How to Actually Get Hired from a Nurse Practitioner Job Board

Searching for a nurse practitioner job might feel as though you’ve taken on a PRN position in addition to your current work; it can be that time consuming. Although many NPs rely on job boards to assist in their quest for a new opportunity, it’s been debated as to whether or not job boards are not a good way to get hired. The huge volume of applications that are received in response to one single posting can leave you to wonder, is getting hired from a posting off a job board even possible or does your resume just get sent into a black hole?

Rest assured, if the company has a legitimate need for a nurse practitioner, you can almost guarantee that they are using a job board to recruit candidates. The chances of you landing a position from a job board depends greatly upon the impression you make on the company right of the bat. Fortunately, improving your chances of actually getting hired from an online posting can be done fairly easily (also, try these 9 ways to overcome a lousy NP job market).  

Looks Matter

When recruiters have hundreds of resumes to go through in a short amount of time, they will likely start with the ones that look the most professional and attractive. Your cover letter and resume should be best possible visual representations of your professionalism, skills and experience. Little details matter such as addressing your cover letter direct to the hiring manager, the format, as well as proper grammar and spelling.

Always Include a Cover Letter

Regardless of if it’s asked for on the posting or not, you should always include a cover letter when you reply to job board postings. While it may seem tedious, a cover letter can be very beneficial in giving you a leg up on the competition and can ultimately mean the difference of whether the employer will ignore the rest of your resume or call you in for an interview. If you want to get noticed, you do not want to miss this important step. Follow these key guidelines when writing your nurse practitioner cover letter.

Use Specific Keywords

Many companies today use automated application screening systems that scan through the hundreds of resumes received. The system picks out those resumes with certain words that correspond with the job requirements. So if you find a job on a board that you are truly interested in, it’s imperative that you tailor your cover letter and resume to include exact keywords and phrases taken directly from the posting. If you skip this step, there’s a good chance that your application will be lost in the abyss, never to be even seen by the hiring manager or recruiter.

Set Up Job Alerts

A major mistake nurse practitioners make when searching on a job board for a new position is spending hours upon hours filtering through thousands and thousands of jobs themselves; many of which aren’t a fit. This unnecessary effort can cause you to become discouraged, fast, and not to mention is a huge time waster. Fortunately, many sites give you the option to be notified via email of jobs that meet your specific requirements and qualifications. This is a feature you should take advantage of if you’re serious in your search as it will help you efficiently narrow down your options for jobs in which you’re truly qualified for and interested in.

Create a Profile

Another feature you should take advantage of on a job board is setting up a profile for yourself (if there’s an option to do so). This action will allow recruiters to find you for positions in which you’re an ideal candidate for, taking all of the guesswork out for you. You may be asked to upload a resume during your profile set up. While ideally you want to tailor your cover letter and resume to be specific to each job you apply for, in this instance you can upload a standard resume. However, you still want to be sure that your resume is professional in appearance and that it includes specific keywords and phrases that are pertinent to the type of NP position you’re looking for as well.

Network with a Connection

As the saying goes, it’s not what you know but who you know when it comes to landing a job. Don’t overlook researching for a connection simply because you found the position on a job board. Before you apply for the opporunity, research for possible connections on sites like LinkedIn or Google. If you happen to have an acquaintance of sorts, you might be able to broker an introduction with the hiring manager depending on the nature of your relationship. Or, provided you have permission to do so, you could mention your connection’s information on your cover letter when you apply to the job by stating that you heard about the position through the specific job board as well as through this specific person. Try this recipe for job search networking success if you aren’t sure where to start. 

Do Your Research

When you apply for positions on job boards, it can be tempting to fire off your application as quickly as possible. In fact, some job sites make it rather easy to apply for positions with the click of a button. But if you’re serious about your interest in landing a new job, you shouldn’t neglect doing a little research on the company first. This serves two purposes. First, you want to be sure that this is a facility that you would actually enjoy working for. Second, and most importantly, providing a few statements about why you want to work for this particular company will certainly get their attention.

Check Niche Job Boards

Many generic job boards can be overwhelming with a gigantic listing of jobs for every single industry you can think of. Using a job board specifically for nurse practitioners or healthcare providers (like ThriveAP!) is a great way to narrow down the options. You can be almost certain that these niche sites have a true need for an NP.  

Have you ever landed a job from a job board posting?