I recently co-hosted a booth for my employer at a large nursing and healthcare worker job fair. I wanted to share some observations:
While I enjoyed hosting a booth and spoke with many interesting people, I have to comment about the lack of professional decorum among some attendees. I am old school so hear me out. If you are going to a job fair shouldn't you be dressed in your "Sunday finest" and have numerous copies of your resume to hand out to the representatives and HR recruiters? First impressions do count.
What saddened me about the day was to see so many unemployed nurses. NYC is very tight now. I was asked what advice I could offer and I really could not say anything new expect to volunteer, keep applying and continue to seek out opportunities. The job market for experienced nurses is tight so the new grads really have a hard road ahead of them.
I have been in nursing a long time and I have seen the highs and lows but the lack of opportunity out there for the new grads is something to worry about. A nurse out of school for more than two or three years who has not worked is in a very difficult place. With so many new grads, employers will take the latest grads from from school and clinical training if jobs should open up. I do wonder what will happen when it gets out that nursing is over subscribed especially in NYC.
To those who are looking for work, good luck. You are in my prayers.