Setting yourself apart in nursing starts with a great resume. As a nurse, your resume serves as a place where you can showcase both your education and practical skills in an attractive way to employers. Since the resume is often the first thing an employer will read when browsing job applications, ensuring your nurse resume highlights you best is essential.

Want to grab the best travel nursing and per diem nursing positions? Check out our pro tips for crafting the best nurse resume to help you score job opportunities and set yourself apart from other applicants.

Takeaways

  • Include the most up-to-date information in your resume so gaps or incomplete information prevents you from getting the assignment you want.
  • Use important keywords to make your resume easy to scan and communicate your experience quicker than long-winded sentences.
  • Keep your resume as clean and organized as possible to make it easier for the reader to get the information they’re looking for.

The Importance of a Strong Resume in Nursing

Keeping your resume up-to-date is vital in nearly all job fields. However, a strong resume is essential for nurses and other allied health professionals to make an impression on potential employers. As things change and you learn new skills, you’ll want to make sure you continue to update your resume with the latest and most up-to-date information.

Not only does a strong nurse resume help you stand out in a sea of other applicants, but it’s essential to maintain your eligibility on Medely. Keeping your resume updated with accurate information ensures your profile is validated in our system, helping to pair you with the best travel nursing and per diem nursing opportunities.

Be As Specific As Possible

As you begin to craft your nursing resume, remember that it’s essential to be as specific as possible. You’ll want to tailor your resume toward the nursing position you’re interested in.

For example, if you’re interested in oncology nursing, your resume should reflect your skills and experience in that specific subset of nursing. Providing as much detail as possible can help you receive notifications for jobs best aligned with your career goals. Employers who review your resume seek practical skills and experience that can translate to their role.

Consider the Length of Your Resume

In today’s era, employers receive hundreds of online applications for job opportunities posted on several sources. With this in mind, you’ll want to be mindful of the length of your resume, as employers reviewing resumes may be short on time. A resume that is too lengthy may end up being ignored, whereas a resume that is too short may lack substance.

Aim to keep your resume as concise as possible without sacrificing key details. It may be helpful to have several versions of your resume, depending on which types of nursing positions you intend to apply for.

Include Keywords for Easy Scanning

As mentioned above, you’ll want to ensure your resume targets the type of position and organization you are applying for. Larger healthcare organizations and hospital systems are overwhelmed with applications, which means they may use resume software to help them narrow down applications.

Use keywords and buzzwords that employers may look for to ensure your nurse resume gets noticed. These keywords may vary depending on the type of position. To help you determine which keywords to use, review the job posting and required skills/education. Some words may indicate significance.

Don’t Skip Proofreading

While minor spelling and grammatical problems may seem insignificant, these small errors can reveal much about an applicant. Employers are looking for applicants that pay close attention to detail.

Before submitting your resume to any position, ensure you’ve triple-checked it for spelling, formatting, and grammatical errors. It is sometimes helpful to have another person review your resume, too.

Highlight Technology & Computer Skills

In today’s advanced healthcare system, staying up-to-date with the latest technology is crucial to many nursing jobs. As healthcare jobs continue to go digital, it’s crucial to showcase your experience with specific software or technologies used in nursing. Not only does this show employers that you already have technological skills, but it also shows a willingness to embrace technology and learn new abilities.

Highlight What Makes You Unique

While resumes were once cut and dried, today’s resumes leave more room for creativity and uniqueness. Consider your resume a chance to highlight what makes you unique or different. For instance, it could be worth including if you speak multiple languages. Other examples of additional information to include are:

  • Attendance at conferences or significant events
  • Hobbies that relate to your field
  • Courses you’ve taken
  • Volunteer experience

Other things that make you unique may also include your accomplishments. Consider adding any professional accomplishments you’ve achieved on your nursing resume, including hard and soft skills. Hard skills are those involved in day-to-day job functions, whereas soft skills highlight your personality, such as solid communication or the ability to work well in a group setting.

Choose Clean & Legible Formatting

Although using a fancy or creative resume format may be tempting, simple is best. Your selected formatting should be clear and professional, using font size and type that is easy to read. In section headers, using bold font can help draw the reader’s eye to the most critical information.

Many people also make the mistake of trying to fit too many words on a page by decreasing the margin size. Your resume should have some white space to ensure text is not too overwhelming for the reader.

Join the Medely Network for More Nursing Opportunities

Once you’ve crafted a great nursing resume, it’s time to start looking for jobs. If you want per diem nursing or travel nursing opportunities, join Medely today. Medely offers nurses and other allied health professionals great opportunities, providing more control over your work-life balance.Learn more about joining the Medely network to earn more and book per diem nursing assignments on your schedule. Once accepted, Medely will send you notifications tailored to your assignment preferences. We make it easy for you to find reliable nursing work that aligns wi