Tips for Securing First CNA Position?

Nursing Students CNA/MA

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I'm 22 years old and recently became certified as a nursing assistant. I have plenty of volunteer experience (in health care, no less!) and have excelled in college, but I have no paid work experience because the majority of my time not spent going to school was helping my mother around the house. She has a cervical spine injury. Now that we have moved closer to family, others can help her out while I work. However, I can't find work because I have no paid work history, in healthcare or otherwise. What do I do?

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Keep applying to LTCs don't just do online applications go to the facilities and be super nice and polite and have a professional looking resume. If you just want a job to get some work history apply to a agency as a caregiver, they will hire just about anyone, I know they hired me;) I don't think lack of work experience will totally stop you from finding a job if you are easy about where you will work. However if you only apply to hospitals or five star SNFs then you probably won't get a call back without a ton of experience. I've stuck to applying to ALFs and LTC until I can get a year of work under my gait belt and then I will apply elsewhere.

Good luck and don't get discouraged! This is the perfect time of year to be looking for a job as a CNA because there are a certain amount of CNA's that are starting nursing school or even pre reqs so they are dropping from full time to part time.

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I'm 22 years old and recently became certified as a nursing assistant. I have plenty of volunteer experience (in health care, no less!) and have excelled in college, but I have no paid work experience because the majority of my time not spent going to school was helping my mother around the house. She has a cervical spine injury. Now that we have moved closer to family, others can help her out while I work. However, I can't find work because I have no paid work history, in healthcare or otherwise. What do I do?

I just wanted to update this thread: I got hired on the spot today for a position at a wonderful facility!

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Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

What kind of facility and how did your interview process go? Congratulations!

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Thank you! It's a pediatric long-term care facility. I initiated contact with the DON after seeing their request for CNA/NA applications for the night shift yesterday. Immediately, I was contacted and scheduled for an interview/tour today. I had my tour and then half way through the interview I was offered the position! What I liked was that it wasn't focused around the traditional abstract questions "how did you handle conflict/difficulty at such-and-such a time" and whether I'd held a non-related, random retail/etc job in the past but rather on my skills, training, and knowledge as nursing assistant.

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