Here's how to get your foot in the door.

By Linda Bird Randolph
Freelance writer who specializes in health care professional development topics
Newtown Square, Pa.

If you seek to advance your career and try new opportunities--prepare to sell yourself on paper. Consider two important facts about résumés:

• You're going to need one.
• No one will want to read it.¹

Since prospective employers use résumés more to screen people out than screen them in, New York Times bestselling career enhancement author, Martin Yate, offers these seven rules of thumb for résumé writing:

1. List the most specific of job titles.
2. If you must state a specific objective, couch it in terms of contributions you can make to a position.
3. Don't state your current salary.
4. Remember that people get great joy from pleasant surprises. Show a little gold now, but let the interviewer discover the mother lode at the interview.
5. Limit your résumé to 1 page.
6. Type your résumé.
7. Emphasize your achievements and problem-solving skills.

Vary a traditional theme

You can approach résumé writing in various ways. Terry R. Misener, RN, PhD, FAAN, Dean and Professor of the School of Nursing at the University of Portland, Portland, Ore., recommends that if you're interested in advancing your career, consider variations on a traditional résumé.

"I've worked with advanced practice nurses and other graduate students for several years. I often teach a 'capstone' course in their curriculum," Misener said. "Such a course requires you to develop a professional portfolio. In my class, I recommend that students develop a Q-Brief."²

The Q-Brief, or qualifications brief, is a prospective document that tells people what you can do, not what you have done.

Misener added that, among other things, you should include:

• a detailed sample position description of what you're seeking
• your program of study and any appropriate student experience
• appropriate brochures or articles describing your roles
• professional standards and scope of practice
• samples of procedures that you're prepared to do
• a clear and concise personal philosophy
• a reference list.

"Often, traditional résumés recite all the great things you've done. Conversely, a résumé should just get your foot in the door," said Yate. "You need to whet someone's appetite, and still be vague enough that the interviewer has to enter a conversation with you to learn more. A résumé's goal is to engage you in verbal communication with prospective employers."

Meet and greet

Once you've established an interview with a prospective employer, your work isn't over. Don't overlook obvious preparations; take these steps to make interviews more pleasant:

• Dress properly for the occasion.
• Arrive on time.
• Present yourself well.
• Ask the right questions.
• Remain prepared to answer tough questions.

According to Yate, employers admire and seek certain professional behaviors, such as listening skills, the ability to communicate well, technological abilities, and time management and organization skills.

"In the end, after an interview for a new job, a well-written résumés serves to tie the knot," assured Yate. "A résumé becomes your last spokesperson. Right before making a hiring decision, that director closes the office door, cleans off his or her desk, and pulls out the résumés of the short list candidates."

Higher education will open doors for you and help nurse managers take better care of their staff and ultimately their patients.

"If you want to be really professionally savvy," said Misener, "get your master's degree. When I see nurses coming back to school, I often tell them, 'I know you usually have many priorities—families, kids, saving for your kids' future. But graduate school should be among the top ones.

"By paying attention to professional skills, you're not only enhancing your personal well-being and career, but you're taking the best care of your customer—the patient."

References

1. Yate, M.: Knock 'Em Dead, Adams, Media Corporation, Avon, Mass., 2001.

2. Lathrop, R.: Don't Use a résumé...Use a Qualifications Brief." Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1980.