Summary: This article will address whether nurses should include achievements, qualifications, education, and experiences from outside the nursing field in their CVs. It will explore the value of showcasing a diverse skill set and how non-nursing experiences can highlight transferable skills such as leadership, communication, and problem-solving. The article will provide guidelines on what types of information to include, how to present it effectively, and the benefits of demonstrating a well-rounded professional background to potential employers in the healthcare industry.

Should Nurses Include Irrelevant Experience on Their Resume?

Nursing requires a specific set of transferable skills, as well as the hard skills acquired at nursing school. However, with there being no formal rules on previous experience or specialist qualifications to study nursing, some nurses might feel they lack relevant experience and education to list on their resume. In this article, we’ll discuss whether it’s beneficial to include irrelevant previous experience on a nursing CV, with tips on how candidates can make their resume as relevant as possible.

What Should Go on a Nursing Resume?

A nurse resume should focus on the candidate’s nursing qualifications and the transferable skills required to be successful in the profession. Nurses can show they’ve got the skills required for a career in nursing in various ways, including employment history, volunteer roles, hobbies and activities they took part in while studying. Most applications should include the following:

• Header with contact details: include first and last name, email address, phone number and location or address.
• Resume summary or objective: this section includes two or three sentences highlighting key qualifications, skills and experience, as well as why the candidate wants the role.
• Work experience: this is a list of work experience in reverse-chronological order, starting with the candidate’s current or most recent role. Under each job entry, they should list some bullet points explaining their responsibilities and achievements in the role.
• Education: in the education section, applicants should add details of their nursing qualifications and any other relevant educational achievements. If space allows, the section can include some bullet points outlining any areas of specialism, awards won or clubs and societies they were a member of while studying.
• Skills: candidates should consult the job description and add any key skills they have that match those listed. They should include a combination of hard skills and soft, transferable skills.

Should a Nursing Resume Include Irrelevant Experience?

It’s important to show a wide variety of skills when applying for nursing roles, and previous non-nursing jobs can help candidates showcase the depth and breadth of their experience. While completely irrelevant information probably won’t add much to a nurse’s job application, it’s worth remembering that almost any previous experience can be relevant in some way. It all depends on how the candidate presents it in their resume. Nurses should focus on the key skills required for nursing and use their previous jobs and other activities as a means of showcasing how they’ve acquired, and used, those transferable skills.

Nursing requires a diverse skill set, and there are many ways to gain the skills to make someone a successful nurse. As such, candidates shouldn’t discount any previous experience until they’ve reviewed the job description, summarized their own experience and compared the two to look for matching and relevant information. Candidates might have leadership experience, well-developed communication skills or a talent for problem-solving that they’ve built from previous, unrelated roles. All these can be useful for their application. Indeed, employers may value candidates who have a well-rounded work history and can show they’ve gained experience from various professions.

When writing the employment history section of a nurse’s resume, it’s important to think not just about day-to-day duties, but also achievements and the skills gained through doing different types of jobs that might be completely unrelated to nursing. Including non-nursing related qualifications can show a valuable commitment to learning and professional development, while other hobbies, interests and voluntary work can help to showcase the skills listed in the job description.

Tips for Making a Nurse Resume More Relevant

These quick tips can help to make any nursing resume more relevant to the role, no matter the experience levels of the applicant:

Review the job description

The first and most critical tip is to read the job description thoroughly. This gives candidates all the information they need to shape their resume. After digesting the information on the job description, candidates can better judge which information to include in their resume, and what’s less relevant.

Choose a suitable resume format

Nurses can make their resume more relevant by choosing a resume format to suit their experience and skills. While the traditional, reverse-chronological CV format is popular thanks to its focus on work history and career achievements, this isn’t necessarily the best choice for those lacking suitable work experience. If candidates have plenty of relevant skills and qualifications, but not much relevant work experience, a functional resume format might be more effective. This places the skills and education sections above work experience in the resume order.

Tailor the resume

Every job description is different, and so every resume should be tailored to match the exact specifications of the role. Candidates might draft a base resume with all their experience and skills on it, but it’s critical to adapt and edit this base version each time they send an application. Tailored resumes are always far more relevant to the job in question.

Consider additional sections

While the core resume sections are work experience, education and skills, additional optional sections can help candidates prove they have what it takes to become a nurse. Hobbies, interests, voluntary work or training courses undertaken can all showcase relevant skills and experience, even if they’re not directly related to nursing.

Use keywords to highlight your nursing skills

Almost any experience can be made more relevant to a job application by using keywords and strong action verbs that reflect the skills and experience in the job description. Candidates can enhance their chances of success by relating any experience or achievement back to the job description, using keywords that give them a better chance of passing the ATS stage, and being noticed by hiring managers.

The keywords and skills below can help to make a nursing resume more impactful, no matter how relevant the candidate’s previous experience appears. Assigning these keywords, skills and qualities to any previous experience will make it more relevant to a nursing application:

• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Empathy/compassion
• Decision-making
• Problem-solving
• Risk assessment/management
• Patience
• Accuracy/attention to detail
• Conflict resolution
• Teamwork
• Working under pressure
• Dedication/work ethic
• Flexibility/adaptability
• Time management/organization

Review nursing resume examples

Another way to make a resume more relevant for nursing applications is to review a nurse CV example, or if possible, look at several of them. These can help guide applicants towards the kinds of resumes employers tend to favor, and show them how to make their content as relevant as possible.