The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and American Association Colleges of Nursing developed a career central for new nurses. One useful resource is “The Complete Guide to Resume Writing for Nursing Students and Alumni” by Mary Somers from Johns Hopkins University. It’s full of practical tips that can take a good resume to an eye-catching, dazzling winner of one. Below are some excerpts:

• “The hiring manager has to see how your previous accomplishments are relevant to her needs.”(Make sure your resume clearly states all the great things you’ve done, not just a list of titles you’ve held.)

• “We recommend that you develop several resumes that are individually targeted to the positions you are seeking.” (This is an excellent tip for making your job search more strategic and thoughtful. Don’t send the same resume for a new grad program at a children’s hospital as you would for a public health nursing position.

• “Include all experience related to nursing in [Professional Experience] section, such as internships, part time nursing assistantships, research projects.” (Newly graduated nurses often have a lot of healthcare related experiences in and oout of school. Make sure to highlight it in the professional experience section.)

• “Avoid use of italics, underlined texts, graphics, and shading.” (This is important if a employer uses a scanning program which digitally looks for keywords in the resume. It’s an important reminder that the formatting of your resume is as important as what your resume says.)

• “Proofreed! Proofread! Proofread! Do not send our your resume if there are any typographical errors.” (You’ve worked too hard to get passed over just because of an embarassing mispelling.)