Your Nursing Resume Is the Problem. You Are Qualified For That Nursing Job
I am honored to help nurses achieve their dream jobs. I am genuinely grateful to have the opportunity to place wonderful nurses in hospital settings so they can save lives.
Today I’d like to focus on the topic of graduate nurses (I will write to other professional levels in another post).
Student Nurses and New Grads, Listen Up. It Is Not YOU!
I often get on the phone with a new RN who is starting to question if she/he is ever going to get hired.
Rejection letter after rejection letter starts to chip away at your confidence. I understand.
Here are a few things I want you to remember as you navigate the job search landscape.
Everything is automated.
I am 97% sure that although you received a rejection letter, they never actually read your RN resume. So, while I understand that you are disappointed, it is not personal. Therefore, don’t second guess yourself. Capiche?
Have you heard about resume keywords?
Keywords are buzzwords that recruiters and hiring managers use to sort the resumes they want in the ‘yes’ pile.
Why?
Think about this: 500+ applicants for very competitive residency programs. How can they sift through them all? They cannot. They use keywords to sort through those applications.
Where do you ‘get yourself some’ keywords? Please review the job ad and lift some of the words they use to incorporate in the resume. Make sure it appears natural.
We can help you, too. Hire us to assist you.
If you want to try and do it yourself, I would recommend purchasing our Nursing Guide here.
Why Would It Be You When They Have Not Met You Yet?
Let’s say that your nursing resume got through to a hiring manager, and you still received a rejection letter. It is still not you.
They have not met you yet. All they can go on is what you wrote on your nursing resume, and perhaps you didn’t brag enough or write in a way that would set you apart from others.
It is not that you are not qualified, or that they didn’t like you. You simply failed to do a better job at communicating why they needed to meet you.
That’s all. This is fixable.
What If They Don’t Call You Back After You Interviewed?
Well, in this case, it does have to do a bit more with you. 🙂 But, I still would say that it has nothing to do with you not being qualified. It has everything to do with your interview strategy.
Let’s try this checklist to prove to you that you can do the job:
a. Did you graduate?
b. Did you earn your RN license?
c. Did you learn in your clinical rotations?
d. Have you done anything to ruin your reputation?
Well, then. There you have it.
Remember that your competition is not a seasoned nurse but other student nurses with similar training and experience as what you offer.
It is my experience that most nurses do not articulate why they would be a better choice or even a good choice. They simply answer questions during an interview as if the interviewer is taking your dinner order.
Don’t leave your fate up to others. Do everything you can to promote and market yourself above your competition.
You are not the only one that goes through this self-doubt. Even at the executive level, I help clients whose confidence can become a little shaken after a few rejection letters.
Stay focused. Stay positive. Believe in yourself.
Good luck!
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