Ontario Nurse, please help looking for work.

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I'm desperate, in dire need of help and advice. I have applied to countless postings, tweaked my resume to cater to said posting and I hear nothing back :( I have 5 years experience in a retirement home and about 2 in community health shift nursing. I have a wound care certificate and have experience doing lots of skills. What am I doing wrong??? Does Ontario have more nurses than job openings????

I am a single mom with low child support. I dont know where to turn as I'm still casual at my job in the retirement home because I went to work as a school nurse this year. But the money isn't good, and I feel like I'm doing glorified babysitting. I just want a job. Please advise.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Moved to the Nursing in Canada forum

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I would say, go into the hospitals and talk to managers, make an apt to see them discuss their needs, your skills, etc. good luck with the job search

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It doesn't go through managers anymore. It all goes through Human Resources. I will call around to HR depts tomorrow and see what they say. If that doesn't work I guess I'll try a career agency and get help with my resume

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Yes Ontario does have more applicants than jobs these days.

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Hr hires after a manager approves of the job, the manager would know if a spot is open and what they are looking for, I still say go to the manager ask, if they don't give you any specifics go to hr and see what they say

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Hr hires after a manager approves of the job, the manager would know if a spot is open and what they are looking for, I still say go to the manager ask, if they don't give you any specifics go to hr and see what they say

How long has it been since you worked in Canada?

My health authority won't look at you if you haven't applied on-line for a posted competition. managers are too busy to be cold called by people looking to "tips" and resume tweaking. The last three who tried this on my unit were told to go through channels and their resume handed back.

The employment market is so tight that grievances are filed over irregular hires.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Where i work you would have no luck getting a private audience with the manager. You would be directed to the website and told to apply online. Managers are really busy and even as an employee it's hard getting to speak with them.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I have skimmed resumes when people come to see me, IF I have the time which I usually don't. Regardless, all potentials are informed to apply online. We cannot hire anyone without an online posting, including casuals otherwise the risk is grievance.

That's just not worth it to most employers.

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I'm going to have to agree with joanna73 on this one. In terms of people trying to get jobs, when people come up to me (mind you, I'm a clinical educator not a manager but I still have a say in who gets hired) I barely have time to skim through the resume. And even so, I still have to direct them to HR. There's also a ton of other factors as to why nobody has called you for an interview. You can have 10 years experience in a nursing home, but depending on the floor you're on we'll brush it off. I am the educator for an acute medicine/telemetry floor and my colleague and I rarely consider applicants with less than one year acute experience.

Times are tough, and I have had experienced hiring nurses with nursing home experience only to struggle with the pace of the acute floor. However, the best advice I can give you is to continue applying to hospitals that have openings for rehab, or continuing care positions. I know they will be similar to a nursing home (what you are doing now) but the importance is getting your foot in the door. Once you have that foot in the door, everything else will be much easier as you will get to apply for internal positions and eventually work where you want to.

Good luck

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Specializes in geriatrics.

We also have a say in who is hired. I hire my own staff. However, the days are gone when a prospective applicant could walk in, talk with the manager and obtain a casual position as a way in.

There must be an online posting. I will sometimes skim the resume, but everyone is directed to the online site. All applications are screened through HR first. Otherwise staff can and will file a grievance.

On any given day, there are 200 resumes in our clinical manager's office. She screens for the programs and forwards potentials to each unit.

Apply for casual and temp to get in the door. Another option might be relocation.

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It's very tough to get a hold of a Manager. I have tried, just to ask a couple of questions. I know I have to apply to a posting first. I have mostly applied to nursing homes, and Rehab in the hospital or anything that mentions geriatric care as a prerequisite.

If only I could relocate, I would definitely go further north. But unfortunately, I am separated and share custody with my son's dad.

Many postings state Medication Administration Certificate as mandatory. I have been giving out meds very safely for 5 years now, I feel as if although I will definitely learn something, it is too expensive and will add so much crazy into my schedule as I do work 3 casual jobs right now. What do you think is it worth getting that?

Thank you all so much for the insight!!! It is great to get some feedback.

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