[mack7580]

I live in Minnesota and I am going to move to Texas as soon as I graduate from RN school. Should I work in MN for a few months to get experience or should I just move to TX and search for a job with no experience? How likely is it that I will get a job with no experience?

[caliotter3]

If it were me I would try to work for awhile and make it my mission to get permission to use people at work as my professional references. Try to get signed letters of recommendation in case any of them move on and you lose touch. Try especially to get your supervisors to act in your behalf. It is sometimes hard to get employment without experience so do as much in your favor before you move.

[mzjones6]

I'm graduating in July from NS in Louisiana and moving to Illinois afterwards. After calling Illinois, its actually easier for me to get licensed in Illinois and take the NCLEX there, without getting licensed in LA at all. It just makes it easier and faster in terms of paperwork, if I want to start work immediately. If you don't plan on staying at all in Wisconsin after you graduate, you need to call Texas and see how they prefer things to go in terms of licenses.

[beckyvon]

I graduated in December 2007 in New Jersey and moved to North Carolina almost immediately after graduation. I had a job waiting for me there. I did some internet research, sent out some resumes and set up several interview for a 3-4 day trip that I took down before graduating.

I personally would recommend going straight to the state you want to work. You will need to figure out what is needed for the Licensing for Texas, etc. I just think it would be more trouble than it's worth to go through getting licesned in MN, then a few months later doing it all over again in another state. Not to mention the extra costs and time it will take to get the license.

Get letters of recemmendation for clinical instructors as early as possible, before school ends so you can use them with your resume.

Good luck!

[abeachRN]

I practiced in CA for only 4 months and am now moving to Ohio- and one interesting fact is some hospitals instead of giving a bonus will repay your student loans ONLY IF IT IS YOUR FIRST HOSPITAL JOB FRESH OUT OF SCHOOL. i had no choice of going to CA first, but now that i am headed to Ohio wish i was a candidate for this loan repayment option. So look into where you are moving, talk to hospitals, and see what they offer. I think the hospital i was looking at pays up to $10,000 in loans (don't know how many years you have to work for them for though to get that). just something to take into account