression the best one. Whether you are searching for a Registered Nursing position, Nurse Practitioner or your specific Nursing Specialty, you want to find the right rewarding job. By writing a winning resume, you will expand your chances of landing that nursing interview.