Writing a CV can be difficult at the best of times, but if you’re applying for your first ever nursing job it can be even trickier to know where to start.
If you're a student or newly qualified nurse looking for advice on how to make your CV stand out from the crowd, the RCN's Career Service can help.
Your first nursing CV
Many students and newly qualified nurses worry that they won’t have adequate experience or skills to impress employers and compete with rival candidates.
First of all, you have got experience, and lots of it. Think about all you’ve learnt at university through your lectures, assignments, research, presentations, studying and your dissertation. Then think about all the knowledge gained during your variety of placements, the coaching and support you received from your colleagues and mentors, and the skills, competencies, and lessons learnt first-hand whilst caring for your patients. What’s more, all this knowledge is fresh in your mind and ready to be put into practice.
You will bring a positive and enthusiastic approach, along with passion, determination and an eagerness to learn; an asset to any employer.
There are so many things you could decide to talk about, highlight and showcase within your CV. Let's look at some of them:Placements
- What skills did you learn?
- What competences did you complete?
- What knowledge and experience did you gain?
- What did you excel at or what did you feel good at?
- What did you enjoy the most or what made you feel the most passionate?
- Think of a time when you got good feedback from colleagues, your mentor, or patients.
Academic and university related achievements / skills
- Were there any assignments you got high marks on?
- Did you complete any modules, assignments or projects that are relevant to the target job or clinical area?
- Did you complete any research or dissertation relevant to your target job?
- Did you write for the university newsletter or write or contribute to any articles or published works?
- Did you act as a student representative or lead/sit on any university social groups?
Work experience
- What skills / experience / knowledge have you acquired in any previous jobs? (Healthcare or non healthcare)
- Think about transferable skills gained in non healthcare roles that could be relevant to a nursing role, i.e. communication skills, managing workload, training staff, dealing with complaints, etc.
Professional activities
- Have you attended congress?
- Have you been involved in any of your local branch meetings?
- Are you a member of any RCN forums or networks?
- Have you joined any other relevant professional networks? (See the career pathways resource for ideas and examples)
- Have you attended any RCN events?
- Did you get involved in any campaigns?
Life events / Voluntary
- Have you organised any events?
- Have you done any fundraising or charity work?
- Have you had to care for a relative?
- Have you had to manage a personal project? (E.g. house renovation)
- Have you done any awards? (E.g. Duke of Edinburgh)
- Have you chaired or sat on any committees?
- Are you a member of any organisations or clubs?
Back it up
Avoid the temptation to simply write generic statements such as, “excellent communication skills.”
Be specific and/or add context. For example:
- “Experience of using advanced communication skills such as verbal nods, active listening, identifying verbal and non verbal cues, and managing conflict,"
- "Gained experience of working with international patients and language barriers, including communicating via translators, interpreters, and/or relatives."
Not yet qualified?
Format
There is no set format for a UK CV, but you should make sure your CV is easy to read and logical in layout. If you’re not sure what layout or format to use, you could adopt the format below. You can also use the Example Student Nurse CV for ideas, as well as reading our general online advice on CV writing.
Contact Information
There is no need to write 'CV' at the top. Just have your name, contact address, contact telephone number(s) and e-mail. Include your branch of nursing and your NMC pin if you’ve already registered.
Personal Summary / Personal Profile
This should be a short paragraph to open up your CV and tell your prospective employer a bit about you. We recommend that you aim for 50 - 100 words.
Always tailor this section to the job you’re going for. You could include:
- Your personal qualities (See personal qualities table for ideas)
- A brief overview of your academic and/or professional experience/history
- What you think you'd bring to the role or why you want to work for the employer
- Your career objective
Some of the most popular expressions used within CVs are, "hard working," "good communicator," and, "works well individually and as part of a team." There is nothing wrong with using these terms, but obviously the more original you are, the more your CV will stand out.
Key Skills and Achievements
We recommend putting a key skills and achievements section where you bullet point 4 -5 of your key skills and/or achievements to show off your best bits.
You should tailor this section to the type of post you’re going for, so think of the things you've accomplished or the skills that you have that would the most relevant and will be the most attractive to your prospective employer you're sending your CV to.
For example, if you did a placement on an respiratory ward, and you're applying for a post in a respiratory ward, you may want to draw attention to this, or if your dissertation was relevant to the area you're applying for, you may want to mention this.
Placement experience
This section is very important, as here you'll be showing off all your nursing skills and experience that you gained on placements.
Starting with the most recent, list your placements and include a few bullet points for each to show what you learnt and/or which skills were acquired. If you're stuck on space, prioritise the most recent placements, or the most relevant ones.
Within this section you might include:
- Experience gained
- Clinical competencies performed
- Knowledge/Understanding gained or enhanced
- Skills developed
- Personal qualities used
Try and tailor this section so that it compliments the type of job you're going for. A good way to do this is by looking at the job description and the person specification for the job you want to apply for, and mirroring some of the content where applicable. For example, if the person specification states the candidate should have experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team, you might want to want to include a bullet point about how you gained experience of working within a multi-disciplinary whilst on placement. Or if the job description says the post holder will have to participate in safeguarding meetings, and you did this on one of your placements, you can include a bullet point about this.
Employment History
Starting with the most recent, include your employment history with a few bullet points about your duties and skills. Include the ones that are the most relevant to the job you're going for. If you've had healthcare related jobs (e.g. HCA, support worker, etc) then this will be attractive to employers.
If you've never had a job within healthcare, don't worry. Whether you've worked in retail, catering or finance, you will have probably picked up all sorts of transferable skills such as verbal and written communication skills, dealing with complaints, using initiative, prioritising your workload, working to deadlines, customer service skills, teamwork experience, leadership skills and more.
You don't have to list all the jobs you've ever had, especially if this is taking up too much space. List the most recent, focusing on the ones that are the most relevant to the jobs you're going to apply for.
Education
Starting with the most recent, list your qualifications. With regards to your nursing qualification, include the name of your university, your exact course name (so including your branch of nursing) and date of completion / expected date of completion.
You could list your college and school qualifications or any other previous qualifications you have, e.g., previous degrees, NVQs/SVQs. etc.
Professional Activities
In this section list any professional activities, such as training days you've been on, courses you've attended, online learning modules articles published, events attended, and if you're a member of any professional organisations or networks.
If you have a lot, just prioritise the most recent and the most relevant.
Remember the RCN is a professional body so you can list that you're a member if you want. If you're interested, why not join some of our free forums and professional networks?
Additional information
If you've got space, write a sentence or two about your interests or hobbies. Don't be afraid to be original. You can include any extra information here such as your linked in account if you have one, if you speak any other languages, or anything else you think the employer would benefit from knowing.
People often feel the need to give details about their driving license and whether they are happy to drive for work, but in reality, you only need to include this if you'd be required to drive as part of your role, for example a district nurse or community nurse.
References
If you have space, include one clinical reference and one academic reference.
Personal qualities |
| Ambitious |
| Analytical |
| Approachable |
| Articulate |
| Assertive |
| Calm |
| Confident |
| Conscientious |
| Creative |
| Dedicated |
| Detail orientated |
| Determined |
| Diligent |
| Diplomatic |
| Dynamic |
| Efficient |
| Energetic |
| Enthusiastic |
| Flexible |
| Friendly |
| Hands-on |
| Hardworking |
| Influential |
| Innovative |
| Loyal |
| Methodical |
| Motivated |
| Organised |
| Passionate |
| Positive |
| Practical |
| Proactive |
| Problem solving |
| Professional |
| Quick thinking |
| Reliable |
| Resilient |
| Resourceful |
| Role model |
| Strategic |
| Solution focused |
| Supportive |
| Trustworthy |
| Warm |
Action Words |
| Advocated |
| Assessed |
| Coordinated |
| Centralised |
| Championed |
| Created |
| Demonstrated |
| Developed |
| Established |
| Evaluated |
| Fulfilled |
| Identified |
| Implemented |
| Initiated |
| Introduced |
| Managed |
| Negotiated |
| Organised |
| Trained |
| Recognised |
| Redesigned |
| Represented |
| Streamlined |
| Supervised |
Different employers will have different instructions or expectations with regards to supporting statements, but generally they'll be looking to see if you're applying for the right reasons and that you meet the essential criteria.
If you haven't already done so, read the general advice on writing job applications first.
To help give you an idea, have a look at our sample supporting statements which have been written to correlate to a sample Person Specification.
In particular, pay attention to the way the sample supporting statements:
- Cover all the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification
- Use examples or evidence to demonstrate how the criteria is met
- Follow the order of the Person Specification as much as possible.
The samples should be used as a guide only. Your own supporting statement should be structured around the job and person specification you're applying for.
You may also want to watch the Supporting Statements tutorial below.
Sample supporting statement
Click here to download the Sample Statement
Want your CV checked?
To get written feedback on your CV, send your CV to career.service@rcn.org.uk with your full name, RCN membership number, and a brief summary of your current situation and career objectives.