Worried about how to create a resume that will stand out? Use these super-easy resume tips for nurses (and there’s even a 3-pack of nurse resume templates too) to get this important task checked off of your to-do list.
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Nurse Resume Tips
I know how it feels to be that new nurse grad with tons of worry and anxiety. In this post, I’ll share tips to make the process not only easier, but feel 100% doable.
Break Up Creating Your Nurse Resume Into Smaller Steps
I know this tip is easier said than done, but don’t overthink it.
I felt the same way when I was a new nurse grad. I sat at my computer, dumbfounded, worried about fitting all my experience into one resume, and making sure it sounded professional and educated.
My best tip to help you get through this is to just break it down into sections and focus on one part every day. Spend just 10 minutes each day on a different section. Then, by the end of the week, you’ll have a mostly-complete resume.
Here are the main sections of a resume and how to break it up into smaller tasks.
- Resume Format – you can just use the templates I have to be able to instantly cross this one off of the list!
- Educational Experience
- Relevant Clinical Experience
- Job Experience
- Volunteer Experience
- Proofread it all
For the last tip, I suggest proofreading your resume every day. You will catch different errors and things in your resume that need to be changed if you look at it more often.
If you save all the proofreading to one day, then you might miss a few things that could be changed.
View Your Nurse Resume a Professional and Educational Highlight Reel
As you create your resume, think about what the person reading it will think.
Your resume should be an organized highlight reel of your professional and educational experience. Will the person in charge of hiring be able to glance at your resume and understand your experience easily, or is it hidden under too many words and explanations?
The person that is hiring you will probably have to sort through 50 other resumes. If yours is too difficult to understand or takes too long to get through, it could easily get moved to the bottom of the pile.
Both before and during the interview, your resume should be able to show precisely what you know and why you will be a valuable asset to their team.
Try to Keep Your Resume to One Page
This is such an important tip! Please, oh please, keep your resume to one page.
Ask yourself, “am I over-explaining the responsibilities of my job experience? Could I be more precise?”
It just takes way too long to read a wordy resume. I know, you want to make your job experience stand out, but hiring managers see through it. They already know what typical CNAs do.
Instead, highlight the experience that helps you stand out. Be concise and share times where you went above and beyond the typical expectations.
Do you have night shift experience? Did you shadow other areas of the hospital? List those.
Prioritize Your Nurse Resume To Be More Functional Than Pretty
Have you seen resumes online that make you drool because they are just that pretty? Don’t compare yours to them. You aren’t applying for a graphic design position.
It’s more important that you paint a precise picture of your job skills in an organized way.
The person in charge of hiring will appreciate reading a legible and clear resume more than one that is fancy with pretty little fonts.
In fact, you should make sure your resume is clear and easy to read. Use Arial font or Times New Roman, those are easier to read and scan.
Nursing Resume Template
There you have it! Those are my best nursing resume tips. Take it one thing at a time and try to make your resume clear and easy to read.
Just for you, I have a free nursing resume template! This is going to save you so much time and stress. It even won the approval of someone that reviews nursing resumes professionally. With this free template, you just have to put your name, experience, and other information in and it’s ready to go!
More Resources For Nurse Resumes and Interviews
- Nurse Interview Questions: Tips to Craft Optimal Responses
- Nursing Interview Questions: The Good, Bad and the Ugly
- 10 Steps to Getting Hired as a New Graduate Nurse
- What to Wear to a Nursing Interview
Are you done with the guess-work of applying and interviewing for nursing jobs?
Hired from FreshRN is a self-paced, online course for ambitious nurses who want to be the ideal candidate for their dream job. Amber Nibling, MSN RN-BC, and Kati Kleber, MSN RN have interviewed hundreds of nurse applicants and they give you the inside scoop of what interviewers are thinking. Learn everything you need to know to impress potential employers (and yourself) by learning what the hiring team expects from you, so you can not only meet, but exceed those expectations.
I love your podcast! thank you for helping me through nursing school and this transition I am bout to undertake!
Please post more podcast episodes soon!