On a daily basis, our team probably reads through about 50+ CVs , from nurses, carers, support works and allied health professionals. About 10% of the CVs we read are ready to be presented to our client. The other 90% need to be rewritten, not because the candidate is not the right candidate for the vacancies advertised with our clients but because the CV is poorly written or formatted.
WHAT TO AVOID IN YOUR CV
- Cutting and pasting the job description for your current job into your duties and responsibilities : Employers do not want to see this and it makes you look lazy.
- Writing a CV that is more than 3 pages long. 2 pages is ideal but at a push 3 is acceptable. If you are struggling to be concise in your CV and employer may see this as a character flaw. A good nurse is busy so being concise is a much need quality.
WHAT YOU NEED TO INCLUDE
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Use spellcheck, so many people misspell clinical terminology in their CVs and this looks unprofessional
- When listing your duties and responsibilities make sure to use 'ACTION' words, like Identified, created, initiated. Each bullet point should illustrate a specific ability, skills, expertise that you have so avoid generic statements like " Medication Management" or " Assisting doctors on their rounds" and instead add in tangible information relating the numbers of patients you assist the doctor with on their rounds, how you assist the doctor and the various categories of medication you administer for example.
-Always remember especially if you are a nurse, that the department within which you have been working, will have specific skills unique to that department. It is important that these skills are captured in your CV. Perhaps you work in ICU and therefore your have experience with certain equipment that only an ICU nurse would have? Our if you have worked in residential nursing care, you will have a broader working knowledge of different types of dementia so make these distinctions on your CV.
- A good CV should have the following headings
Name
Address, email, telephone number
NMBI/NMC number or Registration Status
University/College qualification- years when you studied (Month, Year - Month , Year), location and name of institution
No need to include your high school certificate or information
Work/Employment History
Most recent job first and then in reverse order
Each job you need to mention- Location, Month, Year- Month, Year , Nurse/Carer/ Patient/Resident ratio
1 liner describing the employer e.g. A 350 bedded multi-speciality , city centre hospital, JCI accredited with award winning CTV and Oncology Services
Resident or patient cases- a bullet point list
Specific therapies your specialise in - again a bullet point list for example Tracheostomy Care, Bladder catheterisation and Ryle's tube insertion
Equipment used- a bullet point list of specialist equipment you use regularly in your job
List of certificates/training you have completed at work
English language Certificate (if relevant to your application)
REMEMBER, BE CONCISE, BE RELEVANT TO THE JOB YOU ARE APPLYING FOR, AND MOST OF ALL BE 100% ACCURATE WITH ALL INFORMATION
If you are struggling to secure an interview or taking the next step in your nursing or healthcare career journey, please do get in touch at info@healthconex.com
