Graduated in 2009...got hired into RN Residency Program!

I thought I would never being saying these words because I hated it everytime I read it in a success story because it felt like it was being said out of pity for others who can't find a job. But now I can say it too. DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Being a new grad in the bay area in California I couldn't find ANYTHING for the last couple of years. The few interviews I managed to get ended the same way. "We require one year experience. We don't want to invest in training new grads because we've been burned before by them leaving after a year." These were LTC facilities telling me this! I couldn't even get an interview with a hospital.

I actually threw in the towel on being a nurse on Christmas when my cousin told me she can get me a job as a dispatcher at the utility company she works at. By God's grace the day she told me about the job, the posting for it online closed at midnight so I wasn't able to get the job.

I was looking at hospitals in Texas the last couple of months. One hospital had a new grad program for new grads or RNs with less than 6 months experience last month. They also had a job fair for the applicants. I called HR and asked them about the job fair. They told me they do most of their hiring from the job fair and strongly suggest I attend. They also told me about 300 applicants show up to the job fair. My prospects didn't look good me being from California and graduated in 2009. I had nothing to lose though. It was a guaranteed interview.

So I took a leap of faith and purchased a $600.00 round trip ticket to San Antonio, Texas. There were about 300 people there. I wore my brand new suit and had copies of my resume in my folder. I had to wait about 3 hrs just to interview with 3 different departments. By God's grace one of the departments liked me in the interview. The following Monday after flying back they blew up my phone to schedule the final interview over the phone with a manager. After the interview they told me I will be getting the job offer from HR. After two weeks of waiting I finally got the official job offer today.

So to all the new grads out there that can't even get interviews I feel your pain. I've been there. I can't say you will get a job eventually. All I can tell you is all it takes is one or two interviewers to like you, believe in you, and give you the chance you deserve. Being in the right place at the right time is key.

Good luck!!!