Am I admirably persistent or just delusional?

[SillyInScrubs]

I graduated in May with my BSN and am currently licensed and ready to work. I immediately applied at Dream Hospital upon graduation. I have had several very positive clinical experiences at this hospital, and many of my friends work there and rave about how much they love their jobs. Everyone I know who has been a patient there has had nothing but great things to say about their experiences. They have a fantastic orientation program, the best pay I have ever heard of, awesome benefits, tuition reimbursement, the list goes on and on. They appreciate their nurses and treat them very well. I want a piece of that.

I got a quick response, before I even applied anywhere else, and an interview with the nurse recruiter followed, which went very well. At Dream Hospital, the recruiter interviews the new grads first, and then refers them to interview with the manager of whatever floor has a suitable opening for the next interview. Knowing that this is where I really want to be, despite the fact that it is notorious for taking a really long time to get to that next interview, I decided to wait it out for fear that if I got an offer somewhere else I would most likely accept it, then I would miss out on an opportunity at Dream Hospital and be kicking myself. I am not the type to ditch a commitment after I've made it.

Fast forward five months later, and I still don't have the job. My friends who know the recruiter have told me I did everything right, I am doing all of the right things to follow up at the right times, and that if she were not interested, she would definitely not be leading me on. The recruiter and I have developed a good rapport by this point, and when I see a new opening on the website and contact her about it, she assures me that if it is not filled by an internal candidate by the time the 11 day posting period is up, she will definitely call me. In a phone conversation she said to me, "I know you're going to get nervous when you don't hear from us for a while, but if you don't hear us say we aren't interested, then that's a good thing. Most people end up getting impatient and we lose them to other hospitals, but we do want you [new nurses in general] here. I don't want you to think we've forgotten about you, it's just a matter of waiting for the internal candidates to finish moving around within the hospital." Sounded pretty promising to me.

The position I reeeeeally want is on the telemetry floor, which just so happens to be where one of my best friends from school works. My friend took the liberty of personally and enthusiastically referring me to her manager, who advised me to apply whenever a position on the floor opens up and she would be happy to interview me. Great!

And a position opened up! So I relayed this information to the recruiter, and asked how I should go about applying since I am a new graduate and I need to go through her since technically I am not applying for the "staff nurse" position listed online but the "new graduate" position that I have already applied for. She said that she was sorry but the position had already been [snatched up by an internal candidate] (how the manager of the floor didn't already know that when she told me to apply is beyond me), but next time one opens up she will most definitely call me and set something up with Manager.

Since then, another position on the floor has opened and been quickly filled again. Discouraging.

I have still not applied anywhere else, because I still have hope that if I keep showing interest, eventually all the pieces will fall into place and it will be worth the wait. In the meantime I am working as a waitress and I don't hate it. My bills get paid, it's not about the money. I've been enjoying the extra time I've had to recharge and take care of myself again after spending my entire life in school. My feeling is, what's the rush? I have the rest of my life to be a nurse. And nurses are infamous for relying on their gut instincts. My gut just keeps telling me I'm doing the right thing.

But countless conversations with friends and acquaintances about "my situation" have left me feeling like I am the only one who feels this way. Everyone seems to think I'm just crazy. Honestly, and I mean be brutally honest...

Am I??

[netglow, ASN, RN]

FACT:

Nurse Managers and Nurse Recruiters are notorious for being obtuse when it comes to potential employment discussions.

There are many, many, many internals that will want the same job you are wanting. That job will go to anybody with experience of any kind before it goes to you... internal or external applicant.

YOUR "TO DO" LIST FOR TODAY:

Apply elsewhere and everywhere... Spend all day, and tomorrow too, and the next day.

[OCNRN63, RN]

The next thing "Dream Hospital" is going to tell you is it's been too long since you graduated and you are no longer considered a new grad.

Get a job as a nurse now. Whether they mean to or not, "Dream Hospital" is giving you the runaround.

[SillyInScrubs]

Thank you so much to everyone for your responses! I woke up this morning and before my feet even hit the floor I immediately grabbed my laptop and got to work on updating and fine tuning my resume and researching other opportunities. I think I had an epiphany- I need to stop being stuck up! Haha.

I think I felt like since I worked so very hard in school and graduated at the top of my class that I could afford to be picky and refuse to buy into the whole "desperate-new-grad-scrambling-to-get-ANY-job-he/she-can" stereotype. I think maybe I felt like I would somehow be able to rise above all that and that I should get to choose where I want to be, like the way things used to be when a license could get you anywhere you wanted to go. But I am starting to see that it may have become a sort of rite of passage to settle for any old staff nurse job at any old hospital and stick out it for a year or two before you get to follow your dreams.

And for the record, I am strongly against taking a job and then bailing as soon as something better comes along. That's a topic that has been discussed in many other threads and there seem to be different schools of thought on it, so I won't go into it here, but that's just my position. Of course, if I ever found myself in an unsafe environment I would leave, but I have ruled out leaving because "the grass is greener". Wherever I get my first job, I will be there for at least a year. So hopefully I will get lucky and get one I actually like! :)

Thanks again for the wake up call from those who provided it and the support from those who gave it!

Any advice on my next moves would be welcome at this point... haha.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I would start applying to other facilities. You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket, especially in this tight job market for new grads. Five months is a long time to be waiting around. Pretty soon, you may not qualify for "new grad" status, and you will still be left without any experience.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

OK, more advice. It might be that you will not get a hospital job.

I **** you not on this. Apply everywhere, rinse, repeat.

[aileenve, ASN, RN]

When I graduated I applied for every nursing job, I went on a lot of interviews, and then I worked for hospital #1 for 7 months! I was not happy and the benefits sucked but I did get some experience; my dream hospital finally called me, and so I put in a two week notice and stated that I had received a better offer and thanked them for the opportunity they gave me..they were not surprised and wished me well... Good luck!

[JenniferSews]

And for the record, I am strongly against taking a job and then bailing as soon as something better comes along.

I hear you, but you could have had a less than dream job and 5 months experience by now, where leaving might not feel so much like bailing. Good luck finding a job. I'm hoping that as time goes by myself, I will find it a blessing that I wasn't able to get a hospital job.

[sunray12]

Persistence is good but you should be applying elsewhere and hopefully you'll get hired and start getting some experience under your belt. To be honest you shouldn't be waitressing with a new license "in your pocket" unless that was your only choice. You don't know that this is your only choice coz you haven't tried looking elsewhere. I know people who have literally waited for years to get on with dream employer but in the mean time they were working elsewhere and the experience they gained elsewhere gave the edge they needed to finally get in the door.

[SillyInScrubs]

UPDATE! I applied to two other hospitals, both with excellent reputations and both about 50 minutes away from me. I spoke with a classmate I graduated with about one of them to ask her what she thought about working there, because she had worked there as an intern and an aide during school, and she raved about how much she loved it and offered to recommend me to the recruiter. After she did, I called the recruiter to introduce myself and inquire about the possibility of interviewing for the job. An interview was set up for the following week and I went to it, very nervous but still feeling confident.

It was the best interview I've ever experienced, because I was the only one asking the questions! Apparently she was so impressed with my resume and the recommendation that the only question she felt the need to ask was "Do you have any questions?"

Then, to my surprise, we went to the floor to meet the manager who was already waiting to see me. We had our introductions and repeated another light-hearted yet very informative interview. All of my questions were answered to my satisfaction and I started to REALLY want the job. I was showed around the floor and met the staff and as I was leaving the manager said, "We're glad to have you! The recruiter will call you and set up your drug testing and physical, and we will be offering you the position," and I was told my start date.

:)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's perfect. Just what I wanted. Totally worth the commute. It's on a cardiology floor, and I can't wait! Thanks for your wonderful advice and helping me get my butt in gear! :)

As a side note, my friend at Dream Hospital texted me after the interview to tell me that one of my classmates had just started in the position I had been waiting for. She had already interned and done her preceptorship on that floor during school. I had no chance against that, and I'm SO glad I moved on!

[klone, MSN, RN]

Oh yay! What a fabulous update! I'm really glad you expanded your search and what a wonderful payoff. Congratulations!