The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association’s Professional Team has put together a quick guide on acing your application to be an assistant in nursing.

What to put on your resume and cover letter

Your resume should outline:

• your current and past education
• your qualifications
• your employment history
• notable skills and achievements (especially pertaining to the healthcare industry)
• an understanding of conflict management
• at least three references with at least one nursing related e.g. facilitator, nursing teacher etc. Your referees’ job title and relationship to you should be outlined, along with current contact details.

Your resume should not:

• be more than 2-3 pages
• have your or any pictures on it
• have your age, religion, marital status or nationality
• have a non-professional email address e.g.: theboyz69@gmail.com

Your cover letter should address:

• why you would be good for the job by mentioning how you match the selection criteria.
• reiterating your main qualifications
• your strengths as a professional and how they relate to this job

Your cover letter should not:

• be more than 1 page
• include colloquial language
• state your weaknesses as a professional

Before putting together your application

Research the organisation and know what type of patients and services they provide and what are their values and missions. This information could be brought up in the interview and you can incorporate it into your answers.

Top tip: Contact the person in the ad and have a conversation about what they are looking or even better, see if you can see them in person and look at the facility (it creates unconscious bias).

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association can provide application and resume assistance to student members of the Association. To join the Association for free as a student member, sign up here.