Four Word documents for Indian nurses applying to Australia, New Zealand and the UAE — a formatted CV, an ATS-friendly version, a cover letter, and the checklist to run before you send anything.
For a human reader — recruiters, agency consultants, nurse unit managers.
A formatted two-page nursing CV template with every section an overseas employer expects, and bracketed prompts telling you what to write in each.
For online application portals that parse your CV before a person sees it.
The same content stripped to what applicant tracking software can actually read: no tables, no text boxes, no headers or footers, one column, standard headings.
For the final pass before you send anything.
Every check worth making on a nursing CV before it goes out, plus the documents employers and regulators commonly ask for alongside it.
For roles that ask for one — and the ones where it quietly helps.
A four-paragraph cover letter structure with worked opening lines for Australia, New Zealand and the UAE, and a list of phrases to avoid.
No email address, no sign-up, no watermark. Open them in Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice, replace the bracketed prompts with your own details, and delete anything that does not apply to you.
✍️ Would rather answer questions than edit a template? The CV builder asks what goes in each section, shows your CV as you type, and hands you the finished Word file. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Build My CVBuild My Cover LetterThe content is identical. What differs is whether a person or a piece of software reads it first.
| Criteria | Nursing CV Template | ATS-Friendly Version |
|---|---|---|
| Use it when | A person reads it first | A portal or ATS reads it first |
| Typical route | Email, agency consultant, referral | Careers portal, job board upload |
| Layout | Formatted headings and spacing | Single column, plain structure |
| Tables | Used for the contact band | None — parsers scramble them |
| Bullets | Formatted list bullets | Plain hyphens |
| Content | Identical | Identical |
If you are not sure, send the formatted version by email and use the ATS version for anything you upload to a portal. Applicant tracking software commonly drops tables, text boxes and anything in a header — the ATS file simply does not contain them.
In this order, and the order matters — an international reader looks for your registration status far earlier than an Indian CV usually puts it.
Name exactly as it appears on your passport, city and country, phone with the +91 country code, and one professional email address. No full postal address.
Three or four lines: years qualified, speciality, the kind of unit you work in, your registration status, and where you are applying. This is the only part many readers finish.
Your Indian State Nursing Council registration with its number and validity, then the registration you are applying for and the honest stage it is at.
Grouped into clinical, technical and interpersonal. Specific procedures and equipment, not adjectives about yourself.
Most recent first. Each role needs the unit type, bed count and nurse-to-patient ratio — an overseas reader cannot picture your workload without them.
Degree or diploma, institution, city and year of completion. GNM, B.Sc, Post-Basic B.Sc and M.Sc all belong here.
The test you sat, the date, and your scores by sub-test. If a test is booked but not sat, say so and give the date.
BLS, ACLS, NRP, infection control and anything speciality-specific — with the issuing body and the expiry date.
Recent courses, in-service training and conferences. This section quietly separates two otherwise identical CVs.
"Available on request" is fine. Employers commonly ask for two clinical referees including a recent line manager — ask their permission first.
Everything worth checking before you send. The downloadable version is the same list with tick boxes you can print.
This is a checklist, not a guarantee. Requirements change and differ by country, regulator and employer — always confirm the current ones with the employer and the relevant nursing regulator.
An Indian CV conventionally opens with personal details that employers in Australia and New Zealand do not expect and, in many cases, are not permitted to take into account. A photograph, date of birth, marital status, father's or husband's name, religion and caste are all normal at home and all unusual there. Leaving them off is not about hiding anything — it stops you volunteering information that adds nothing and makes the CV look unfamiliar to the person reading it.
This is convention and local practice rather than a rule we are stating on any regulator's behalf, and it is not uniform: some UAE adverts still ask for a photograph and personal details outright. Read the specific advert. If it asks, provide it.
What replaces all of it is context an overseas reader genuinely cannot supply for themselves. They have never seen your hospital. Give them the unit type, the bed count and the usual nurse-to-patient ratio on your shift, and a 30-bed post-operative ward in Hyderabad becomes something they can picture and compare. Leave those out and they will assume the smaller version of whatever you did.
Everything above is free and needs no email address — that is not changing. But we are working through a list of templates and checklists, and if you would like to know when the next one goes up, leave your address. That is all we will use it for, and you can reply to any email to come off the list.
No. Every file on this page downloads with one click and no form. There is an optional sign-up if you want to hear when new templates are added, but nothing on this page is behind it.
For Australia and New Zealand, generally no — employers there do not expect one and many application portals discourage it. Some UAE adverts still ask for a photograph, so read the specific advert rather than applying one rule everywhere. The template leaves the photo out by default.
Two pages suits most nurses with a few years of experience. Going to three is defensible if you have a long clinical history, but nothing should be there that does not help you get an interview. One page usually means you have left out the unit detail overseas readers need.
You need one CV that you adjust, not four CVs. The structure stays the same; what changes is which registration you name, which terminology you use, and how much you explain about the Indian healthcare setting. The templates are written so those are the only parts you edit.
An applicant tracking system is software that reads your CV into a database before anyone sees it. Large hospital groups and most careers portals use one. If you are uploading to a portal, use the ATS version — tables, text boxes and headers are the things that most often get dropped or scrambled.
Yes, deliberately. They cover the things a generic CV template will not tell you: which personal details conventionally come off for Australia and New Zealand, how to give an overseas reader the context of an Indian hospital posting, and how to phrase your registration while the application is still in progress.
Yes, and it is free. Our mentorship includes going through your CV with you. We do not write it for you and we do not guarantee any outcome — but a second pair of eyes from someone who has read a lot of these is usually worth having.
📌 Filled it in and want a second opinion? Our mentorship is free, and going through your CV with you is part of it. We will not write it for you, and we do not promise anyone a job.
Get Your CV ReviewedFor exams, registration and document guidance, see all our free resources or what our mentorship covers.
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