How did you get your first nursing position

I was a STNA for 1 1/2 years before I got my RN. An ICU position was open, the ADON offered it to me, and I happily accepted I didn't even interview.

I was set to graduate nursing school in 2005. Had never worked as a nursing assistant/secretary/anything else in a hospital or doctors office. I did a 12 week student nurse thing the summer before last year. 6 weeks in PICU, 6 weeks in Rehab.

There are two major hospitals in my city, and of course, I wanted to work in a hospital, not a office or anything like that. I applied in January of 2005 for the "new grad RN" position. You fill out the application, indicate on it where you'd like to work. I put on it NICU, PICU, ER or L&D. NICU was the only one I got an interview at.

So when I go to the interview, I was 36 weeks pregnant. It was my first real job interview-I was only 23 years old! I'd always had basic jobs, where the interview was "when can you start?". IT was a situational/behavioral interview and the interviewers were not very friendly or pleasant!

4 weeks later, I finally heard that they didnt' offer me the job. So, I asked the recruiter what other units were hiring, and accepted interviews at ortho and cardiac surgery PCU. Neither of which sounded exciting. I had the baby by this point. I went to the ortho interview when my baby was a week old or so. Coming out of the interview right before me was a classmate, who saw me and told the interviewer that I had a baby last week~ i thought this would screw me. i was offered that job. Cardiac surgery PCU interview went well, she talked so long i had to cross my arms across my chest hard to inhibit let down!! lol that job seemed nice enough and the manager seemed really nice-she is the one that sealed it for me.

Took that job, and worked there for 15 months before switching to labor and delivery where i've been for the last 3.25 years!

First and foremost I think PERSISTENCE is the key for landing your first nurising gig..I dont have a position yet but I can tell you what gets me the interviews...I just keep applying everyday and it is working...I already had like 3 interviews (but I suck at interviews to be honest with you) and I have another one coming up tommorow (I really want this job it is a medical telemetry position) so just remember keep applying,reapplying whatever it takes!

Persistence is the key!! Don't give up and stay positive and soon, you will land a job. But there are positions open, so keep interviewing!

I was hired on the floor I did my senior practicum on.

Throughout nursing school, I worked on summer breaks as a CNA on a med-surg floor. I definitely think that adds to your marketability as a new grad nurse. In the fall of 2005, during my senior year, our university held a career fair. There were several nurse recruiters present for various hospitals in the region. I traded my updated resume for their business cards and sent an email to each of the nurse recruiters that same day thanking them for taking the time to answer all of my questions.

In December I placed an application for a new grad position on a CCU/heart transplant unit. One of the HR reps remembered me and contacted me right away for an interview. After I interviewed with the nurse manager, I also emailed her a thank you note as soon as I got home. Some people say hand written notes are better, but I wanted her to receive it that day. I accepted my first RN position in January of my senior year. I remember being so thrilled and how much stress was lifted for the remainder of the semester and studying for boards. I know a lot of places are beginning to move away from hiring new grads with "boards-pending" but that was how my experience went!

Nursing jobs are tough to come by where I live. It was extremely competitive so I prepared for my interview for a couple of weeks. I knew that I didn't have a whole lot going for me (B+ student, zero hospital experience, no volunteer work, only speak english) so I researched character interview questions on the internet and prepared answers specifically to point out things that I thought were important as far as who I am and what kind of nurse I would be. I knew that nurses need to be team players, level headed, good decision makers, good under stressful conditions, empathetic and compassionate. So I went through my personal experiences and came up with examples of how I have shown those qualities in the past. I also researched the hospital for its values and mission statement and incorporated those things into my answers. And then I bought a nice skirt suit to show I was professional and a lady. I had to go through an HR interview and then a 10 person panel interview. They didn't ask me all the questions I prepared, but I was only given one question that I hadn't prepped for. I think that my extensive preparation really made me confident going in to the interview, and I didn't forget any of the things I wanted to say because I had thought about them so much ahead of time. I also made sure to point out my future goals in nursing education and research, and I had questions prepared for my interviewers (do they support employees who wish to continue their education, etc). I made sure to be very honest about who I am, because I really wanted this job and I want to stay with this hospital for my entire career.

I was hired to an oncology unit (Night Charge Position, no less) right from nursing school. I'd been a respiratory therapist from years before nursing school. There was nursing shortage then and the hospitals recruited us before graduatuon and boards. We worked as a GN. Boards were July something and we were scheduled off to make our two day trip to sit for them. We got results back by mail in September. I got 100%!

I was hired on the floor where I did my last clinicals. The nurse I did them with got me an interview. This was May 2008 before all this hit.

I did my senior year practicum in a local Level IIIB NICU, and was given a job on the same unit when I graduated. Today is the start of my 2nd week in hospital orientation and we report to the units tomorrow.