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Blog spotlight: Rev up your resume

Nurse Leader Weekly, July 21, 2008

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This week, professional life coaching expert, Phyllis Quinlan, RNC, MS, CLNC, CEN, CCRN, shares some of her best resume revising tips:

I am frequently asked about the best way to revise a resume. Many nurses find it challenging to identify and present their accomplishments. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

• Begin to revise your resume today even if you are not planning a career move. This will allow you time to truly consider your strengths and accomplishments without the pressure of submitting something by a specific date.
• If you have practiced in a clinical setting for many years, outline your abilities in a manner that shows some range. For example, instead of documenting 10 years of experience in pediatrics, consider stating your experience in terms of "neonate to seventeen." This offers the reader more information about where you may fit into a potential position and is especially helpful when you are applying for a position outside the traditional settings.
• Develop the strongest generic resume you can and use a cover letter to outline your qualifications for a specific position.
• Your cover letter can also help to clarify your experience. Recruiters in acute care may not fully realize that your long-term care (LTC) experience is relevant to what they are presently seeking. A few sentences discussing the co-morbidity and clinical complexity of your LTC residents drives home the point that your skill set is more evenly matched with acute care then they may have realized.

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