Nurses today enjoy excellent career prospects with high job demand and nursing jobs opening up in many specialties. But nursing jobs tend to blossom in regions and if your region isn’t one of them, you might not be feeling a lot of job security.
If your position seems a little perilous, what’s your best plan? Always be prepared. Even if rumors of layoffs and reduced hours are just rumors, the stress they inspire in a staff cannot be understated. If you’re one of those nurses, the daily worry about if you’ll have a job or even enough hours to keep you gainfully employed is exhausting and can negatively impact your job performance.
Throughout your career, the best thing you can ever do is be ready for a job change. And that’s not always because you expect something bad to happen. You could also have an unexpected and fantastic job opportunity arise. In that case, you shouldn’t have to scramble to get your resume and your LinkedIn profile updated while also preparing for an interview panel.
Here’s how to always be ready for a change – expected or not.
1.Update Your Resume, Even If You’re Not Job Hunting
Keeping your resume and your LinkedIn pages updated and current is just smart business practice. You cannot predict what’s going to happen next, so you want to be ready for anything. And if you update everything as you go, you won’t forget a project or a skill that could be important enough to trigger an interview request.
2. Keep Learning
You might have the same job you had 10 years ago, but your skill set is different. With new technology, additional seminars, and on-the-job training, you have learned more. As a nurse, if your skills aren’t constantly refreshed, you’re falling behind. Don’t let that happen. Actively pursue an additional degree, even if it is one class at a time. Go for certifications in your specialty or a specialty you’d like to move into. Being ready for any opportunity increases your chances of success.
3. Network Every Chance You Get
When you’re actively looking for a job, networking will help you. The more networking you do, the more chances you’ll have to find a good match. But even if you aren’t looking, keeping up with others in the industry keeps your name, skills, and capabilities front and center. Someone might ask you to join a committee or to help spearhead a new campaign. Saying yes and working with peers opens up your nursing career.
4. Stay on Your Toes
Don’t get lazy when you aren’t directly working with patients and on patient care. When you’re at work or at an event with people from work, keep your professional attitude. Be someone who can make excellent and authentic small talk with everyone—from the person who delivers the packages to your floor to the CNO—and then do it.
5. Boost Other Nurses
Be the person who champions nurses and helps others understand all the things nurses do. Spread the word about nursing as a career. Enthusiasm is contagious and others will join you. You might not get a job offer, but you’ll get a great reputation as someone who is a positive force in the world of nursing.
So whether you’re wondering about layoffs or happy in your job, there are some things you should do as routine career maintenance. Being prepared helps your career whether you’re just starting out or 40 years in. And if you are worried about a career change, you’ll know you’re ready for anything.
Many people believe their resume is the only part of an application that human resources focuses on. Although a properly crafted resume can make or break an applicant, the cover letter really makes you stand out.
Cover letters serve an important purpose for the job hunter. The cover letter shows the employer that you are the best candidate for the job. There are specific aspects you need to include in your cover letter to catch the eye of the hiring manager.
Incorporate these tips in your next cover letter to grab the attention of your future employer!
Address the letter to the hiring manager.
Use some researching skills to find out the name of the hiring manager (or recruiter) for the position you are applying for. This will make your application stand out since you have actually gone through the trouble of obtaining this information. No one likes the generic, “To Whom It May Concern” salutation.
Use the company name at least twice in the body of your letter.
Your opening statement should say something like “I am inquiring about the (insert job position here) at (company name). You can also mention the company name later in the letter when you explain why you would be the best candidate for the job.
Highlight your most pertinent experience related to the job you are applying for.
Customize each cover letter for each job you apply to. This may mean highlighting your ICU experience when applying to an outpatient infusion center or emphasizing your charge nurse experience for a management position.
Show enthusiasm.
Employers love to hire people who show enthusiasm for a position. You can show enthusiasm by the tone of your cover letter. Don’t make the cover letter generic for every job you apply for. Show your interest by researching the company and mentioning something about them in your cover letter. This could be something like, “I know XYZ company values empowering individuals to improve their health, and I do too. In a past position I have served as a wellness nurse educating people on making positive changes in their life.”
Close strong.
After you have convinced the hiring manager why you are the best candidate for the job you need a call to action to end the letter. Don’t be afraid to say you are looking forward to hearing from them about the position. You could use the line, “I am confident I can be a valuable asset to XYZ company, and I look forward to discussing my qualifications and experience with you in greater depth.”
In addition to working as a RN, Nachole Johnson is a freelance copywriter and an author with her first book, You’re a Nurse and Want to Start Your Own Business? The Complete Guide, available on Amazon. Visit her ReNursing blog at www.renursing.com for more ideas on how to reinvent your career.
As the year comes to an end many people start to evaluate their goals for the upcoming New Year. Typical resolutions like losing weight, saving money, and trying a new hobby prevail, but what if your resolution is to find a new career?
When one applies to a new job they usually submit a resume. As an applicant, you want to put your best foot forward. What may have worked for you 5 years ago may not work for the competitive job market now. A resume revamp is in order if you plan on changing specialties, the content is outdated, or you are a recent graduate.
My recent graduation from a Family Nurse Practitioner program prompted the need for a resume revamp. As a nurse with over 12 years of experience my resume was nearly 4 pages long and it didn’t embody all the qualities recruiters look for in an applicant.
What qualities do recruiters look for in a resume?
Four key aspects:
Concise: Keep it to 1-page; 2 if you have extensive experience. Obviously my old resume wasn’t concise. I’m surprised I’ve gotten so much attention in the past with a resume that long. We’ll see how much of a response I get from a 1-page resume.
Clear: Make sure your resume format isn’t cluttered and hard for a recruiter to read. If it is, it will surely be tossed in the trash no matter how qualified you are for the job. Also be on the look out for poor grammar and typos. This is another reason good applicants get overlooked for a job.
Consistent: Keep abbreviations contained within your resume consistent and make sure they are universally understood. Keep all fonts within the resume the same and no smaller than 11 point for easy readability.
Keywords: Many resumes submitted online go through a scanner, weeding those out that don’t have specific keywords for the position. This means your resume gets lost in cyber world before any human could lay eyes on it. Keyword examples for a nursing resume include: Registered Nurse (RN); health care; intensive care; admit; medication administration.
Use these tips to revamp your resume for maximal results…your new career in the New Year! Stay tuned for next week’s installment reviewing the most common resume mistakes people make.
In addition to working as a RN, Nachole Johnson is a freelance copywriter and an author with her first book, You’re a Nurse and Want to Start Your Own Business? The Complete Guide, available on Amazon. Visit her ReNursing blog at http://renursing.wordpress.com.
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