Read our top CV tips and learn how to incorporate your qualifications and experience into a winning job application. From qualifying for a degree in nursing to preparing your CV and cover letter as a qualified and experienced nurse - we cover the whole job searching process for all levels of nurses in the UK.
Getting qualified for that RGN job
First things first. If you’re serious about getting an RGN job, you need to make sure you’ve got the qualifications to back it up.
Politicians nowadays love to take pot-shots at nursing, making it sound like it’s a profession filled with feckless types that swan around drinking tea but, of course, it is not.
This is a 3 year scientific degree course that covers anatomy and medicine in all kinds of areas (such as fractures, chemotherapy, palliative care, haematology and renal treatments to name but a few) and a great deal of time working on wards, getting that practical experience you need to be a good nurse.
Let’s work backwards – to become registered as a nurse, you need a degree in the nursing area you are more interested in.
The main four options are children, adults, those with learning disabilities and those with mental health issues. It is also sometimes possible to combine these so you do a degree in, say, child nursing and nursing for those with learning disabilities.
To get a nursing degree, there are a few routes that can be considered. The classic route is GCSEs and A Levels – you’ll need at least 5 GCSEs at C or above with English and Maths included and then A Level grades that total 220-300 UCAS points but some are higher than this (see the UCAS website for more details).
For reference, 300 points equate to three B’s. Please note too that some courses will require at least one A as well. Often, you must have a science A Level at C or above too. It’s possible to enter with BTECs, OCR awards, Highers/Advanced Highers and combinations of other qualifications available at colleges or as apprenticeships – it all depends on the subjects and context.
Academics aside for a moment, you need a good level of physical fitness too – I’m not sure how nursing fits in with the legal requirements to make work places accessible for everyone regardless of disability or impairment but there will be some roles that you won’t be able to do unless you have a typical level of good health and ability.What jobs are good for preparing me for RGN work?
The classic is a Health Care Assistant (HCA) job. You’ll work in health care facilities alongside nurses, supporting them to carry out their role and working closely with patients to attend to their comfort and happiness.
This is probably where you’ll best know if nursing is really what you want to do. If you want to work with children, any role that works closely with children will surely help. Perhaps time in a nursery or in support work for children would be a good move to ensure you truly do enjoy their company!
For those with learning disabilities or those with mental health needs, social care and support work with these cohorts will also ensure that you are certain about committing to a career with the specific attendant issues.
For all three, any HCA work you can get that is based with these groups will be stellar experience.
Starting the job search
Well, this bit is easy. You’re already in the right place.
Nurses.co.uk was launched in 2008 to provide a list of jobs in nursing throughout the UK. We don’t post the jobs on this site. They’re all posted by employers (like BUPA) or recruitment agencies (like HCL nursing).
When you find a job that you want to apply for just hit the Apply button. This will take you through a quick Sign up process (if you’ve not done that before).
Once you’ve done that your application will be sent by email to the organisation that posted the job.
You only need to Sign up once. Your details are stored in your CV account on this site so that you can apply for any job on the site quickly and easily.
To Sign up, you’ll need a CV...CVs and why yours must be fantasticCVs are your identifying feature – they’re how you show your competencies, experience, qualifications and skills.
If you don’t take them seriously, why would an employer ever think you’ll take their job seriously? Your CV will be read by HR departments, managers who are looking for an employee and likely, scanned by a computer too.
Because of the latter, there’s a few things you need to consider but we’ll cover that later.
Remember that, as someone looking for an RGN job, you ain’t alone in that. There may be 30 people applying for the same job, depending on where you live and how specialised it is, so your CV really needs to stand out and you as a person must shine through.
About this contributor
Nurses.co.uk Founder
I launched Nurses.co.uk (and subsequently Socialcare.co.uk, Healthjobs.co.uk and Healthcarejobs.ie) in 2008. 500 applications are made every day via our jobs boards, helping to connect hiring organisations recruiting for clinical, medical, care and support roles with specialist jobseekers. Our articles, often created by our own audience, shine a light on the career pathways in healthcare, and give a platform to ideas and opinions around their work and jobs.
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