How to Write a New Grad Nurse Resume that Gets You Hired
When you’ve just graduated, it’s important to have a great resume to get a nursing job. Use these resume examples and tips to create a nurse resume that works well.
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When you’ve just graduated, it’s important to have a great resume to get a nursing job. Use these resume examples and tips to create a nurse resume that works well.
Are you applying for a job as a registered nurse having just graduated from nursing school? You’ve no doubt acquired a lot of knowledge and skills. Now you need to translate that knowledge into a new grad nursing resume. Here’s how to create the best resume as you begin your nursing career.
Build my resumeRecruiters understand that recent graduates may not have a lot of work experience right out of the gate. Nursing graduates aren’t expected to have years of experience, but they are expected to have some experience and plenty of skills. Your resume writing process should incorporate your best skills and any relevant experience.
Build my resumeThe structure of any resume will partially depend on the resume format that you use to present it. There are three main resume formats to choose from: the chronological resume highlights work experience, the functional resume highlights skills and the combination resume highlights both. Your new grad nursing resume will likely be a combination or functional resume, depending on how much relevant experience you have.
This section is the resume header containing your contact information. List your full name, phone number, email address and any job networking profile links including your LinkedIn. If you hold a nursing title, you can put it next to your name like, “Hazel Storey, CNA”.
This section is 2-3 sentences that highlights the most important skills and talents you want to show off to a hiring manager. A hiring manager will read the resume summary first, so be sure to feature your skills and qualifications here!
Your nursing skills will make a great impression on a new graduate resume when you lack clinical experience. Make sure that the skills you list on your resume match the required skills on the specific job posting. Here are a few skills you might want to include:
Skills are extremely important in this resume template, so list your best hard skills and soft skills in this section of your resume.
Even if you just graduated, you can still complete the work experience section of your resume. Include your previous work history whether nursing related or not and list volunteer experience, academic work and internships. Although these may not have been paid jobs, they’re still considered relevant experience. List your experience in reverse chronological order, with the most recent experiences at the top.
As you would expect, your education section will likely include your nursing school information. Relevant memberships and certifications in the healthcare field can also go in this section. If you have any relevant coursework that you want to list, add it below your college experience.
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It is a good idea to include a cover letter with every job application. A cover letter allows you to explain to a recruiter why you’re the right person for a specific job. It also allows you to talk about affiliations and experiences you may not have been able to put in your resume. If you want to write a cover letter for your application, use the cover letter builder on the ResumeHelp website to do so.
There are many ways for you to write a new grad nursing resume when you don’t have a lot of experience in the field. The best substitute is to include other types of relevant experience such as volunteer work and academic work. These types of experiences can help bolster your resume when you’ve just gotten out of school.
Every time you apply to a new job, you’re going to want to use resume keywords to write your resume First, scan the job posting for resume keywords, such as specific skills and requirements. Then, match these keywords with your own skills and experiences, and feature them in your resume and job application. Using this approach you can tailor your resume toward each individual job posting.
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