That's A Great Resume!

How do you choose the best format? Some general guidelines:

If you have long tenure with a few organizations, a standard chronological resume is probably best. If you have served in consulting roles, have been frequently promoted or been in multiple positions in the same organization or different organizations a skills based resume is the way to go. If you have done research, worked in education or academia or have more than 25 years of leadership experience a Curriculum Vitae is probably the way to go.

How long is too long? The age old wisdom is that a resume must be one page. The problem with a “one pager” is that you risk leaving out pertinent details that are important to gain you an interview. Generally speaking we recommend enough detail to ensure you are clearly highlighting your accomplishments, but keep it to two or three pages. Give enough to gain their interest, but don’t give so much information that you don’t have anything to talk about during the interview.

Now that you have selected a template, it is time to work on content. Here are some questions to ask yourself to come up pertinent information for your resume.

Responsibilities

  • To whom do you report?
  • What are your quantifiable, specific responsibilities?
  • How many people do you oversee? What positions do they hold? Do you manage other managers/supervisors or educators?
  • If you oversee an inpatient unit, how many beds are on the unit? If you manage and Emergency Room, how many visits are you handling? If you manage the Perioperative department, how many suites and procedures? Try to be specific about the size and volume of your department
  • Have you grown the area you oversee? If you have, how much has it grown and over what time frame?
  • Do you manage a budget? How large is the budget and what positive financial results have you created?
  • Have you participated in any company wide committees or initiatives?

Achievements

  • What special tasks, projects or duties have you been assigned? What positive impact have you had on the outcome of that assignment?
  • How have your current and previous employers benefited above and beyond your normal job duties?
  • Did you receive any special honors or awards?Did you chair any committees? Lead any major organization wide initiatives? Be sure to state the successful outcome, and the impact it had on the organization.
  • What was your function on the team, or your contribution to winning? Your team's percentage of wins?

Education

Be sure to state your education that you have completed, including any programs you are pursuing now. The proper terminology is “Name of University, Master’s Degree in progress, anticipated completion date”.

You should also include and executive training programs, leadership certification programs etc.

Certifications

If you hold any pertinent certifications, be sure to include them. Avoid using acronyms, spell it out or use both terms. Example: CNOR, Certified Nurse Operating Room expires 2013

Memberships

If you are a member of any major trade organizations, be sure to include those as well and again, be sure to use the proper terminology. Example, Member of AORN, Association of Operation Room Nurses since 1985.

Downloads

Resume Starter Kit:  Chronologyical Based Resume Template

Resume Starter Kit:  Skills Based Resume Template

Back to top