Any new grads finding it hard to find job in Hampton Roads?

sunray12 · Jan 16, 2009

Sentara is having a job fair tomorrow (1/17). Will it be useful for you to attend?

EwokRN · Jan 16, 2009

Yeah, actually I'm planning to come to that job fair tomorrow. I'm glad that I saw that online a few weeks ago, or else I wouldn't have planned for it.

Hoping to see more managers in person. I actually had some bad luck in the past with one of the recruiters telling me that there were no positions in one ward back in the Spring, and it turns out that one of the managers in that same ward said otherwise.

Thanks again!

Ewoknurse2b

smn2010, BSN, RN · Feb 10, 2009

i didn't have any problems. neither did any of my classmates who graduated. i think you waited too long to start your job search/interview process. at the start of each school semester, most students have job offers by the 2nd month of school. for me, school started in september. i began my job search during the late summer 2008 (july-august). i interviewed in october and had job offers by the end of october. some of my classmates received job offers sooner than that. you are now competing with the january 09 class that graduates in may. usually the last semester of school includes resume prep, interviewing skills, etc., students in school now have already begun interviewing for jobs. i know my friends who are in school now (and graduate in may) have already started interviewing. they have told me that most facilities in this area (hampton roads) plan to have positions filled by mid-march. many of the facilities, sentara, bon secours, chesapeake regional, have indicated that they have too many applicants and not enough full-time positions. so, if you are willing to take a part-time or prn position you should consider it if there are no full-time positions available right now.

continue looking, just be prepared to have a lot of competition for not as many jobs as expected. also, you may want to consider richmond, northern virginia, north carolina, maryland, dc, etc. they are all hiring, especially in the icu and ccu areas/units. i was offered jobs at hospitals in all of these cities/states, along with arizona and new mexico. most out-of-state hospitals are willing/interested in hiring graduates from other areas due to the 18-month or 2 year commitment that is required. they are offering great bonuses and the relocation $$$ is more than enought. with out of town/state hospitals, the phone interviews are long and hard---so be prepared. many of my interviews lasted a minimum of 2 hours (with critical thinking and scenario type questions) which is the time frame the nurse recruiters ask you to set aside for the interview. if you are looking to enter into a nurse residency program, which i was, the interview process is lengthy anyway.

don't get discouraged. :uhoh3: just know that you may have to look outside of your neighborhood/safe zone for the position that you want. if you can't find what you want at a hospital, consider a skilled unit of a long term care (ltc) facility. as an rn you will be in a supervisory position; but still have the ability to improve upon all of your nursing skills while in ltc. six months on an skilled unit of a ltc is more than enough to get you into an icu/ccu of a hospital. i have friends that went the ltc route and they now work in a critical care area after only six months in a ltc facility.

good luck!

EwokRN · Feb 10, 2009

Already am starting a job this Friday at one of the Sentara hospitals. This is an old post. BTW, just to let you know I did start my job search on time. Your time schedule is different from mine. You can't compare apples and oranges.

Thanks for the boost of confidence though. The recruiters at Sentara did tell me that jobs are hard to come by now. Different sources.