Corporate Flight Attendant Resume

Writing a résumé can be one of the most daunting parts of any job search. Quite frankly, it is one of the most important elements in helping you find work. A good résumé can ease doors open while a poorly written one will certainly shut these very same doors. In aviation, there are certain things that must be included in a résumé to help you get noticed and getting noticed is, of course, the first step toward securing an interview which may lead to employment.

There is no "one-size fits all" résumé that will guarantee success. In my many years of reviewing pilot and, later, flight attendant résumés I have seen submitted everything from multipage treatises to two paragraph summations. As a private flight attendant, your résumé should fall somewhere in between: a one page copy is the preferred length in this industry.

The top part of your résumé must include the following:

1. Your name

2. Your complete address: house or apartment number, street, city, state, zip and country if applying internationally.

3. Your home phone number.

4. Your cell phone or secondary number such as a fax machine.

5. Your email address.

This first bit of information should be centered for easy reading and your copy should be on white or off white paper. No fancy fonts, no loud colors, nothing to make it stand out. Why? More than likely it will be trashed if it is not visually appealing. Trust me: in business aviation, which is generally a very conservative field, the flamboyant self promoter is often ignored.

What follows next is open to debate. Some human resources people insist that you need an Objective on your résumé while others do not. If you do include an Objective, please write a strong and positive statement about your career and job objective, concentrating on your strengths and how you can add value to a potential employer. When creating your objective, use clear and concise language. One of the advantages of including an Objective is that it tends to set the tone for the entire résumé. Leaving one out is sometimes preferable if you are applying for different positions. Always state in the Objective what you can contribute to the company and not what you want to get out of the job or the company.

After you write your Objective, you should follow up with your work history. Instead of centering the remaining information, align your copy to the left of the page.

Work History: Please, if you have been working for many years, you might want to consider limiting your information to the last ten years. A résumé is not your job history, rather it is a summation of who you are and what you bring to the table. Save the nitty gritty details for the application form. This is particularly important if you are over 40: do not kid yourself by thinking that age discrimination does not occur. You want to get the interview and then you can work on getting the job during the interview. In some situations you will not even get the interview if someone finds out that you are 49. Is this legal? Usually, no. Is it provable? You probably will never find out.

Training: After including your work history, you will need to list your training. If you completed FACTS, Alteon, FlightSafety, Beyond and Above, etc. then spell it out. Include training locations, dates, and a brief synopsis of the training. For example, "emergency egress training, emergency medical procedures, food safety and culinary arts, wine service, etc." Do not write several paragraphs but do include some information about what was accomplished during your training. Taking other types of training related to the field can and should be mentioned as well including: food service, wine courses, language training, etc. The training section could easily be titled "Education" and include college degrees and other post high school training as well.

References: Please do not include references on your résumé! If you feel the need to mention references, please conclude your résumé with something like this: References furnished upon request. That's it. Nothing fancy. If you do mention that references will be included at a later time please make sure that you have at least three, be prepared to present them upon request, and make sure your references know that you are using them as references.

Hobbies: Hmmm.... I am not sure why some people feel the need to include details on how they spend their free time. Perhaps they are trying to tell the person reading the résumé that they are a well rounded person. In my opinion, save those details for your interview.

Other personal information: In most states giving out one's marital status, age, height and weight is illegal. If you are applying for work overseas the company or agency may want this information in addition to a full length picture of yourself and a headshot. I have heard objections from some about this particular practice. Remember: the U.S. Bill of Rights stops at our borders. If you want to work internationally, you must respect local laws and customs. Your opinion will probably not shape what they want; if you do not like it then do not apply.

College and universities are key institutions where many get their first try at crafting a résumé. I like what the University at Buffalo School of Management has to say about writing a résumé:

Do:

* Do try to fit your résumé on one page

* Do leave an appropriate amount of margin space (1/2 – 1 inch is good, no less than ¼ inch)

* Do use positive action verbs to highlight your skills

* Do use the present tense for current activities and the past tense for previous experiences

* Do place important items in the most prominent areas of your résumé

* Do proofread your résumé for spelling, punctuation, grammatical, and typographical errors

* Do make sure your résumé is neatly typed and letter perfect

* Do be honest and accurate in the facts you give on your résumé

* Do be Positive!

Do Not:

* Do not write RÉSUMÉ on top of the page

* Do not use "I," "Me," or any abbreviations!

* Do not date the résumé, attach advertisements, or list salary requirements

* Do not leave out volunteer or other experiences where you have demonstrated relevant skills

* Do not give any false information

* Do not include reasons for changing jobs

Have others proofread your copy and do not be offended by their suggestions or comments. Consider all comments and suggestions for possible changes to your résumé; if you are rigid about your résumé you may be too rigid for this industry. Remember, there is no "one-size fits all" résumé; your copy, however, should accurately reflect what you are all about and what you can do for the company.

Job Application Cover Letter Sample

When you are looking for a job, you will need to have a great resume, but you also need an amazing cover letter to get the attention of the potential employer. There are a places you can look for a job application cover letter sample to help you in designing your own cover letter. However, some samples are better than others, so you will need to know how to determine if what you are looking at is a good job application cover letter sample.

When you are looking at a job application cover letter sample, check to see if it has any spelling or typing errors. A key component of a good cover letter is to run it through spell check and read it over. A person writing a quality job application cover letter sample for you to use knows how important it is for you to make that great first impression through proper grammar and spelling.

Another point that a good job application cover letter sample will make is that you need to address the cover letter to the person in charge hiring you. Yes, some places have a personnel department where your cover letter and resume will go to hibernate for a while, but most people in charge of hiring have a name. A good job application cover letter sample will show that you need to address it to a person rather than “to whom it may concern.”

A good job application cover letter sample may be helpful in giving you an idea of how to draw up an attention grabbing cover letter, but you should change things around into your own words. You want to use your cover letter to give the employer a chance to get to know you, not Job Application Cover Letter Sample Author. A good job application cover letter sample should be a starting point for your cover letter, not a cookie-cutter letter to attach to your resume.

Taking the job application cover letter sample and making it your own unique cover letter also means doing some research into the company to which you are going to be sending a resume and gearing the letter to that particular company. This means that you will need to change some of the content of the job application cover letter to reflect the industry you are considering. By making this change to the job application cover letter, you will be showing the potential employer that you have given them some thought and consideration.

One way to achieve this change to the job application cover letter sample is to use phrases and words that are important to the potential employer. Knowing the industry to which you are looking into will help you make the changes to the job application cover letter wording that will make your cover letter appear targeted to your audience. You may even want to reiterate what the employer put in the job description in bold type.

Sample Resume Objectives: Good, But Summaries Are Smokin'!

Since college I've been told that a resume ought to have an "objective statement" at the top. Maybe you've been told the same.

I'm here to tell you somebody's been lying to you!

Well, not necessarily, but maybe. Every resume has an objective, but not every resume has to have an objective statement. So before you get the urge to search online for sample resume objectives, keep reading.

Every resume has an objective. How you TALK about that objective in the resume is a different matter entirely.

An objective statement simply states your objective. I got a four-year degree so I could make brilliant statements like that. But it's true, and most of the sample resume objectives you'll find online are statements of what the job seeker wants.

That's a mistake. A bad mistake.

A good resume objective statement should tell the reader what the candidate will do for him. Specifically, it ought to tell him what profit the candidate will add.

No, I'm not kidding. Here's an example of what I mean:

"A highly experienced sales and marketing professional with comprehensive strategic planning and implementation skills, and $27 million in total profit improvement added in 8 years, seeking a position as a Sales Manager where these skills will add similar or greater value."

Wow! That objective statement screams, "Keep reading!" Do YOU know any hiring manager or executive who would turn his nose up at $27 million in 8 years? I don't. It's at least worth talking to you about, which means you'll get an interview. What if it was only $1 million, or $100,000? Whatever the number, it's money, and that counts.

And that, folks, is the magic. Everything in the job search process should have a focused purpose, and be done on purpose. The purpose of your resume and cover letter is to compel an interview. A strong objective statement like that can help.

Feel free to start with a sample or three. Just be sure to modify any sample you use. Keep the good and scrap the bad.

But is that the best you can do? Hardly.

I have nothing against objective statements, and you can find some solid sample resume objectives online. My only gripe is that using a solid objective statement is settling for good when there's a (typically) better alternative.

That alternative is the resume summary. Some might call it a "Profile," or a "Summary of Qualifications," or even just "Qualifications." Whatever the name, it's a grab-'em-by-the-throat killer. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

"Savvy, results-oriented leader with proven success in managing multimillion-dollar software product rollouts to disparate sales channels. Background includes launching a high-productivity expert development team, increasing revenue by $2.5 million and achieving unit profitability within nine months (six months ahead of plan), at Widgets, Inc., with leading technology and feature-rich product releases to meet known demand. Critical thinker and adept negotiator who can apply extensive industry knowledge to profitable vendor partnerships and revenue-enhancing co-branding opportunities. Expertly directs development, technology integration, and customer demand discovery. Published author, and frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences."

Good grief! If the example resume objective a few paragraphs ago was solid, that summary will leave a reader gasping for air.

Put a summary like that in a resume (with your own qualifications in it, of course), and you'll almost certainly get a phone call for a job interview.

I can hear you saying that whoever has the summary you just read can walk on water. What about lowly old you? Here's what I used on my last resume, and I wasn't a high-powered executive either:

"Results-oreinted software developer and consulting project manager with six years' experience at Big 5 firm. Experienced OO developer with particular expertise in Java and Extreme Programming (XP). Over seven years' experience developing software and managing projects in challenging, fast-paced consulting environments. Demonstrated ability to acquire technical knowledge and skills rapidly. Innovative problem solver, able to see the business and technical sides of a problem. Proven leadership, negotiation and problem resolution abilities. Exceptional communication skills, both oral and written. Published author and conference speaker."

See? That summary needs some improvement, but it shows mere mortals can do it too. That means you can.

A powerfully stated objective statement makes your resume pop. A powerfully stated summary makes it a thermonuclear explosion. Most others in the resume pile (and there's always a pile) have objectives that translate into "get a job." Then you come along with a Sherman tank summary. They're dead meat.

Make no mistake, job search is war. Powerful summaries give you an advantage.

Motivation Letter For Work Abroad

If you are applying for a job abroad (particularly in Europe or South America), a Motivation Letter For Work Abroad takes the place of a Cover Letter. Both resumes and Motivation Letters are much less formal than their United States equivalents. The Motivation Letter, as its name implies, tells your prospective employers why you are motivated to work for their companies. It gives you a chance to describe your personality, the languages you speak, any awards you may have won, and what motivates you to work abroad.

The Motivation Letter is constructed like a formal business letter, with your name and address in the top right corner. Beneath this and against the left margin should be the name, job title, company and address of the recipient. (It is worth doing a little digging to find out the name, if you don't know it.) European countries don't put a period after title abbreviations, so remember to leave them off ; i.e., "Mr" instead of "Mr." and "Dr" rather than "Dr.". Spell out the name of the month and use the order "day-month-year."

The first paragraph of your Motivation Letter describes the job for which you are applying, and how you learned about it. The second paragraph should address your qualifications for the job; don't just list them, talk about them. Show yourself to be a person of initiative and creativity ; in short, motivated! In the third paragraph, talk about why you want this particular job. What skills do you bring to it? What do you hope to learn? Finally, in the fourth paragraph give your contact information and times you are available for interview.

If you used the recipient’s name, close "Yours sincerely;" if you used "Dear Sir or Madam," close "Yours faithfully." Type your name four spaces down and two spaces under that, against the left margin, type "Enclosure." Sign your name in the space above your typed name, attach a resume to your Motivation Letter For Work Abroad, and you've done it!

How to Use a Resume Objective to Help Your Job Application

A resume objective statement, while an optional section of your resume, can be a powerful tool for job seekers if it used to its full potential. Strong objectives indicate how you will be of value to the company in one clear and concise statement. It tells potential employers your purpose or goal by applying to their company, and indicates the direction you want your career to go.

The decision to include an objective is not one to be taken lightly, since a weak or ineffectual objective will detract from the entire resume. In fact, many recruiters feel it is better to exclude an objective entirely than to include a weak statement or one that is too generalized. As a rule, individuals who are applying for non-traditional positions such as internships or co-ops, those with limited professional work experience, and those who are seeking to break into a new career or field stand to benefit the most from the inclusion of an objective statement on their resumes. In these instances, the objective will allow employers to immediately identify the type of position you are seeking and clarify your intent and interest in the organization. However, if you are using your resume for a more general purpose such as a job fair, employment agency submission, or website job board posting, it does not make sense to include an objective that will limit your options. Other individuals will need to make a personal decision as to the value an objective statement will add to their resume.

If included, the objective appears at the top of your resume, right beneath your contact information. An objective will typically address one or more of the following areas:

1. The type of position desired - Are you seeking an internship, a part-time, or a full-time position? Is your goal an entry-level, experienced, or supervisory position?

2. The actual name or title of the position you desire - Are you applying for the Administrative Assistant or the Technical Services Manager opening?

3. Is there a specific environment, industry, or field that you are targeting?

4. Any skills you hope to utilize in a new position

Since the purpose of an objective is to direct employees as to your specific goals within their organization and indicate how you will add value, it may be necessary to tailor your objective to each individual position. Objectives that are vague and non-specific are useless, so if you are not able to identify a specific goal or value in your objective, do not include it on the resume.

Sample Resume Objectives: Read, Don't Copy

The resume objective statement is typically something that trips people up.

Confronted by the silent challenge of the blank page, most folks Google for "sample resume objectives". They hope that'll help.

Probably not.

I say that because sample resume objectives often are like sample resumes, or sample cover letters, or sample anything. They're samples. They aren't exactly what you need. They're fine for generating ideas, I suppose, but they come with a temptation.

Remember that apple affair in Eden? Well, the serpent made an attractive offer, and swept the downside under the rug. Adam and Eve went along. It seemed okay at the time.

The temptation with sample resume objectives is to copy them. You know, copy and paste? That's not necessarily evil, but it's often a lazy way out. Nobody will ever know, right? Maybe, maybe not.

Maybe nobody has ever said this to you before exactly this way, but you need to hear it. Your resume needs to be all yours. It's fine to get ideas from samples, but it's unwise to copy them.

The way I describe this to people is that your resume needs to talk like you do.

By all means, put your best foot forward. A resume isn't supposed to be conversational. It's supposed to be professional. It'll be at least a little more polished than the typical lunchroom chat.

But if you don't use the word "conceptualized" in normal speech, and you can't define it off the top of your head, you probably don't want it on your resume.

The same goes for sample resume objectives.

If you copy and paste a sample resume objective (or work experience, or qualifications, or anything), at least make sure you know what all the words mean. Maybe change the order of the points in there. Replace words you don't know with equally good ones you do. Learn to love your thesaurus (but don't go for weird words).

In other words, own your objective.

Remember, your resume should be selling you, not some mythical person writing checks your real-life performance can't cash. Don't set yourself up for failure.

175 Power Verbs and Phrases for Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews

While you’re revamping your resume or cover letter or constructing your proof-by-example stories for interviews, you’ll find you need to watch your word choice. Why? Communication is powerful if the words we use to communicate are powerful. That’s not all it takes, but the right words make for a good beginning.

So as you craft achievement statements or write paragraphs that sell your skills or draft interview responses to knock the employers’ socks off, consider these suggestions:

  • Use verbs in active tense, not passive tense.
  • Use verbs that convey power and action.
  • Use verbs that claim the highest level of skill or achievement you can legitimately claim.
  • Use verbs to accurately describe what you have done on the job.
  • Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, but when you use them, use them well.
  • Use nouns that are as specific and as descriptive as possible.
  • Use numbers whenever possible.
  • Use the most impressive (and still honest) form of the number you use.
  • Never lie! It IS NOT worth it. It WILL catch up with you.
  • Proofread all your verbs and nouns for agreement, tense and appropriateness.

Here, then, are 175 powerful verbs and phrases to make use of in resumes, cover letters and interviews:

  • abated
  • abolished
  • accelerated
  • accomplished
  • achieved
  • actively participated
  • administered
  • advanced
  • advised
  • aggressively analyzed
  • applied
  • assumed a key role
  • authored
  • automated
  • built
  • hired
  • closed
  • coached
  • co-developed
  • codirected
  • co-founded
  • cold called
  • collected
  • co-managed
  • communicated
  • completed
  • computerized
  • conceptualized
  • conducted
  • consolidated
  • contained
  • contracted
  • contributed
  • controlled
  • convinced
  • coordinated
  • cost effectively created
  • critiqued
  • cut
  • dealt effectively
  • decreased
  • defined
  • delivered
  • designed
  • developed
  • developed and applied
  • directed
  • doubled
  • earned
  • eliminated
  • emphasized
  • enforced
  • established
  • evaluated
  • exceeded
  • executed
  • exercised
  • expanded
  • expedited
  • facilitated
  • filled
  • focused
  • formulated
  • fostered
  • founded
  • gained
  • generated
  • ground-breaking
  • headed up
  • helped
  • identified
  • implemented
  • improved
  • increased
  • initiated
  • innovated
  • instituted
  • instructed
  • integrated
  • interviewed
  • introduced
  • investigated
  • lectured
  • led
  • leveraged
  • maintained
  • managed
  • marketed
  • motivated
  • negotiated
  • orchestrated
  • organized
  • outmaneuvered
  • overcame
  • oversaw
  • penetrated
  • performed
  • permitted
  • persuaded
  • planned
  • played a key role
  • positioned
  • prepared
  • presented
  • prevented
  • produced
  • profitably
  • project managed
  • promoted
  • proposed
  • prospected
  • protected
  • provided
  • published
  • quadrupled
  • ranked
  • received
  • recommended
  • recruited
  • reduced
  • removed
  • renegotiated
  • replaced
  • researched
  • resolved
  • restored
  • restructured
  • reversed
  • satisfied
  • saved
  • scheduled
  • scoped out
  • selected
  • self-financed
  • set up
  • sold
  • solved
  • staffed
  • started
  • stopped
  • streamlined
  • substituted
  • supervised
  • taught
  • tightened
  • took the lead in
  • trained
  • trimmed
  • tripled
  • troubleshooted
  • turned around
  • upgraded
  • yielded

While you certainly can use the list anytime you’re looking to say something in a more powerful way, you can also use it to help jog your memory about accomplishments on present and past jobs that you might otherwise overlook. Also, consider using the list to help you refine your resumes and cover letters to be more powerful in their presentation and communication.

An Elementary Teacher Resume Sample for an A+

When it comes to creating a resume, elementary teachers need to know the words that count. For this reason, you should check out an elementary teacher resume sample so that you can learn the best words for a winning resume. These words must be distinct and relevant terms that will be searched for by your prospective employer. These words may include, but are certainly not limited to those in the following list:

Researching
Preparing
Planning
Leading
Instructing
Writing
Organizing
Supervising
Demonstrating
Listening
Evaluating
Encouraging
Facilitating
Assessing
Implementing
Integrating
Motivating
Communicating

With these words in mind, you need to use your elementary teacher resume sample to learn the right format for a teacher’s resume. Of course, no two resumes are expected to be identical, however, there are basic categories that you can learn from an elementary teacher resume sample that are relatively universal.

These categories include:

Your contact information
Your statement of objective
Your education
Your professional preparation
Your experience
Additional relevant information.

Your resume should begin with a heading that includes all of your contact information. This should consist of your name, address, telephone number, and email address. It should be found at the very top of the resume so that it can be easily located when the prospective employer wishes to interview you.

Your statement of objective should be a clear and concise statement that includes the grades you would like to teach as well as your teaching certification. To add some professional individuality to your statement of objective, you may wish to include any interests that you have in supervising extracurricular activities, or your intention for a career in education.

The education portion of your resume should include all of your collage experiences, with your most advanced degree appearing first. You should mention the institution where you earned each of your degrees and diplomas, its location, and your graduation date. If your GPA is 3.0 or higher, you may consider listing it as well. You may also want to include any special or unique educational experiences in which you have participated.

The professional preparation section is the place where you should include your experience other than actual work experience. This means you should write about any student teaching, practicum, and field experience here. For each one, indicate the school, location, and date where the experience took place. List any teaching assignments, the number of classes or students, the grade levels, subjects, lesson plans you created, unit plans you designed, additional assignments, and any other relevant information.

Your experience section is where you lay out each of your actual teaching positions.

Cover Letter Sample -- For the Corporate Flight Attendant

Writing a cover letter to send with your résumé can be both confusing and frustrating. What exactly should you say? Are you saying too much? Are you only speaking about your needs vs. the company's needs? Oh, what to do! In this "short" piece, I will list some ideas on how to craft your cover letter. I have also provided some important links -- for additional assistance -- particularly if you find yourself still needing outside help.

Basics

* Make sure you use exactly the same type of paper you use for your résumé. White with white is best, business paper is strongly advised, especially paper containing 100% cotton. Cheap 20 lb. copier paper is a terrible idea!

* A matching business envelope {#10} is acceptable. Tri-fold your copies separately; when you place the cover letter inside the envelope, make sure that the letter is shown first [when you lift the flap of the envelope up] followed by your résumé. Fold it so that your name and contact information is the first thing the recruiter sees. If you choose to use a kraft envelope make sure that is no smaller than 9x12 or bigger than 10x13. Place an attractive computer generated label on it with your return address shown appropriately. If you must write on it, PRINT your information and do not be fancy. Remember: you want the post office and the company's mailroom to be able to read what you wrote! Otherwise, important time may be lost in the process.

* If you are emailing your information make sure that the job listing stipulates that attachments are okay. If not, don't you dare send attachments! Instead, within the body of an email message you can write your cover letter [a brief introduction] and then cut and paste your résumé. I cannot tell you how many files never get read when the person does not do as instructed. You can also follow up and mail in a hard [paper] copy if an address is provided.

Beginnings

* Match the header on your résumé with the header on your cover letter. They can and do get separated! An example header should look like this:

Jane Doe
14 Star Lane
Smithville, NC 27777 USA
Telephone: 919-555-1212
Cell Phone: 919-555-1213
Email: jdoe@nc.rrs.com

* Include your personal website address only if that information is valuable. If you host a site that is weird, inflammatory, adult oriented, or otherwise controversial, simply do not expect any response from the company.

* Put today's date on the cover letter.

* Next, include your contact's information, which can include:

Ms. Ellen Snow
Human Resources Coordinator
FlyByNight Aviation, Inc.
1234 Orville Wright Lane
Serendipity, NC 27776

* Your salutation comes next and should look like this

-- Dear Ms. Snow:

Body

* Keep in mind that your cover letter must not be lengthy. You can say all that must be said in no more than three, maybe four, brief paragraphs.

* Here is a sample:

Attached, please find a copy of my résumé for your review. I am interested in the position of corporate flight attendant listed online at www.flybynight.com.

I believe my three years of international flying experience along with my culinary background and language skills makes me the ideal candidate to serve FlyByNight's distinguished clientele. Currently, I work as an independent contractor and have flown to top destinations in Europe as well as throughout the U.S. and Canada. FlyByNight's need for a dependable, trained, and highly experienced team player is exactly the type of position I desire.

I look forward to meeting with you in person to discuss your particular needs and how I can help FlyByNight successfully carry out its mission as the best operator of private jets in the world. Feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience; I can be reached at 919-555-1212 or by on cell phone at 919-555-1213.

Byes

* Sincerely,

Jane Doe

Leave 3-4 lines from your "Sincerely" to your name. Your closing shouldn't include other words including Regards [too plain], Cheers! [too British], Love [too personal], etc. Remember, this is a business letter.

In summation, keep it short and specific. Have three or four main points you can emphasize about your strengths, particularly, those points which match with the points listed by the company in their job details. In this particular case the candidate emphasized her culinary, language, and international travel experience, as well as her availability. All four points were stressed in the company's job listing which read:

"...international jet operator is searching for an experienced cabin attendant. This position involves serving our on demand charter clients from east coast locations to destinations in the U.S. and abroad. Must have exceptional food service skills. Current training with FACTS, FlightSafety or similar training vendor; French or Spanish language skills: a plus...

You cannot avoid talking about yourself, but you can control how you talk about yourself.

Do not...

1. ...beg for an interview.

2. ...mention money or benefits. If the job listing "demands" that you list your salary requirements, simply state that salary is negotiable.

3. ...overly boast about your skills: think about what the company's needs are, do you think they care that you were the recipient of an NBAA scholarship? It is, however, okay to list scholarship awards on your résumé.

4. ...name drop. Unless, you already come highly recommended by someone they know and like. Your mentor may be well known in this industry, but not universally liked. You can use them on your list of references, however.

How to Write a Nursing Resume

Recent labor studies have predicted that nursing positions will continue to grow faster than the national average for at least the next five years. Though this trend is good news for nurses on the job market, it does not diminish the fact that competition will remain tough for the most desirable nursing positions. Nurses need to pay close attention to the presentation of their credentials, as detailed in their resume, in order to ensure that they can compete in the tough medical profession.

To write a solid resume tailored specifically to the nursing profession, consider the following guidelines:

Highlight your Educational and Licensure Qualifications

In addition to including the details of your nursing degree (school name, when you graduated, your degree), you should mention any academic honors, grants, scholarships, or fellowships awarded during the course of your studies.

If you are an experienced nurse, you may wish to make reference to any completed clinical rotations in this section. This tactic is especially beneficial if one or more of these rotations is in line with your current career objective.

If you are a newer nursing graduate or have limited nursing experience, a list of related courses and clinical rotations will provide detail of your medical knowledge to prospective employers. Graduates who completed their degree with an impressive grade point average should highlight this fact by including their GPA in the Educational section of their resume.

All nurses who have completed the process to get licensed will need to provide details of their license(s) in this section. Include the state(s) in which you are licensed and the date that your license went in effect. Since your employer will ask for a copy of your license once you are made an offer, you do not include your licensing number on your resume.

Emphasize your Nursing Expertise and Key Skills

A quick 10-second scan of your resume should reveal important keywords that summarize your nursing experience and give managers an overview of your qualifications. The most effective way to do this is to incorporate a section of your resume dedicated to nursing expertise and key skills. Include a bulleted list of your nursing specializations (such as pediatrics, cardiology, oncology) and any pertinent nursing skills, such as JCAHO standards/compliance or medication administration, that will enhance your resume presentation.

If you have several years of nursing experience, it may beneficial to list your years of experience in each area.

Entry-level nurses and nurses with limited experience should also include this section in their resume, highlighting those areas and schools acquired from schooling, clinical rotations, and nursing mentorships.

Detail Your Nursing Experience

Since most manager hire nurses based on their previous experience in (or knowledge of if you are a new nurse) a particular area of nursing, employers need to know the details of your nursing experience.

If you are an experienced nurse, you should detail your specialization, the type of facility you work in (acute care, outpatient, rehabilitation), and your average caseload for each of your previous employers.

If you are an entry-level nurse just out of school or a nurse with limited work experience, you should detail any clinical rotations, mentorships, or other unpaid work you were involved in during your schooling.

Demonstrate You're a Top Performer

Employers love to hire top performers. Your resume will be more memorable and better received if you can detail specific contributions you made to each of your previous employers. What have you done that was above and beyond your basic responsibilities? How have you helped make a positive impact on your patients and their families, your co-workers, your employer, or even your community?

Consider your possible involvement in:

* Committees or review boards

* Patient or family health education

* Mentorship programs

* Training of coworkers on advanced topics of interest to nursing

* The launch of a new facility or program

* Community health screens

* Outside education

The more details you can provide about your involvement in the medical community and your accomplishments, the better job you will do at impressing your value as a team member to potential employers.

A Sample Nursing Resume Will Ensure a Healthy Career

A winning nursing resume is an entirely achievable goal as long as you know how to best express yourself with regards to heath care expectations and experiences. To do this, try using a sample nursing resume, which will give you the layout, keywords, and key points that should be covered. It is this type of assistance that will ensure that you get your foot in the door of the nursing industry, and start your way down the path to success. With a sample nursing resume, you’ll recognize all of the vital components that are standard and desirable in a nursing resume.

To start, a sample nursing resume will show you that a nursing resume should never be any longer than two pages. In fact, ideally, if it is at all possible, you should attempt to limit your resume to a single page. However, if you must extend your resume to two pages, then at least make certain that your name is included along with the page number at the top of the second page.

Never loose sight of the fact that the entire purpose of your nursing resume is to demonstrate the most relevant and detailed information in an organized and uniform way. It must be interesting and easy to read – so the more thrifty you can be with your words, the better. A good nursing resume sample should be able to show you how to do this very clearly.

Many nurses are surprised to hear that it isn’t actually necessary for you to include every single detail of your nursing career within a winning nursing resume. The main idea that you’ll learn from a good sample nursing resume is that you need to first recognize the position that you’re applying for, create an objective based on that position, and then include only the expertise, experience, training, and skills that will apply specifically to that position. Use the sample nursing resume to learn the different ways with which to emphasize your strongest skills – especially those that would specifically benefit the position to which you’re applying. This includes using different headings and layouts. Find the sample nursing resume that best flatters your own experience, and use it as a template for creating your own piece.

Once you’ve created your nursing resume, have someone you trust proof read it before you submit it. The last thing you want is to turn in a resume that has typos or other errors that could have been prevented. The person scanning your resume should be looking specifically for spelling and grammatical errors. Furthermore, it’s best to check for consistency throughout the resume, on good quality clean paper, without any designs or photos. It must be among the most professional documents you’ve ever created.

Free Resume Templates – A Much Needed Resource When Creating a Resume

The average employer spends approximately 30 seconds reviewing each resume. Therefore, it is critical for a resume to present its information in a clear, concise, and easy-to-read format.

Job seekers need all the tools they can use in today’s competitive job market and free resume templates are one of those tools. Templates are pre-existing forms or formats that often include preset margins, graphics, fonts, and other information pertaining to the layout of a page. They are a valuable resource to use when creating a resume. Many of them are simple to use, just fill-in-the-blanks and your resume is ready to print.

Free resume templates have received their fair share of negative press with many critics stating they are too common and present a cookie cutter appearance. These critics are in the minority with the bulk of employers stating they are more concerned about content than they are about style and flare.

A person can have the best looking resume and still not be qualified. Content matters!

The use of a template helps to minimize some of the extraneous tasks associated with creating a resume and allows the writer to focus on the content.

A resume template is a valuable resource because:

  • it can save a person time
  • it presents their information in a standardized, professional manner
  • it is easily customized to the individual's unique skills & qualifications!
Hundreds of free resume templates are available that can be used to create a resume that clearly outlines a person’s skills and qualifications. A search at Google returned over four million listings.

One of the best places to download a free resume template is at Microsoft’s website located at http://www.microsoft.com. Click on “Office” located on the left side menu panel under the heading “Product Families,” then click on “Templates,,” scroll down and in the main body of the website will be a heading named “Your Career.” There you can download a variety of free resume templates formatted in Microsoft Word.

Save yourself time and the frustration of trying to format your own document and use a template to create an effective resume today!

Cover Letters for Nurses

Why are cover letters so important? They provide the prospective employer with a brief review of your skills and abilities in the form of a letter. Letters are written much differently than resumes and can have a lasting impact on the reader.

The best news is that writing one it isn’t that hard. An excellent Registered Nurse is always going to be in demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Among all of the health care occupations, registered nurses had the highest level of employment—over 2 million.”

What does that mean? It means there are more nursing positions in the health care industry than doctors, surgeons and technologists.

Nurses, generally speaking, are in a good labor market right now. If you are a nurse, that’s good news. You should not encounter difficulties in obtaining work.

What about that awesome position with the top salary that you have your eye on, though? Do you think the competition for that position will be greater? You bet it will. That means your credentials will have to be presented in the best light possible if you are to get the job offer.

So, how do you write a great cover letter?

The cover letter builds on the resume and leads the employer toward it. Its goal is to get the employer excited about the resume. It is a sales tool, just like the resume is. Sell yourself in a compelling and exciting way. Inject energy and let your best qualities reach the employer through carefully written examples and anecdotes. Don’t just state what you are capable of, show the employer what you have done in the past with vibrant language that attracts and invites the employer to want to know more.

You are a part of a significant sector of the labor market. You have to be your very best to get the great jobs. What skills and abilities do you have that you can offer the employer – and – how can you do so in a way that makes the employer pick up the phone and call you for an interview?

Be personable, but professional at the same time.

Let your cover letter generate interest in your resume, then let your resume grab the employer’s attention so that you are invited in for a face to face meeting.

A cover letter isn’t likely to persuade an employer to grant you an interview on it’s own, but it is part of the whole package that WILL encourage an employer to want to get to know you better. Make it an exciting and enjoyable read and you will find yourself being offered the next Registered Nurse position you apply for.

Best of luck!

Sample Resume Objectives: What They All Tend To Miss

Sample resume objectives. When a harried and possibly panicked job seeker finds one he thinks is good, he feels like the drowning man who just got rescued.

But as Shakespeare said, there's something rotten in Denmark. Or in that sample you thought would save you.

The problem is that sample resume objectives all tend to miss one thing. It's truly shocking to me that they do. But they're usually free, and often they're worth about what you paid.

The thing they miss is that a resume objective isn't about you.

"What?!", you say, "Of course it's about me!"

That's probably what you've been taught. I'm sure it's what some people have told you. Just the words "resume objective" plant a bad seed in your mind.

Those words suggest...no, they SAY...that you should state the objective of your resume. That's poppycock. There's only one purpose of an objective statement on a resume, and that's to state how you can give your new employer profit.

Any resume objective statement that doesn't do that is garbage. That's certainly where your resume will end up. Those kinds of objective statements all translate into "get a job." That brilliantly states the obvious.

Every potential employer knows you want a job. In fact, there's nothing wrong with saying you want the job. But your objective statement isn't where you want to do it. You do it in your cover letter (indirectly), and in the job interview.

Your resume is your commercial for the improved profit you can add to your new employer. It's not about you, or what you want. Nothing, and I mean nothing, sells like the promise of windfall profits.

Sample resume objectives you're likely to find online miss that point entirely. Here's an example:

"A challenging job in an industrial setting performing chemical syntheses and characterizations; the ideal position will offer diverse tasks and the opportunity to work with a team."

Oh boy. Let's see. If I'm a potential employer reading that resume, all I see is that this person wants a job. Maybe I get that he's a chemist. Maybe I infer that he's a good team player. Maybe...I'm bored already. It's too much work to figure out what he'll do for me.

In the bin. Next!

Don't believe for a second that you simply need to copy some resume objective you find online. A better strategy is to steal..ahem...creatively borrow all the good ideas you can and create your own.

3 Cover Letter Secrets Revealed

Writing a cover letter can be like cleaning your garage -- you don’t know where to start ... and you just want it done.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could use a few "underground" techniques to write cover letters that get more job interviews? Faster and easier than you ever thought possible?

Well, pay attention. I’m going to share 3 cover letter secrets that should get you more interviews, while a lot of the guesswork out of your letter writing.

To dig up these "cover letter secrets," I interviewed career expert and author, Jimmy Sweeney (www.amazing-cover-letters.com).

Read on!

Cover Letter Secret #1 – Drop The Big Words

Always keep one thing in mind: when you write a cover letter, you’re not trying to impress readers with your vocabulary. You’re trying to land an interview.

"Write your cover letter in language anyone can understand. Bring it all together with a friendly tone throughout and chances are you’ve got yourself a winner," says Sweeney.

So, don’t write gibberish, like this:

"I have consulted, choreographed, compiled and specifically isolated technological solutions for challenging, yet highly inordinate retroflex samplings that have lead me to a potential mathematical resolution."

Write in plain English:

"I have taken the time to research your company and am very impressed. I have a real passion for this industry. I would love the chance to interview with (company name) for the position of account executive. Thank you in advance for the opportunity. I really look forward to meeting you."

See the difference?

"To improve your cover letter, simply read it out loud. If you find tongue twisters or wording that sounds a little too impressive, fix them! Write as you speak and let your personality shine through. Show your enthusiasm and clearly ask for the job interview," says Sweeney.

Which leads to the next tip ...

Cover Letter Secret #2 – Ask And Ye Shall Receive

Want more job interviews? The answer is simple. All you have to do is ask -- clearly and directly.

Most job hunters beat around the bush in their letters. But this is a mistake, according to Sweeney. "Use your cover letter as the marketing tool to bring home the one result you most desire -- the job interview. And you get that interview by asking for it," he says.

Here’s one way to ask for that interview:

"I am excited about meeting you for an interview at your earliest convenience to discuss how my credentials meet your needs. I can be reached at 555-555-5555 and will call you to follow up, as well, to make sure you received my application."

This approach can work as your final paragraph. Remember, you are asking the reader (HR Director, Hiring Manager) to take a specific action. You want him or her to pick up the phone to call you for the interview. Don’t leave it to chance -- ask directly.

Cover Letter Secret #3 – P.S., Hire Me!

Here’s a blockbuster cover letter secret, one proven by decades of advertising. It’s this: add a P.S. to your cover letter.

What the heck for, you ask?

A P.S. is nearly impossible to ignore. When you see one in a letter, you are practically forced to read it. Smart marketers have known this for nearly 100 years. (To prove it for yourself, read any 10 "junk mail" letters and you will find a P.S. at the end of at least 9. Try it!)

"A few years ago, my background in marketing led me to insert a P.S at the end of a job-search cover letter. I figured if it worked so well selling things by mail, it would help job-seekers who want to ‘sell’ themselves to employers," says Sweeney.

And what happened?

"My clients immediately experienced a dramatic increase in job interviews when they started adding a P.S.," says Sweeney.

Here’s an example:

P.S. I would like to restate my desire to interview for the position of {insert job title }. {Company name} is #1 on my list of companies I want to work for. I am available immediately and can be reached on my mobile phone at 555-555-5555. Thank you!

In the above example, your P.S. can directly ask for the interview and tell the reader what action to take. You can also restate why you believe you’re such a strong candidate for the job.

"Take advantage of the fact that people are trained to read a P.S. -- be sure to include one in your next cover letter," suggests Sweeney.

Note: you can download a Special Report, with 10 of Jimmy Sweeney’s best cover letter secrets, at this link - http://www.gresumes.net/sample-cover-letter

Now, go out and make your own luck!