Are you ready to upgrade your resume and find your dream travel nursing job?
Every resume includes past employment and formal education, but a stellar travel nurse resume includes much more. Travel nurse resumes need updating almost every 13 weeks. That’s why you have to capture the depth and value of your travel nurse experience for your next job search.
With that, we have prepared a definitive guide to help you create an outstanding travel nurse resume.
WHAT MAKES A STRONG TRAVEL NURSE RESUME
To understand how to write an outstanding resume, you have to know how your resume is used in the application process. What are the things that hiring managers look for in a resume?
You need to make sure that you personalize your resume according to your strengths and unique skill set. Apart from that, you need to follow visuals and templates that are appealing to your recruiters and hiring managers.
So, how do you begin building an outstanding travel nurse resume? Here are a few tips to get you started!
1. SIMPLICITY IN DESIGN
We want to emphasize the importance of simplicity in design. You want to avoid making things too complex. Keep it simple. A good rule of thumb is to add only the most important details, including your travel nursing experiences, skillset, and personal details. That means using standard section titles, like “summary,” “work experience,” and “education.”
Anticipate that at some point, your resume will go through an applicant tracking system (ATS).
Some general tips for maximizing ATS-friendliness include:
Stay away from fancy headers or footers,
Avoid using special fonts. Use Arial or Times New Roman,
Don’t use too many pictures, videos, graphs, or any other visuals, and
Keep it black and white (no fancy font colors or backgrounds).
2. CUSTOMIZE YOUR SUMMARY
Every travel nurse position is unique. Your resume should be just as unique! It takes extra effort to create an outstanding travel nurse resume, so make sure you take the time to start writing an authentic summary.
A summary describes what you can do for your future employer and describes what opportunities you hope your future employer will provide for you. You need to tailor your resume to each of your positions, skills, and strengths. Highlight the specialties that you’re proficient in, your years of clinical experience in your field, and skills you possess that are most pertinent to the position you’re applying for.
It’s also best to look for buzzwords used by recruiters and agencies. Outline the qualities and skills they seek. Customize your summary with buzzwords that are going to be attractive to your clients.
toga cap,books,stethoscope,medical
3. INCLUDE ALL LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS
The best thing you can do when it comes to your licenses and certifications is to list every last one. Include a complete title of license or certification. Your licenses and certifications reflect your expertise and reliability as a healthcare provider.
Make sure to list the full name of the certifying body and include the license certification number when applicable. List the date you obtained the license or certification and its expiration date. Be sure to use the correct significations and state if it’s a compact nursing license.
Every bit of this important information is vital to making sure you have a stellar resume. You want your recruiter and hiring managers to see everything listed down on your resume with a single look.
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4. USE A SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECKER
Creating an outstanding travel nurse resume means you need to make sure that it’s flawless and free of any grammatical or spelling errors.
Your clients’ ATS may not just knock you for a few mistakes, it may automatically dismiss a resume with spelling or grammar errors. That’s why paying close attention to these small details will set you up for success when you’re creating your travel nurse resume.
You can use tools like RezScore, LiveCareer, or Resume-Check to get instant feedback on your work. You can also use the Grammarly Chrome extension to check your grammar.
5. WATCH YOUR CHOICE OF WORDS
It’s important that you carefully choose your words when writing your resume. Choose words that spark momentum.
You may also be surprised to learn that swapping certain words on your resume can exponentially increase your odds of landing an interview. Consider altering a few sentences to get your message across clearly. Instead of saying: “Was the leader of a team of three NICU nurses.” try simplifying the message by saying: “Supervised a team of three NICU nurses.”
Focusing on action words is a simple way you can make your resume effective. Think about the powerful feeling that words like “executed,” “spearheaded,” and “managed” convey. Words are simple, but when used the right way, they can make an impact.
6. HIGHLIGHT THE “EXTRAS”
Your client and recruiter must know how well you fit into their travel nursing position just by looking at your resume. Don’t forget to include extra pieces of information that will make your application stand out from the rest.
It’s beneficial to share some of your accomplishments that can link achievements to your capacity to provide higher-quality care for your patients. This can be a good reference for hospitals to see if you’re qualified enough to work as a nurse for them.
A few examples are:
If you’ve done clinical or scientific research,
Participating in medical missions abroad or even community health events near home,
Honors, awards, and recognitions, and
References from managers, supervisors, industry leaders.
This way, you give them something they won’t think twice about.
TAKE THE NEXT STEP WITH CORRATEL
A travel nurse resume is just the start of a successful and impactful nursing journey. It takes a lot of effort to create an outstanding resume, which is why we help you make yours!
Becoming a travel nurse opens you to a lot of possibilities. We want to help you craft your ideal nursing career, starting with your resume. Let’s start your journey today. Talk with us and learn how we can help you. Reach me at [email protected]
