Any tips for a new grad??

squatmunkie_RN · Apr 11, 2013

Meh...you sound so excited. That'll wear off around the 2-3rd day of orientation. My advice? Don't.

trutuyu · Apr 11, 2013

I don't know where you are at or if the economy is any better where you are but I live in California and it's pretty hard to get a job for new grads unless you have an in. So with that said, hit the ground running. Don't just apply online, that will get you nowhere. Walk into hospitals and be as sweet as you can to the receptionist in the HR department. Open your area of interest. Maybe if you have a 4.0 and and BSRN you might get into your favorite specialty, but more than likely not. Be willing to move out of the area for a year to gain that "golden" one year of experience. And don't get discouraged. No matter how many apps you turn in or how many hospitals you walk into. I even brought Starbucks coffee and doughnuts into the hospitals that I thought I had the best chance at. In the end I did land a hospital job on a med-surg unit far away from where I went to school. It turned out to not be a good fit and in the end I left the position for personal reasons (with a letter of recommendation). So now I am looking for another position. After two more months of searching and using the same techniques I outlined above I have had two interviews in the last week and been contacted by two recruiters in distant lands that said they are keeping me on their "hot-list" just in case a job opens up that fits my skills. It really is all about your outlook. You have to convince recruiters and nurse managers that you are worth them taking a chance. You have to convince them that you are more than just a new grad who needs training. You are a mother, father, brother, sister (what ever) that works hard, learns from your mistakes and always helps out where ever you can. You have to convince managers that you are a person worth taking a chance on. I hope this helps. Good luck. With graduation comes a whole new journey.

laceym · Apr 11, 2013

Good luck is all I can say. I live in California and received my license at the end of March. I have applied to almost 100 jobs. They all just blurr together. I have applied to volunteer as a New Grad at a hospital in town to see if that helps to get 'an in.' Some hospitals do not allow new grads to volunteer due to us being a liability....Ugh. I have thought to give up on the hospital front and have applied to county positions to work in Corrections-good money and I like a spicy population. I have a BS and then received my ADN, have 10+ years experience in women's health and Spanish speaking. This is the hardest I have ever had to work for finding a job. I laugh because I was so stressed during finals of the last semester and preparing for the NCLEX. Those things are a piece of cake compared to finding a job-you have control over those, finding a job is kind of out of your hands. I just received a call today from a recruiter that saw my resume and he didn't realize I was a New Grad. When I told him that I was, he reacted like I had just told him I killed his first born. Sorry for the rant everyone, I had to get this out.

Inori, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2013

positive outlook, and yes like one of poster said get out there and introduce yourself to nursing managers, directors and anyone who will hire. I did that for 3-4months every day for 6-8 hours a day while none of that landed me a job it gave me alot of self confidence and public speaking skills. I wore out a pair of shoes, got toned legs and a nice tan from doing so much walking. I know that I can talk to perfect strangers and introduce and sell myself. So when I finally got the interview at this place I had already honed the confidence, people skills that they wanted in the perfect candidate. They didn't know that prior to them I had already met and talked with just about every nursing recruiter, manager in the area it was more of a name me a hospital/facility I did not contact. Persistence is the key to success so keep at it.