Congratulations! You’ve completed your nursing degree, and now it’s time to reap the rewards. It’s time to venture out onto the path that will lead you to your next professional milestone—landing your dream job! Bursting at the seams with excitement, you update your résumé and prepare for the journey. The thing is, you are not the only one! You are one of hundreds of new grads who must now compete for those coveted positions. How will you creatively navigate the landscape in order to distinguish yourself from the competition? Let me sum it up in one word: MARKETING! The most crucial task is to figure out how to effectively sell yourself as the right candidate, for the right position, with the right employer. Your primary marketing tool in your box is your résumé. So, what’s in a quality résumé?
While working on a team that interviewed applicants for one of the most prestigious interventional radiology fellowship programs in the US, it was clear that the candidates were not going to land the positions based only upon academic accomplishments, because they were all good! We needed to find a way to filter out and catch the candidates who would be best suited to integrate into the culture of the team. Year after year, we met exceptionally qualified candidates based on their résumés, but our selections eventually had to be made based on the unique qualities of each applicant. We asked them about their history of service, hobbies, personal interests, and life experiences. We paid keen attention to what they shared, how they presented what they shared, and our sense of the value that the individuals could add to the team. Year after year, we built great teams that embodied effective communication, exceptional patient advocacy, and skilled clinicians.
It was a valuable opportunity for me to learn how decisions are made in candidate selection, and two key things became apparent to me:
- Résumés no longer stand alone as the tool that will lead a candidate from consideration to hearing the words “you’re hired.”
- The who matters way more than the what. It illuminated the shift in paradigm relative to the hiring process and candidate selection.
Years ago, job seekers invested a lot of time condensing their work experience into the recommended two pages, picking the right textured paper, and walking door to door in search of the next employment opportunity. We were taught that lengthier résumés would automatically be discarded or moved to the bottom of the pile, and the purpose was to present our academic achievements and pertinent professional histories. Adhering to that formula, we didn’t get to tell our story.
Now, preliminary candidate selection is largely done based on digital keyword matches. Furthermore, those interviews are often conducted largely through virtual rooms, far removed from the opportunity to “sell” yourself based upon appearance and charm. This digital world is our new reality, and even as we are still living through this life-altering pandemic, it is essential that we employ every option that will take us from virtual obscurity to being welcomed aboard. Your résumé is the vehicle!
So, what do I think is in a high-quality résumé?
- Details that reflect who you are holistically. Add depth to yourself by including information such as being a board member of your child’s school district or president of the Parent Teacher Association.
- Do not discount or omit experiences unrelated to nursing as these may set you apart. If you have volunteered for your church’s food pantry ministry or helped to build a home for the homeless, that represents community service. If you were the shift manager at your local coffee shop, that reflects leadership experience. If you served in the armed forces, that reflects experience with working as a part of a team. Nonclinical, unconventional life experiences may be the key to taking you out of the pack and placing you in the lead.
- Employ unconventional thinking and creative methods to paint the picture of who you are, not simply of what you have done. Tell them you were captain of your high school’s cheerleading squad and that you led the team to winning the state championship. Introduce them to the leader in you!
- Let your personality shine through your hobbies. If you are a singer, a musician, a part of a knitting or book club, a kayaker, or a skydiver, let them know. This may be the icebreaker you need to ace the interview. It highlights the depth of your personality to the interviewer and provides an opportunity for you to brag a bit about your unique characteristics.
- Awards and honors: See the value in highlighting accomplishments outside of nursing. Winning your church’s oratorical contest multiple times communicates to the potential employer that you are dedicated and committed to excellence, your communication skills are exceptional, and that you possess key qualities that may lead you into a leadership role in the future. Take the opportunity to sell yourself through a humble brag.
As you embark on this journey of landing that new job, I encourage you to take a deep, reflective dive inward. As you create your résumé, view it as your opportunity to shine. Carefully consider all that you have done throughout your life, and craft a document that will introduce the unique you to the reader. Paint the picture of who you are as an individual, what you have to offer as a potential employee, and the value you can bring to the unit and institution alike. Create a résumé that virtually walks you into the room, introduces you to the recruiter, and piques their interest in getting to know you on a deeper level. Aim to secure their willingness to invest in your professional development. Remember, hiring the right candidate is an investment in the quality of the institutional service infrastructure, and a great return on their investment is their ultimate goal.
Congratulations on your achievement, and I wish you much success as you begin your journey in nursing!
Dr. Tracy G. Smith, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, is a Nurse Practitioner at Long Island Anesthesiology Physicians, Mercy Hospital in Long Island, New York, USA. She is an active member of Sigma’s Epsilon Kappa Chapter.