How to write a shortened nursing CV

If you're not comfortable posting your full nurse CV online, then here's how to create a shortened CV that will still get recruiters interested in you.

For anyone not completely familiar with using the internet to apply for nursing jobs, this is a guide to protecting your personal information online.

The key is to strike a balance between giving just enough information for a recruiter to be interested in you and to make contact, while protecting your personal details.

Privacy is a key part of how we work at Nurses.co.uk, so your details are always protected and you’re in complete control of the details we store, but if you’re not entirely comfortable uploading every single detail about your career on your CV there is another solution.

We recommend that if you want to protect parts of your nursing career history or some of your personal details, instead of uploading your full CV you can write a shortened version.

The whole purpose of your CV is to show the recruiter you are the right nurse for the job, and if you can do that with just a few recent details then that’s great. There are some crucial details you do need to include in order to grab a recruiter’s attention.

How to write a shortened CV

A shortened CV contains the same basic structure as a full CV, just in less detail. Start with your name at the top, as you would normally. Then, instead of your address give your current location and desired location in format similar to this:

Joanne Smith

Current Location: East Croydon, Surrey

Desired Location: Within 15 miles of Croydon

The above format actually tells the recruiter a lot about where you will be available for work, and avoids you giving away your home address and postcode.

The same thing goes with your phone number, just list your mobile number. That way if you’re not available to talk you can let the call roll to answerphone, but don’t fall into the trap of just ignoring the message, it’s simple courtesy to return the phone call even if it’s to decline their interest.

In the next section you should talk about your current nurse job, responsibilities and all the professional development you have completed along with dates.

This section should tell the recruiter about your most recent nursing experience and the competencies you’ve completed.

You can also list your key skills, current working pattern and whether your are and NMC or ABA registered nurse. If you are working for the NHS, you could also include your current band and pay point as well as your desired salary.

The final part should be devoted to your nursing history and qualifications.

Just give enough information for a recruiter to see how experienced you are and where and when you qualified as a nurse. This is important to include because they will need to verify you are a qualified nurse in order to offer you an interview.

But this where you can stop. On a traditional CV you would go on to list your school qualifications and previous work experience prior to nursing, but in the shortened CV it’s just not necessary.

Remember, you are in control of the details you choose to give away and your prior history can be confirmed with an employer at interview so you don’t have to give them away in an online CV.

Use your CV to your advantage

As with any CV you write throughout your nursing career the information should always be accurate and truthful, but if you decide to only include a summary of your experiences and qualifications then that’s up to you.

You can always add a disclaimer at the bottom of the document explaining that a full CV will be available should you be called for interview.

Nurses.co.uk will always keep your details safe, so there is no reason that you should ever feel you can’t upload a full nursing CV, but if you choose not to disclose all your personal details upfront then this is the way to do it.