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Writing your resume: Graduate Entry students
This handout serves as a basic overview of the resume writing process and offers samples and tips. A resume for a graduate entry
student may look different than a traditional MS student because of the additional outside nursing experience you bring. Use this to
your advantage and highlight what skills you’ve gained in nursing and what you’ve gained from your previous education and career.
The College of Nursing Career Advisor offers appointments and workshops for reviewing resumes. Ask someone close to you, or
your classmates, to look over your resume. Most people find that someone else’s opinions help greatly since the resume is such a
personal document. There usually isn’t a right or wrong way to do a resume. What matters most is that your strengths and skills are
well showcased.
The truth about resumes:
Most recruiters do one of two things when looking at resumes:
1. Scan the resume into a computer program and do a keyword search (looking for specific terms or phrases that the employer
deems important),
2. Scan the resume visually, spending about 15 seconds.
Either way, the first look at the resume is not in depth. This frames how you should think about the document. It has to be
something that someone could look at quickly and garner quality information and it has to be put together well enough to
incorporate some of the keywords for which the recruiter might look.
Structure/Format:
Most graduate entry students’ resumes will have a minimum of four sections. Many will have more. The basic four are:
1. Contact Information
2. Education
3. Relevant (or nursing or clinical or advanced practice) Experience
4. Additional Experience (for your previous work experience)
Other optional sections you might choose can be: qualifications, objective, skills, certifications, professional organizations,
volunteer/community experience, and many more. Choose your section headings carefully since they jump out first to the reader.
Pay attention to your format. If you ever need to change something on your resume (which almost all people do), you’ll be happier
if you haven’t used a template. Templates make changing sections and content difficult. The bottom line is that the format should
be clean and organized; things should look consistent and line up well. Also, many grad entry resumes will be 2 pages long.
Presentation:
If you’re sending your resume in, you’ll want to print it on high quality resume paper. Neutral colors are best. Resume paper can be
found at any bookstore or office supply store. You don’t have to list every experience you’ve had; pick the most recent and the
most relevant.