Is it me (with no experience) or the NYC job market still sucks?

U.S.A. New York

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It's going to be a year and a half since I haven't had a nursing job. I have two months experience from a clinic but that's it. I have been applying EVERYWHERE, mailed out my resumes, dropped in certain hospitals to give my resume in person but was told to apply online (like I was doing already). I truly don't know what to do at this point yet I want to spare everyone the details of my nursing job search. I work for the City of NY and have been applying to all the HHC hosiptals (or the ones that post on the website). Is there any other way I can get "noticed?" I am a city employee already so I thought I had an advantage but apparently I don't. All tips and suggestions are welcome. Thanks. I am still trying to keep a smile on my face, :). It has been really frustrating.

Is this really true though? I've worked at three hospitals in Brooklyn and all three are packed to the gills, admitting a huge chunk of people coming into the ER and very long wait times for beds. The ERs are certainly beyond capacity, putting people in the hallways on folding chairs. I'm an ED nurse and half of my patients on any given day are holds that are waiting for a bed, and have been waiting for 24 hours or longer...

Remaining Brooklyn hospitals are going through the same thing those on East Side of Manhattan had to cope with after Saint Vincent's shut down. Some (perhaps limited) relief will come by 2018 when NYU-Langone opens their urgent care/ER on old LICH site. That and or plans for the remaining hospitals to expand.

That being said even Andrew Cuomo is worried about healthcare in Brooklyn to the extent of proposing building a new facility in that borough.

State considering construction of a new hospital in Brooklyn | POLITICO

However "hospital" is a relative term. What is clear whatever does (or if) happens cannot be what is commonly associated as a hospital today. That is a large building with many inpatient beds.

Yes, many Brooklyn hospitals are bursting at the seams; but just as with Saint Vincent's it is the patient payer mix that is the problem. Large numbers of those on Medicaid, Medicare and insurance plans with low hospital reimbursement rates isn't helping Brooklyn hospitals. They need to attract the more upscale recent and other arrivals to that borough whom travel to Manhattan or Long Island currently for care.

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I work for a HHC hospital and to be honest they are mostly recruiting nurses from the Philippines. I have tried complaining to HR about this prejudice and tried contacting outside agencies to no avail. I know so many and see so many nurses who have gone to school here in the US go years without jobs yet those in the Philippines coming every month for orientation. I would suggest to keep applying, go to job fairs, or if all else fails look out of state. Because currently the market is geared to nurses from the Philippines. Just being honest with what I see.

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Specializes in MedSurg, PACU, Maternal/Child Health.

Achieveanything....I work for an HHC and no they do not recruit nurses from the Philippines. Sponsoring visas is expensive...any Philippine nurses you see are likely already in the USA for years (back in the 90s, HHCs did heavily recruit from the Philippines due to nursing shortage here in USA) and already have experience and green cards/citizenship in the US. I work with Philippine nurses that can easily be thought to be new arrivals as they speak to each other in their language and stick together in groups...however they been here for over 15 years.

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2018? NYU has already opened their ER in the former LICH (my birth hospital). Let me grab a Kleenex.

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I work for a HHC hospital and to be honest they are mostly recruiting nurses from the Philippines. I have tried complaining to HR about this prejudice and tried contacting outside agencies to no avail. I know so many and see so many nurses who have gone to school here in the US go years without jobs yet those in the Philippines coming every month for orientation. I would suggest to keep applying, go to job fairs, or if all else fails look out of state. Because currently the market is geared to nurses from the Philippines. Just being honest with what I see.

To Achieveanything- I can feel your pain and sometimes many of us will always look for anything to blame for our frustrations specially if we have student loans to pay. However, I suggest that we do a little bit of research before we start throwing stones. There is retrogression for hiring Philippine nurses since 2007 and as of October 2015 Visa Bulletin the waiting time for sponsoring Philippine nurses is 8 years. In addition to the astronomical cost of hiring overseas nurses, do you think any HHC's Human Resource Directors will have the time to patiently wait for them ?

check this for more info:

Visa Bulletin Movement for EB3-PHILIPPINES

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CP1983[COLOR=#666666] You should apply to St.Marys children's hospital in Bayside Queens. I just started there a couple of weeks ago. Its a great place to get peds experience. They are always hiring, give it a try. I was having the same issue with not being able to find a job either. I worked with an agency as a school nurse. With that experience I was able to land a position with the hospital. Good luck[/COLOR]
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Broaden your search horizon. Try SCO and Seton pediatric center...they both gave me call backs.

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estrellaCR I am speaking on what I see. Yes they are still recruiting nurses from the Philippines, I have no reason to lie. I know a few new nurses who just came from the Philippines and this is their first US job. I am speaking about new nurses attending orientations and then going to their respective units. As you know all HHC's differ and I'm speaking on what I know and see. (I.E that's why I stated at the end of my post "just being honest with what I see."

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caleb2015 There is no pain on my end. I just feel bad for people who went to school here and still can't find a job. I am not blaming anyone for any frustrations. I am speaking on what I see and know. What do student loans have to do with anything? I don't throw stones, I state what I observe and what is being done at my facility. And to answer your question HR Directors for whatever reason do wait for these nurses to come over. Just had a new nurse join our unit who is from the Philippines join the facility as a staff nurse after waiting a few years to come.

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caleb2015 There is no pain on my end. I just feel bad for people who went to school here and still can't find a job. I am not blaming anyone for any frustrations. I am speaking on what I see and know. What do student loans have to do with anything? I don't throw stones, I state what I observe and what is being done at my facility. And to answer your question HR Directors for whatever reason do wait for these nurses to come over. Just had a new nurse join our unit who is from the Philippines join the facility as a staff nurse after waiting a few years to come.

To achieveanything- May I know which facility of HHC you are referring to ? I have many friends who happen to know one of the HR Directors of HHC and she can call him/her to verify the real story behind what you witnessed ?

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The November 2015 EB3 employment-based Visa Bulletin for Philippine nurses is out. The waiting time is exactly 8 years & 4 months & 17 days. No HR Directors with their rational mind will have the patience to sponsor Philippine nurses when there are abundant qualified local nurses in the labor market.

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Have said this often and will do so again; better NYC hospitals can and do recruit nurses from all over the United States both new grads and experienced. Thus the nursing profession here is no different than advertising, Wall Street and so forth, persons are up against competition from outside of the City and even state.

Next thing one has continued to say is that look around... over the past ten years we have lost a lot of hospitals and nursing homes. Places that are still open are shrinking inpatient bed numbers on average. Yet we have *more* nursing programs in NYC than ten years ago especially if you count new ABSN and RN-BSN programs. All schools are churning out graduates at record levels. NYU alone graduates classes of two or three hundred (forget which) with a very large passing rate (something in the 90% range).

Places are closing in Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey as well, all easy commutes (depending upon where one lives) into the City especially Manhattan.

What this all boils down to is the good places have no problems finding nurses. Until that changes (example a shortage) the market for nurses here will be tight. Only time one hears of any large scale hiring is when there is an equally large exodus of nurses. NS-LIJ/Lennox Hill did a bunch of hiring several months ago according to my sources when a good number of nurses in (particular nights) left.

Only way one sees for any major hiring is if someone opens a new hospital. If population growth continues and certain areas of the City see changing demographics then *perhaps* something will be built in say the Westside (to replace Saint Vincent's) or perhaps Brooklyn. Whether any of us shall live to see this happen I cannot answer.

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