A resumé is a snapshot of your professional career. Most hiring managers will simply look it over, not necessarily reading it. Simply looking for something that will catch their eye. Word to the wise: two page resumés are a NO GO.
When I made my resumé, I essentially copied the format of sample resume the career center at my college had given me. I then researched other resumés online for other formats I can entwine. I used Microsoft Word to format my resumé, but you can definitely shop on Etsy or Pinterest, even some bloggers create beautiful resumé formats that you can plug your information into. To simply put it, your resumé should be simple and professionally looking. If you are in the design industry, it may be worth it to put some color and a headshot. In healthcare, a simple black and white is perfect.
Your resume should have 4 main body parts: Your name and contact information, your personal statement, your professional experience, and your certifications and skills.
[line]The Resumé [line]
Your name and contact information. Your name should be on top and in bold letters, so when hiring managers see your resumé, they know who they are reading about. Times New Roman or Cambria are clean and professional fonts you can use. Your contact information should be below it (address, phone number, and email address.) I usually put my contact information in a smaller font than my name. On my nursing resumé, I put my credentials after my name, i.e. “RN, BSN.” It just looks more professional and hospitals prefer BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) compared to ASN (Associate). I do to as a heads up to the hiring manager, to hopefully push my resumé forward in the pile.
Your personal statement. This replaces “the mission statement.” Usually there is a mission statement at the top of the resumé which communicates why you are sending in your resumé. It would say” Mission statement: To become a Registered Nurse on the Cardiac Floor of Seattle Grace Hospital.” Something along those line or “To become the editorial assistant on The Magnolia Journal.” It sets your intention clearly. I personally removed the mission statement and replaced it with my personal statement. In this section I talk about myself. Think of it as your elevator pitch, one minute to promote yourself. You have a few sentences to sell yourself to your future employer. Talk about 1) you and your professional experience, 2) highlight your qualities as a person and 3) emphasize your professional strengths. Use key adjectives!
Your professional experience. List your employers, recent job first. Also, put how long you were employed there, “month, year” – “month, year” will suffice. Under each employer, list your skill set. Essentially, your job duties that you performed. Any projects that you led or any awards that you won. Keep it simple, 4 bullet points is enough. Anything longer will be too long to read, especially if you have a lengthy work history.
Your certifications and skills. I placed my certifications /licenses under my personal statement and my skills at the bottom of the page. Under this section I included my education/degree. Underneath, I list my health certifications and the licenses I hold. At the bottom header of the page, I added my skills which are basically nursing skills with the inclusion of the charting softwares I have been trained in.
[line] Power Words [line]
Remember when I said that hiring managers will simply skim over before passing your resumé further along? Well, it’s important to catch their eye. Instead of using “managed” a million times or “lead” a few times, I have a list of words you can incorporate into your resumé to stand out from the rest.
Achieved // Advanced // Advised // Balanced // Collaborated // Developed // Exceeded // Implemented // Improved // Negotiated // Produced // Solved // Strengthened // Supervised // Utilized //
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Do you need help on your resumé ? Looking to freshen up your current resumé by adjusting content and moving things around? Contact me below and I will reach out to you! I know it is hard, stressful, so let me help you!
By the way, did you notice the hospitals I used? Kudos to you if you followed along!
