It’s fairly surprising that while many people are experts in their fields, they are awkward or afraid of writing a resume to advertise themselves. They don’t know how to compose a resume that can transfer their qualifications, skills or experiences in a manner that impress their recruiters. No matter how adept in your career, writing a CV is an essential skill that you need to master, or you’ll failed to get your dream job. Thus, candidates should invest their time and all of their endeavour to polish their CV. A persuasive and highly professional resume is the key to reach a job.

However, there are some key principles that are important to developing and improving a resume that has little, a lot or no experience to the job that you are applying for. Most recruiters will tell an applicant that what matters most to the employer is a positive attitude, willingness to learn, experience related to the job if you have any and a stable employment history. But attitude, willingness and personality need to be presented in person during the interview. A powerful resume will get you that interview.

Here are ten tips for someone who may be trying to write or improve their resume:

1. Include your personal contact information. You have to give the employer a way to reach you in the event that they want to hire you so as much contact information as you can provide will be useful. Such information should include name, address, email address, home telephone number, fax number, mobile number, and web address, if you have one. If you want to stand out from your competitors, a web address would be valuable.

2. Be very specific. Don’t beat around the bush. This means that you should detail your experience as an employee in whatever job capacity that you have worked, but make sure you emphasize how you carried out that job. Present a clear picture of what your daily tasks were. You don’t want the employer to be doing any guess work. Use specific terms. Instead of saying that you dealt with long term patient care, say that you cared for a specific age group of long term patients and state what their medical conditions were. The employer may see you in a different capacity where another job opening lies so you open up yourself to more than one positions.

3. Watch what you say. Never use the wrong medical terminology. If you are not sure, do your homework before you write that resume to get the right medical term. Your resume should show quality and you should be committed to quality. For example, don’t say Old Timer disease when it should be Alzheimer. You will never get that job.

4. Be sure to list any certification and awards. Even if you consider something minor, be sure to list that in your resume. Any special certifications or licenses should be included in your resume. Be sure to include any employee awards or anything that shows above average work, you should incorporate it in your resume.

5. Highlight additional skills. You should include information that may set you apart from other applicants, which includes being bilingual. In some cities such as Miami, Florida, the Hispanic population is large and so if you speak Spanish, for example, it would probably land you the job ahead of other English speaking competition.

6. Be sure to include educational goals. If you are (and you should) thinking of pursuing further education in the medical field, do mention that in your resume. This will let your future employer see that you are on a certain career path and it will show your commitment to the industry as well as to the job. It will also show that you want to grow with the company.

7. Include your goals and objectives. Your objective is a summary statement of what you want to accomplish and what career path you want to take. Avoid using vague and general statements. Be specific. An example of the correct way to write an objective would be, “Obtain a challenging position in Nursing, with a special interest in urgent care and Alzheimer’s patients.”

8. Be sure to list your current education achievements. Academic information such as degrees, honors, and high GPA’s are essential. Be sure to include the college name, your date of graduation and the degree that you have achieved with any major or minors.

9. Work and Professional experience. This is the part of your resume that will highlight your previous experience as an employee. It should be in either chronological or topical order. Include any participation in fraternities, organizations (as a student and in the community) and anything that will highlight your leadership skills, employment dates, awards and recognitions as well as any other accomplishments.

10. The Format and Resume Layout is important. To improve your resume, make sure the format and layout convey the most important points so you can land that job. You don’t want your resume to look unorganized. It should flow and tell a story of your employment life and skill set. Be consistent with your font, grammar and punctuation. Keep the white space balanced and maintain your margins. Make it a one page resume as best as you can, but don’t cram it on one page if you have a longer list of work experiences.

If you are still not fully confident that you can, or should, try to write or improve your own nursing resume, you can find a professional that can at NursingResumePros. We specialize in Nursing Resumes and can give you as much or as little help you think you need.