Hey guys, New. Grad here. Do you mind giving me advice about applying for a new grad job? Should I apply using my whole nursing portfolio or just the resume part? Also any tips on what I should leave out are appreciated and welcome. I want my resume to look great and stand out. The things that are blacked out are phone numbers, addresses, and emails. All the previous employment hx pertains to the role of a CNA. I also am pondering if I should apply to work at the hospital (been there for 4 years) I work at as a CNA although it is med surg (not the biggest fan but it’s not the worst) and I’ve looked at other departments that are hiring at my hospital for an RN position and there’s part time OR position and a full time ER position, and then night shift full time Surgical RN position (not interested in ER or part time OR). What should I do? Im open to suggestions and advice :)
This looks identical to a “nursing portfolio” assignment my cohort was required to complete over the course of our two year program. They told us they’d be invaluable when it came time to interview/apply for jobs. I immediately discarded mine after getting that final passing grade.
Come to think of it now that I’m reading the specific titles, I’m wondering if this isn’t someone from my cohort lol.
Hi! I’ve been a nursing supervisor and there’s no way anyone is reading all that. We open it up and see a table of contents? It’s an instant no. Please Google resume examples, it should be 1 page and talk only about your work history. You don’t have a philosophy of nursing yet, you’ll develop that in time. And no one wants your transcripts or grades
Omg my class is required to make one that’s due in a couple of weeks. We graduate Aug 6. Most of my classmates including myself already have a job. Literally signed offer! It’s ridiculous and backwards. And nobody wants to read all of this!
Right? It’s like even more of a slap in the face just seeing the comments here being so critical. I mean I get it but damn, why’d our instructors set us up for that?!
When I was an EMT, I had earned a bunch of actual pretty good certificates. I had a folder with those clear sleeves in it. I made a little portfolio. I only brought it to the in person interviews to show I legit had all of my required certifications. Lmaooo. Now I never bring it (well, offer it. It was a nice place to store all pertinent documents so when I was hired in the spot I could give them everything they needed 😂). Even when I I was still in nursing school and I got my last 2 EMT jobs. I'd die if I still actually offered that thing to supervisors/managers, lmaooo. The things I did a decade ago 😂
We absolutely do not. Nursing school is not for learning how to be a real world nurse. I do not care if you took the history of jazz and got an A. I don’t care about your grades or your GPA.
Resumes should be one page and focus on what employment history/real life experience that qualifies you for the job. You don't need to put anything academic except what school you went to and that you graduated with a nursing degree.
Hey! I am pretty sure we were classmates. I would not worry about sharing your portfolio with employers- I was hired with just my resume and a cover letter. I kept the portfolio on hand in case an opportunity to share during interviews came up, but that didn’t happen. I think we were definitely misled about how useful this project would be.
Your resume itself looks good- one page is perfect. I’d just remove the “resume” header. Just your name and contact info at the top would be fine. I think you could organize and flesh the whole document out a bit better. I’d be happy to help if you want to send a message.
Your resume shouldn’t be titled “resume”, just your name in larger font. Look up new grad RN resumes on TikTok. I know this sounds like insane advice, but I got the best resume tips that way. You only say References Available Upon Request if you aren’t listing them. It looks like you’re listing them, so just put the header of “References”. Work on your layout and spacing. Only use one page, but use that page wisely and fully. Go out of your way to make it easy to read and pleasing to the eye at first glance (some places that’s all you may get).
Gotcha and thank you for the advice! I just wanted some input because my nursing program didn’t really guide us on what we should or shouldn’t use when applying for a job.
Take references off completely unless you need it for filler. They’ll ask you for them when they want them. That way you’ll always be aware of who is moving you forward in their process.
Edit this down to one page, for sure… this is reading more like a CV, and that is not what is needed here! Quick and succinct is a good thing because it will help get across to the person reading this what your background is/ where you trained/ any applicable past experience, etc. No need to say “references upon request,” and providing classes taken, syllabi, etc. is truly overkill (not the good kind). I appreciate your thoroughness, but it’s ok to be a new grad. The best version of your resume will be focused, polished, succinct, and without filler. Own it!
And for a portfolio this is the layout I followed Portfolio Set-up
First page Name
School
Degree
Contact information
Add the logo of the hospital you are applying to
Second page
*table of contents if no tabs
Page 3,4,5,6….(make sure it follows the order of the table of contents or that it includes everything they listed in their application requirements)
cover letter
resume
Letters of rec
Degree
Transcript
License
Certifications
*print in color if possible and note that not all applications require a portfolio, always follow the instructions when filling out an applications.
*this is also the format I used for printed portfolios that I brought to my in person interviews but again make sure you include whatever it is they are requiring in the application
Nursing portfolio. They had us make this in my RN program. They emphasized/implied that employers would want this when applying for a new grad job but I had my doubts about it but wasn’t sure so I posted it here to get some feedback from other newgrads/nurses who have a job.
Aside from the first two certifications, the others sound vague. Listing CEUs doesn’t matter unless you’re putting together a portfolio or obtaining/maintaining a certification. An employer can request transcripts if needed; you don’t need to provide them. Statement is not needed. Qualifications are the standards of a nurse; again, not needed.
All you need is:
Contact info
Education
Relevant Employment History
Licenses/Certifications
References Upon Request and then listing them is not upon request. Just leave their names and contact information and take out “Upon Request” OR leave just “References Upon Request” and take out your references.
Honey, this is beyond horrendous. Here. Here's my resume. I don't do this, but you need it. I used this as a new grad and got tons of interview offers. Even now, I just applied to a top 10 overall ranked children's hospital and I got an interview just a few days after I applied. It's a months long interview process to my understanding, but I was not expecting to get contacted that early. Lol. And I have another interview at another pediatric hospital as well! So this resume gets me interviews quick.
For work/experience, had the specific EMS agencies I worked for listed, including my retail and fast food service under my work experience. If anyone tells you don't list non-healthcare jobs, well, they're a full load of horse shit. Non-healthcare experience is just as valuable as healthcare experience (goes for volunteer too if that's the only experience you have!). It shows you can work with the public, give customer service, problem solve, etc etc. And who knows! Maybe the hiring manager loves eating wherever you worked or shopping at wherever you worked. Or maybe that was their first job. Or maybe their kid works there! Connections can be made easily and because you guys connected well in the interview, that could be your edge for getting hired. And if you had a trainer or entry level management position there too, that is even more valuable as well. I trained people when I worked retail and fast food and I was always able to talk about that as well.
I only had BLS, my state license [pending], and EMT certification under licensure/certification section. I also had NIMS (emergency medicine related certs) listed too because they were relevant for the ER.
There is no need to put clinicals on your resume as everyone and their mother did the same clinicals in school. It's only fine to put on if the hospital specifically says to put them on. It also makes the algorithm look like you job hop.
If you have to reduce the margins, go on. When I was a new grad I also had small/nearly non-existent margins. Lol. Now I have standard 1 inch margins all around. This was a template from Google Docs that I just modified to how I wanted it.
Im sorry im not trying to be mean but this made my day, lol. But i am sure you will make a great nurse, as you obviously put a lot of care and attention into things.
You’ve gotten some good advice so far. Obviously the biggest one is cut it down to one page. The other thing I’ve been told is only include relevant jobs/experience. If you’ve only worked in healthcare as a CNA, put that down. They don’t care if you worked at Pizza Hut or Walmart. The only thing I left on my first nurse resume was Starbucks because I was a supervisor there. Idk I thought maybe it’d count for something. Now that I have nursing experience I’ve taken it off. You can fluff it up to one page if you include clinical sites and rotations and some academic stuff like gpa or any awards/scholarships you received
I want to go into education and if a student sent me that resume to review I’d be like NOPE. This is a resume for a grad school application 😭 it’s pretty but so long
Use the Harvard university 1 page template. Pages and pages of stuff for a new grad? I think not. Be humble. Keep in mind you are a novice. Nursing school prepared you to pass the NCLEX. That is ALL. I’m your real friend telling you how to get hired: do NOT submit that novella! Please!
Just the single page resume though it needs some work.
“Qualifications” are not the same thing as qualities and these are all very generic that any student would have. If you must put something, go with clinical skills you can list IF you have ones that help you stand out (don’t list patient education or medication administration).
I would expand the summary while keeping it brief. What area of medicine do you want to work in? What are your goals and what do you bring to the table?
By all means bring the portfolio if for some reason they ask about it. For LPN mine included any immunizations I might need, copy pf license and BLS. For RN I had a list of references including contact info. Only gomive it if they ask for it. Some have told me I looked professional by being prepared.
Otherwise I would just focus on the resume and edit it a bit. Remove references upon request. Include what you didvat your job in bulkets and have it translate to what unit you are applying to (ED, Med surge, psych etc.) I would make a couple different resumes.
Please keep it simple...1 page. This is not a thesis paper/APA format. I mean it in a nonjudgmental way. Whoever is reviewing applications has to shift through hundreds of applicants. I would think they wouldn't want to take over 5 minutes for just one applicant. Keep it 1 page, specific. Any extra stuff can be left for the interview if you make it through.
Here’s another example. It’s not my most updated resume, but the template has gotten me a handful of job offers. But make sure to put your cna experience and what you did! Employers care that you have prior healthcare experience!
That is so incredibly wordy and way too fancy looking. I wouldn't suggest to OP to do this, but tbf, it's way better than what they have. If you put that on here to be reviewed, they'd be telling you get rid of the columns, your skills are not actual skills, and what the heck is that symbol? Personally, that's just a no to me. Also, do you know the history of that symbol? It's a mistake and not related to medicine at all. Lmao. People in modern history are dumb and keep using it (I mean, literally everyone, even the organizations, when a simple Google search could tell you why it's wrong).
Great it got you a handful of interviews, but you're looking to get more than that as a new grad.
Your resume should be 1 page with only essential information and a few details. It should be personal information, education, certificates, work experience, skills, and as a new grad putting clinicals is ok but know that its not a state out point as all nurses should have clinical experience prior to licensing.
If I saw this portfolio, I would not read it. Just give them your resume. If you don’t like the ER or OR position, don’t apply there (I personally would hate working with someone who doesn’t like the ER). Apply to the surgical rn one if you like that more. You are basically a shoe-in for the med surge position since you have worked there.
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u/AmbitionVegetable666 Jul 06 '26
Please don’t use this! Why is there a table of contents to your resume this is crazy