Alberta Nurses

[s307]

Hello,

I would love some advice from any Alberta RNs who have successfully obtained a nursing job via Alberta Health Services. I have been applying to jobs for over two years with no success (no interviews). I even had my resume checked by a nursing recruiter who told me it was great. Please help! Any tips and advice welcome! Thank you so much :)

[Jeana_nf]

Whichever place you have experience for find out who the manager is. Go see them call HR make sure they remember your name

[Fiona59]

AHS is a crap shoot when it comes to hiring.

Rumour has it there is an unofficial hiring freeze due to the government freeing hiring.

Jobs are posted that they have no intention of filling.

Every job that is posted is reviewed by HR to see if "duty to accommodate staff" can be placed in it.

Lately, the hiring process has been very slow. I know someone that applied for a posting in mid-September. Her interview was at the start of November. New hire was announced the second week of December. This was for an internal posting.

Most managers I've had over the years don't take cold calls or resumes handed in. The process is all on-line. Staff have been hired from rural settings into Edmonton. It used to be that RAH or UAH staff had first selection at jobs within their sites. Now with AHS and on-line applicants, all are meant to be viewed equally and no more site preferences.

All you can do is keep applying. Covenant, Capital Care, LTC. AHS isn't the only employer. And any employer is a start.

[RuralRN432]

Go rural! I was applying for a solid year after graduating with no success; not so much as a phone call for an interview. I did get a position in a private LTC--which is good experience regardless. And finally was able to get a position when I broadened my search to rural. I've been working 1.5 hours away from home for a year now. In that time, I was able to get experience in a complex med/surg unit as well as in emergency and labour and delivery. If you find a good site, the experience is so worth it. Now that I've hit my "magical" one year experience mark, I've started applying to my city. Good luck!

[frances81]

I lucked out in that I found my dream PHN nursing position within about 6 weeks but I had to go super rural & isolated. Not my ideal location but the experience makes up for it. Hoping to move back to the city - or within an hours drive - in the next few years.