another new grad that can't find work.

missLissRn · Aug 18, 2011

Thanks Mrs. SnowstormRN! i know it hasn't been long yet! i guess i'm just getting anxious about it. its not that i'm not working, i work in retail right now. and thats forsure not going to pay them student loan payments! i honestly have been applying for every position that i can. i haven't been going in many places and doing it personally though, i will def start doing that! i'll start doing that as soon as these kids get back to school in 2 weeks.

CONGRATS on getting a position! and thanks again!

Bernadetted · Aug 18, 2011

I hate to be another new grad on here upset cause i can't find work.... but.... I CAN'T FIND WORK! i graduated in May, passed boards in July! and still nothing! honestly, i didn't think it was going to be as hard as it is to find a job! at this point i just want to cry daily , when the phone doesn't ring with any call backs! i have dozens of applications in, i'm making follow up calls, i just don't know what else to do!
i'm sorry i just had to come on and vent a little! i'm very much becoming depressed cause i still have not gotten ONE call back yet! all i want to do is work! i'm starting to get scared i'm not going to find anything, and i have all these student loans to pay back! ugh

Economy is not good at this time. keep applying at different places. ask friends and family if they can recommend you to a place that knows them. :up: good luck

BernieRN · Aug 19, 2011

Be patient. A month without a job post passing boards is not bad.

I graduated May 2010, passed the boards in June 2010...not a typo...and no job!

Twinmom06, ASN, APN · Aug 19, 2011

are you in Bucks County? The reason I'm asking is because closer to NE PA (Luzerne, Lackawanna counties and carbon county Geisinger Danville) have TONS of jobs posted...if you're closer up here you might have an easier time getting a job...

missLissRn · Aug 19, 2011

ooo DianaJH i will be praying for you too! hope you find something soon!

Twinmom06, i'm kinda near there i'm in lancaster/ chester county ... i went to school in reading. lehigh valley has hired many of our grads but it is almost a 2 hour drive for me! same with geisinger , if i don't find something by winter i may end up applying that far. right now i have focused on lancaster, philly, reading, lebanon, mechanicsburg, also been looking at jobs in Delaware too. Hershey and Paoli will start accepting app's for their temp new grad positions come sept 1st. so i'm going to try them too. if that doesn't work i'm going to up the "drive time" and start looking lehigh, geisinger, and even look at jobs in Maryland.

i shouldn't complain to much seeing as some people have been looking for jobs much longer than i. and the fact that my hubby has a great job and it pays the bills. i have been very blessed to be able to work very part time and go to school. i'm just sick of living the paycheck to paycheck life, and those student loans start kicking in very soon! i really don't want to have to defer them, but if i don't find a job i will have to.

BernieRN · Aug 19, 2011

Thank you Miss Liss!

diva rn, BSN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

are you in Bucks County? The reason I'm asking is because closer to NE PA (Luzerne, Lackawanna counties and carbon county Geisinger Danville) have TONS of jobs posted...if you're closer up here you might have an easier time getting a job...

Again be very careful about postings...this is an old HR trick that hospitals all over the country do...if you look carefully and follow them you will often find it's the same positions over and over...they are not "real" positions that are meant to be filled. THey are either meant for internal hires and are only posted because that's the policy but there are candidates already meant for them. Or usually they have NO intention of filling them...what happens is an opening appears on a unit but is not filled...the job is posted because if it isn't the unit will lose the funding for it....however, they have absolutely no intention of hiring staff for that position, instead, choosing to work short and use nurses for overtime or agency...it's actually cheaper for the hospital..otherwise a new hire is very expensive (salary, insurance, orientation, benefits etc)..and there you have it...

This is very unfair...but true...I was the manager of a Pediatric unit --and this was back in the 90's when things weren't so bad--and this went on...it has gotten out of hand now...so again beware of the jobs posted...they probably are not real!!!

BernieRN · Aug 19, 2011

Diva,

That actually makes me feel a bit better. Still, after 15 months out of school and new nurses being generated in the area every Spring and Fall, it is looking pretty grim. Self supporting and no unemployment...and Fazoli's won't even hire me! Very sad economy!

diva rn, BSN, RN · Aug 19, 2011

Diva,
That actually makes me feel a bit better. Still, after 15 months out of school and new nurses being generated in the area every Spring and Fall, it is looking pretty grim. Self supporting and no unemployment...and Fazoli's won't even hire me! Very sad economy!

I know, if you search this site you will find dozens upon dozens of posters in your same boat...and you will also come upon people commenting on the same issue I brought up...I always try to comment on the job posting issue b/c so many new nurses get excited when they see so many jobs listed...then they send off literally hundreds of applications and resumes....and never even get one call.....it's because those jobs do not really exist...if you start examining them you will find that it's the same one's over and over...it's not you....they are BOGUS...

The best way to find a job is to network..network..network..start asking everyone you know who is working the names of some contact people...ask if there are any positions posted on the internal job boards...physically drive to those hospitals and go look at the job boards....get the names of the managers of any unit you might want to work on (and any unit actually) and see if you can speak to them about their unit...this worked for me when I was starting out...I approached the manager before HR...informally to ask about her unit and expressed an interest in it's speciality...we clicked...she took me to HR and had me fill out the application right then...and told them to "go ahead and process that application"...now I don't know if that would work now, but it did then...and if someone approached me when I was the manager or when I was the DON of a LTC I always made time to talk to them.

I know things are really tough now, but personal interest is always important....and think outside the box.

I really wish you the best...

diva

jhaf07 · Aug 19, 2011

If you're near Lancaster, are you close enough to Lancaster General? I just had an interview there, now granted, it was for a nursing assistant position, but there were a few other people there for interviews as well, my guess is some of them had to be for RN positions. They have a few positions posted on their website. FYI though, they use behavioral interviewing techniques, which I totally bombed by being way to honest about prior mistakes, but hey, I learned what NOT to say at an interview, lol, and I did better at the next one. Check it out if youre close enough to them. I also recommend a cover letter, I did not get any call backs until I added that, I think it helps to give them a little intro of your self. Good luck! I hope the economy is better in 3 years when I graduate lol

missLissRn · Aug 19, 2011

Diva: that makes complete sense now! i did my normal call back today about a position, and the woman told me at the time they are fully staffed but when things change she would call me! and i was thinking then why is the job still posted?

jhaf07: yes i am close to LGH, however it is one of 2 hospitals i just will not apply to. i have personal reasons why i will not work there. i will not to say it is a bad place for you, but for me it is just somewhere i can not be. a few of my fellow classmates have been hired there, and some have interviewed there and not been hired. i hope that you will not have the same problem as i am when you graduate! i have heard the tern non-nursing shortage thrown around a lot right now. but from what i have read and the current articles on lancasteronline, is that hospitals are working at legal limits only, and really only hiring internal, or expiranced nurses because of the economy, even though we are still in need of many nurses. right now many nurses who were suppose to be retireing are not, and many who just retired their spouses are loosing their jobs so they are coming back into the field. so hopefully this will change soon! i wish you the best of luck! where are you going to school? inbox me if you don't want to post it on here! if you need any help studying let me know!

BernieRN · Aug 19, 2011

I never regret posting to Allnurse, always feeling a bit better after doing so. It's good to not feel alone. Thanks!

and good luck to you Miss Liss!!!