Want to Work in Nursing? Top CV Tips to Get the Job

Nursing is a competitive and constantly growing field. The good news is, there is always a need for good nurses.

In order to get the nursing job you want, you will need a stand-out CV or resume. Check out this nurse resume example and our resume tips below.

Resume or CV?

When you apply to your next healthcare position, you will need a good resume or CV. Which document do you need, and what is the difference?

In this context, the terms “resume” and “CV” (curriculum vitae) are used interchangeably. Both are short documents used to outline your skills, experiences, and the course of your career. Each includes your contact information, work history, and education.

In North America, the resume is generally limited to one page in length. If you plan to apply for work abroad, use your resume as the base for creating a British-style CV. This document usually includes a bit more detail and expands to two pages.

If your nursing career takes you into academia (i.e., teaching nursing or doing research at a university), you may need an academic CV. While still following the basic layout of the resume, this document is much longer. It should outline every one of your past achievements.

For the rest of this article, we’ll focus on tips for creating an American-style nursing resume.

Top Nursing Resume Tips

So you’ve already put your resume together? Good! Now, use this checklist to make it perfect.

1. Continue Your Education

Healthcare best practices continue to evolve. New medical discoveries are made all the time, and new treatments are developed. It is important that you stay up-to-date to offer your patients the best possible care – and it also looks good on your resume.

Seek out ways to continue your education. Take classes and training programs. Attend medical conferences and seminars. Then, include these on your resume. You can do this in the education sections, within your work experience descriptions (if the training was on-the-job or work-required), or in a dedicated section (“Continuing Education” or “Conferences,” for example).

2. Out With the Old

Audit your resume regularly and remove any outdated information. For example, if you recently had a first aid refresher course, there is no need to list previous iterations of the same course. List only the most recent one.

Similarly, remove older experiences that could create a bias that your knowledge is not up-to-date, especially if you are well along in your career. A medical computing course from the 1980s, for example, might no longer be relevant, as technology has changed drastically in the intervening years.

3. Volunteer in Your Desired Field

Are you hoping to specialize in a certain field? In addition to receiving the needed training, consider volunteering in that field. This will provide you with valuable hands-on experience. Many organizations are in need of volunteer nurses. You can include this experience in a section entitled “Volunteering.”

4. Learn a Language

Translators and interpreters are in high demand in the medical field. They are needed when patients do not speak the primary language of the area in which they live.

When two candidates have equal qualifications but one is bilingual or multilingual, this is often enough to tip the scales in their favor.

5. Gather References – But Don’t Put Them on Your Resume

Have a list of references handy. It is especially helpful if someone who currently or formerly works/worked for the organization to which you are applying can vouch for you.

6. Use an Online Resume Builder

Your resume contains all the right information, but how does it look? Using online resume templates can take the stress out of resume design and leave you with a professional-looking document.

7. Proofread Your Resume

Proofreading is easy. It simply means re-reading your resume and looking for errors. But too many people skip this step.

Nurses need to demonstrate good communication skills. But spelling or grammatical errors on your resume can make it look like you are lacking in this area.

You can also use free software like Grammarly to double-check your editing.

8. Save Your Resume as a PDF

Saving your resume in the correct file format is one of the easiest things to do. It is also one of the easiest things to forget.

You should always save your resume in PDF format. Why is this important? When word processor documents are opened on a different device, they can lose their formatting or even become unreadable. That is not what you want for the resume you’ve worked so hard to create.

PDFs, on the other hand, will look the same no matter what. You can choose to save as a PDF when downloading your resume from an online resume building. If using Microsoft word, you can export the document as a PDF.

In Conclusion

You can land the nursing job you dream of. In the meantime, review the “nuts and bolts” of your resume while continuing to build and document your skills.