Notes of a Résumé Writer – Critique One – Nursing Résumé
View K's resume
View Sample Health Care Resume
Dear Sam: I am a nurse who has relocated to the area. I would like to have you critique my résumé in order to help me find a job I love…one that involves helping others. Thank you. – K in Columbus
Dear K: I appreciate your response to our “Notes of a Résumé Writer” series that will be appearing all month long, and for your willingness to have your résumé critiqued to not only help you identify ways to improve its effectiveness, but hopefully provide guidance to others with similar backgrounds. Let’s cover some key areas in which you can dramatically improve your résumé.
Aesthetics & Formatting
I am a big fan of deploying creativity when appropriate for a client’s career objective and the intended audience. As a nurse, you can be more creative in your design, possibly even incorporating imagery, or at the very least highlighting such areas as your recent “Employee of the Year” award much more prominently. Additionally, it is not a good idea to have your entire résumé written in all caps. While this is fine for headings, it is inappropriate for the body of your résumé and makes it challenging to read. You also have to ensure you are being consistent in your formatting selections. Currently I see bullets of different sizes, punctuation used incorrectly, and numerous spelling mistakes. If executed well, these areas can reinforce your professionalism, attention to detail, and organizational skills – all vital elements to your candidacy as a healthcare professional.
Qualifications Summary
You really have some great differentiating factors to highlight, but being that you begin your résumé telling the hiring manager what you want instead of what you can do for them, unfortunately these areas are buried within your professional experience section. A qualifications summary provides the reader with a critical overview of your candidacy, your key qualifications, how you have contributed “value” in the past, and generally all the aspects of what you can offer the employer that they need to know before completing the screening process. Given the screening process is as limited as 7 seconds, you can see why it is imperative you sell what you can do vs. what you want. Omit your objective statement entirely and replace with a summary of who you are and what you can offer. Highlight areas such as your experience developing new programs, leading entire teams, coordinating resource utilization, establishing Best Practices, assisting in the design of a new lab, and developing patient education and nursing training materials. These are all areas that position you as a highly skilled, experienced, and seasoned nursing professional who can offer more to an employer than solely direct patient care.
Professional Experience
For the amount of experience you are presenting, there just isn’t enough content to really explore your roles fully and give them the focus they deserve on paper. Presenting back to 1973 typically is never a good idea, unless there is something specific from that era that really enhances (not just supports) your candidacy. In your case, I believe you could begin your résumé with your 1987-1990 experience, thereby also eliminating the employment gap from 1983 to 1987. Your earlier experiences, if you so choose, can be bylined, meaning they can be mentioned without dates in a statement such as, “Additional experience as a Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Supervisor and as a Critical Care Nurse.” By doing this you are presenting the foundation of your career, while avoiding unnecessarily aging your candidacy.
By exploring your roles more fully, and by focusing on more recent engagements, you will also have room to really highlight your achievements. Achievements are how you tell a hiring manager that you have gone above and beyond your job description to add value to your role and employer. These also predict your ability to perform in your next professional engagement, and serve to differentiate your candidacy in the competitive marketplace. I would suggest beginning each of your employment sections with a brief paragraph overview of what you did in that role, and then add a subheading identifying “Selected Contributions.” Next, explore your achievements thoroughly under this heading for each employer, being sure to present the result of your effort(s) first, followed by some of the key actions you took to achieve that outcome. In other words, when I read a statement on your résumé such as, “Established c.h.a.t. program for the speech impaired resident using lap-top computer” my first thoughts are, “how did this positively impact the resident…what results were achieved…what was involved in establishing this program.” With so many unanswered questions, the reader will tend to lose interest, as they are unable to determine your “value.” While I am not proposing using your résumé as an opportunity to write a biography, you do need to explore your background fully enough to pique the reader’s interest, while also affording for further explanation during a personal interview.
Education
My only suggestion in this area is to be sure to highlight your degree in your qualifications summary in addition to the education section. While it is assumed you possess your RN license, it is not assumed you have a degree, and this will serve to further differentiate your candidacy.
The great news is you have a fantastic career to present to a potential employer. There are many opportunities to improve the appearance and effectiveness of your résumé to better engage the reader, differentiate your candidacy, and showcase the “value” you offer. By implementing the suggested changes, I am confident you will better highlight your background and answer the hiring manager’s question, “Why should I interview you?” All the best!
To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please email her at dearsam@ladybug-design.com.
If you would like Dear Sam's firm to write your résumé, please visit www.ladybug-design.com or call 614-570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG.
Samantha is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer with a graduate degree in Marketing and Communication, and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing and interview coaching firm.
View Sample Health Care Resume
Dear Sam: I am a nurse who has relocated to the area. I would like to have you critique my résumé in order to help me find a job I love…one that involves helping others. Thank you. – K in Columbus
Dear K: I appreciate your response to our “Notes of a Résumé Writer” series that will be appearing all month long, and for your willingness to have your résumé critiqued to not only help you identify ways to improve its effectiveness, but hopefully provide guidance to others with similar backgrounds. Let’s cover some key areas in which you can dramatically improve your résumé.
Aesthetics & Formatting
I am a big fan of deploying creativity when appropriate for a client’s career objective and the intended audience. As a nurse, you can be more creative in your design, possibly even incorporating imagery, or at the very least highlighting such areas as your recent “Employee of the Year” award much more prominently. Additionally, it is not a good idea to have your entire résumé written in all caps. While this is fine for headings, it is inappropriate for the body of your résumé and makes it challenging to read. You also have to ensure you are being consistent in your formatting selections. Currently I see bullets of different sizes, punctuation used incorrectly, and numerous spelling mistakes. If executed well, these areas can reinforce your professionalism, attention to detail, and organizational skills – all vital elements to your candidacy as a healthcare professional.
Qualifications Summary
You really have some great differentiating factors to highlight, but being that you begin your résumé telling the hiring manager what you want instead of what you can do for them, unfortunately these areas are buried within your professional experience section. A qualifications summary provides the reader with a critical overview of your candidacy, your key qualifications, how you have contributed “value” in the past, and generally all the aspects of what you can offer the employer that they need to know before completing the screening process. Given the screening process is as limited as 7 seconds, you can see why it is imperative you sell what you can do vs. what you want. Omit your objective statement entirely and replace with a summary of who you are and what you can offer. Highlight areas such as your experience developing new programs, leading entire teams, coordinating resource utilization, establishing Best Practices, assisting in the design of a new lab, and developing patient education and nursing training materials. These are all areas that position you as a highly skilled, experienced, and seasoned nursing professional who can offer more to an employer than solely direct patient care.
Professional Experience
For the amount of experience you are presenting, there just isn’t enough content to really explore your roles fully and give them the focus they deserve on paper. Presenting back to 1973 typically is never a good idea, unless there is something specific from that era that really enhances (not just supports) your candidacy. In your case, I believe you could begin your résumé with your 1987-1990 experience, thereby also eliminating the employment gap from 1983 to 1987. Your earlier experiences, if you so choose, can be bylined, meaning they can be mentioned without dates in a statement such as, “Additional experience as a Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory Supervisor and as a Critical Care Nurse.” By doing this you are presenting the foundation of your career, while avoiding unnecessarily aging your candidacy.
By exploring your roles more fully, and by focusing on more recent engagements, you will also have room to really highlight your achievements. Achievements are how you tell a hiring manager that you have gone above and beyond your job description to add value to your role and employer. These also predict your ability to perform in your next professional engagement, and serve to differentiate your candidacy in the competitive marketplace. I would suggest beginning each of your employment sections with a brief paragraph overview of what you did in that role, and then add a subheading identifying “Selected Contributions.” Next, explore your achievements thoroughly under this heading for each employer, being sure to present the result of your effort(s) first, followed by some of the key actions you took to achieve that outcome. In other words, when I read a statement on your résumé such as, “Established c.h.a.t. program for the speech impaired resident using lap-top computer” my first thoughts are, “how did this positively impact the resident…what results were achieved…what was involved in establishing this program.” With so many unanswered questions, the reader will tend to lose interest, as they are unable to determine your “value.” While I am not proposing using your résumé as an opportunity to write a biography, you do need to explore your background fully enough to pique the reader’s interest, while also affording for further explanation during a personal interview.
Education
My only suggestion in this area is to be sure to highlight your degree in your qualifications summary in addition to the education section. While it is assumed you possess your RN license, it is not assumed you have a degree, and this will serve to further differentiate your candidacy.
The great news is you have a fantastic career to present to a potential employer. There are many opportunities to improve the appearance and effectiveness of your résumé to better engage the reader, differentiate your candidacy, and showcase the “value” you offer. By implementing the suggested changes, I am confident you will better highlight your background and answer the hiring manager’s question, “Why should I interview you?” All the best!
To send your question to Dear Sam for possible publication, please email her at dearsam@ladybug-design.com.
If you would like Dear Sam's firm to write your résumé, please visit www.ladybug-design.com or call 614-570-3442 or 1-888-9-LADYBUG.
Samantha is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer with a graduate degree in Marketing and Communication, and owner of Ladybug Design, a full-service résumé writing and interview coaching firm.
posted by Dear Sam at Sunday, May 06, 2007
