How to Write a Successful Nurse Practitioner Resume

Your skills and training have put you at the forefront of patient care. Make sure your nurse practitioner resume supports your position as a healthcare leader.

Isn't it time you had a resume that reflects your increasing levels of responsibility and expanding clinical expertise? Follow our five resume writing tips, and you'll increase the odds of landing that nurse practitioner job you really want.

Tip #1: Put Important Information First

Focus the top third of your resume on attributes, qualifications, and experience that prove you are a great match to the role. This will differentiate you from other candidates applying for the same job. By default, most job seekers put their education and certifications at the top. But nearly all applicants meet these basic requirements. Move this information toward the bottom of your resume and use the prime real estate for your objective and summary.

• Objective: A short, targeted statement about your career goals, including the role and clinical environment you desire.
• Summary: A big picture statement of your combined experience from a variety of work and educational settings. For example, Acute-care certified neonatal nurse practitioner with over 5 years experience in a level 3 NICU.

Tip #2: Be Specific to the Job You're Applying For

Hiring managers review your resume with one question in mind: How closely does this align with our job description? Affirm their expectations by including the area of specialty, practice type, and patient population details from the description of the job you're applying for. Avoid vague terms like committed to excellent patient care, or a well-rounded team player. These phrases sound nice but don't demonstrate your expertise. Instead use facts, details, and numbers to quantify your work experience, such as: Attended 200 high-risk deliveries as NNP in a 45-bed Level III NICU.

Tip #3: Make Your Nurse Practitioner Resume Clear, Well Organized, and Scannable

The order and organization of your resume say a lot about your priorities as a candidate. Make sure that your resume is visually-appealing, easy to read, and focused. By doing this, you communicate that you are a detail-oriented professional who takes pride in your work. Use bullets, headings, and formatting to create a visual hierarchy of topics. Hiring managers are short on time, and prefer resumes they can quickly scan to find key information. Which leads to our next tip

Tip #4: Follow a Proven Nurse Practitioner Resume Template

With so much information available online, there's no reason to start writing your resume from scratch. Try a Google Images search for nurse practitioner resume sample and you may be surprised by the wide variety of nurse practitioner resumes that are publicly available. Compare several examples and assess them for their professionalism, comprehensiveness, and writing style. Take note of what works and doesn't work in each, then use this knowledge to make your own resume better.

Tip #5 Validate Your Presence Online

It's no secret that hiring managers and recruiters rely on social media sites to assess job seekers. According to an article by Ad Week, 92% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates, so odds are good that your resume reviewer will also look at your LinkedIn profile. Here are three ways to make sure that this second look will help instead of hurt you.

• Include a good-quality, professional head shot. Employers report that they are more likely to contact candidates who appear friendly, so be sure to smile.
• Ensure that your professional profile matches your resume. It should be up-to-date with your current position, education, and credentials. A hiring manager will notice any discrepancies between the resume you submit and your online profile, so verify that they match.
• Avoid listing any personal details on your LinkedIn page that would be taboo in an interview. This may include hobbies and interests that don't enhance your career, political or religious affiliations, and marital and health status.

We have Nurse Practitioner positions at some the country's leading hospitals. If you are a PNP or NP who is considering a change, take a look at some of these great job openings!

• Family Nurse Practitioners | Telehealth & Hospital
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners | Telehealth & Hospital
• Nurse Practitioners | Telehealth & Hospital | Bilingual
• Nurse Practitioners | Telehealth & Hospital | Interest Form

This article was originally published on Melnic by Jill Gilliland. Melnic was recently acquired by DirectShifts.