About to graduate with no hospital employment experience

netglow, ASN, RN · Apr 17, 2011

If you have no prior employment experience of any kind, I'd continue to look. Thing is, the "experience" that you need as a new grad RN is the type you cannot get. Keep reading AN about new grad job hunting. Most hospitals require 1+ years acute care experience as a very bottom minimum. This means they want some other hospital to train you. You are some kind of hot potato! Some still have new grad programs, but those cohorts are small in size and you must have some spiffy connections. CNA experience might help, but I have not seen anyone picked up once licensed without having other connections (family/gov) at hospital. Sure if your state allows, you can continue on as a CNA after you get your RN license. But, never have seen this last long. Lots of liability concerns. Also, soon you realize that the hospital has no intention of picking you up, it gets to be a sad joke. If I were you I'd get a part time job NON NURSING!! Work at home depot or something that you can keep up long term after you graduate without being forced out. You might very well need a better foothold for income than working for a hospital or LTC!!!

rkitty198, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2011

You are in the same boat with thousands upon thousands of other new grads. Did you make friends with any of the nurses you met during clinicals? It pays to have good relations with them because they might be able to get you in the door there or in another facility. Don't doubt the importance of networking. I would gladly give a kind word about a student that impressed me in clinicals.

I♥Dexter · Apr 17, 2011

Go and get the cna license, and get a cna job in a hospital!! I graduated from an ADN program with a 4.0 gpa, no previous hospital exp, and no CNA and I'm still looking for work. I have only had one interview and the position went to the one with previous hospital/cna exp. I too, thought that grades were important but it seems that they only matter while you're in school. In the real world "C = RN" and it's not what you know but who you know that gets you hired! :twocents:

Good luck!

avtech · Apr 17, 2011

I am in the same boat as you. Graduate in May with no previous hospital experience, or any medical experience for that matter. The employment situation is extremely location specific. I was told from a girl in my class, that the recruiter told her we needed to be putting in applications like in March. I put out about 15 apps...had three interviews, and two job offers. I didn't know anyone, and didn't have anyone put in a good word. I now have a job waiting on me when I graduate. It's on an ortho/neuro stepdown...not what I want right now, but a job never the less. I sympathize with all the grads not finding jobs. I figure my location is still a decent market, but the recruiter at the hospital I'm going to work with said that they are being overwhelmed with applications. Keep plugging a way, and start applying now if you haven't.

AJPV · Apr 17, 2011

Thanks everyone for your thoughts - and congratulations avtech! I do think the market is very location-specific. I don't think I really have enough time to still try to get my CNA license and then try to get hired as a tech (when it will be obvious to HR that they are only going to get a few months of tech work from me). I'm thinking about volunteering at a hospital. I'll apply for every entry-level RN job in our medium-large city starting a few months before I graduate and then steadily increase the geographic radius of the jobs I apply for.

foreverLaur · Apr 17, 2011

I too, thought that grades were important but it seems that they only matter while you're in school. In the real world "C = RN" and it's not what you know but who you know that gets you hired!
Good luck!

C's = ADN or BSN, not RN. You have to then pass the NCLEX to accomplish that

C's = an RN who only knows 76% of the material.

C's = RN who doesn't even care enough about his or her own education to attempt to do better so how do you except that RN to go above and beyond for someone else?

What if someone wants to do a RN-BSN or MSN or DNP program? Grades matter! The average GPA for all 3 graduate programs I am looking at are 3.3 or higher. C's = 2.0 = not good enough.

Sl1011 · Apr 17, 2011

Do you have a teaching hospital somewhat nearby? They LOVE hiring new grads! I recently got hired at a large teaching hospital here about 20 mins away, and they receive a TON of applications.

ajt575s · Apr 17, 2011

I strongly suggest continuing to look for a tech position or an internship if you can. Several of my classmates who were techs were hired directly onto their floors, and those who have worked as techs and/or had internships (including me) have had much less trouble finding jobs than those with no health care experience! Some of these students were only techs for a month or two in their last semester before they landed these RN positions, too! Conversely, some of the strongest students in our class (gradewise) are still unemployed, while those who worked as Patient Care techs are pretty much all employed. I did both a stint as a tech and an internship. I am graduating in May, and my internship helped me land the job I'm starting after I graduate. If nothing else, try to volunteer or do anything to make yourself stand out. Networking seems to be key in the current economic climate.

I♥Dexter · Apr 17, 2011

C's = ADN or BSN, not RN. You have to then pass the NCLEX to accomplish that
C's = an RN who only knows 76% of the material.
C's = RN who doesn't even care enough about his or her own education to attempt to do better so how do you except that RN to go above and beyond for someone else?
What if someone wants to do a RN-BSN or MSN or DNP program? Grades matter! The average GPA for all 3 graduate programs I am looking at are 3.3 or higher. C's = 2.0 = not good enough.

ForeverLaur, It was a figure of speech that I heard a lot in school... when I would worry about getting an A, people would always say, that all I had to do was pass... and at my school 80% was a C and anything less than a C was considered failing. And you are right when it comes to grades and getting into higher education, but as far as getting an entry-level RN position, it doesn't seem like grades matter at all. In fact, the people from my class who were hired immediately, were the ones who also passed each semester by the skin of their teeth because they were working at the aforementioned tech/cna jobs. All I know is what I've seen, and what I see is that in the real world, outside of the classroom and the nclex, grades don't matter.

Sun0408, ASN, RN · Apr 17, 2011

Just giving you a glimmer of hope here.. No previous hospital experience, I am not nor was I a tech or CNA.. I landed a job less than two weeks after getting my license.

Keep putting out applications.. A large hospital is more willing to hire new grads in my area than a smaller one without experience.. Network at all your clinical sites. Talk to HR and recruiters. Don't turn anything down unless it is dangerous..

sweetER · Apr 18, 2011

Definitely keep trying to land a tech job. I got one just six months before graduation, and because of that, got an RN job (at another hospital) exactly where I wanted - ER- before taking boards. Many of my classmates are still looking for jobs. It helps!