Anyone else going to the Nursing Career Fair at Jacob Javits on 10/21?

U.S.A. New York

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Hi all,

I hope all of you are well. Are you going to the Jacob Javits career fair on 10/21? I've never been to one before, so if you have gone to one before please share your experience. How did you organize your day? Did you get your RN job this way? Do I need a cover letter with all the resumes? Thanks so much!

Sincerely,

-Jobless

Specializes in Critical Care.

I wish i could go but i have to work. I like going just for free stuff and to network but the last one i went to was hiring new grads but you have to have special skills such as speak chinese or spanish

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Thank you for all the replies. I want to wish everyone good luck also and hope that everyone gets a job.

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Thank you for all the replies. I want to wish everyone good luck also and hope that everyone gets a job.

I just want say to thank you so much for sharing the information about the job fair because a lot of us are looking for job right now. If you don't mind sharing how long you been looking for work and have you have any interview. I am too jobless and need a nurse job badly. I just wondering what my chances are...Thank you:redbeathe

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I just want say to thank you so much for sharing the information about the job fair because a lot of us are looking for job right now. If you don't mind sharing how long you been looking for work and have you have any interview. I am too jobless and need a nurse job badly. I just wondering what my chances are...Thank you:redbeathe

Hi 0907,

I'm going to hit my one year mark soon... I've had a handful of interviews but another nurse got selected for their experience. I hope you get to go to the career fair. I know it's rough for all the nurses right now but at least you get to network or get more information by going...or maybe even find out who's hiring new grads. That's the way I look at it.

Best wishes,

Jobless

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I will be attending the career fair this Thursday. I don't actually expect anything to come from it as this will be my 4th career fair attendance since March! I'd rather go than not give it a shot even though I know all the recruiters will pretty much say what everyone else said at the last career fair - "we do hire new grads, just not right now." Grreeaat! Anyway, I just go to collect business cards, get recruiter names and try my best in contacting them, which of course never gets me anywhere anyway. No one answers their phone, no one responds to voicemails, and no one responds to emails. *sigh* It's not just ADN's that can't find jobs...I have 2 Bachelor's and I still can't get a job!

Anyway, I wish everyone luck on thursday! We'll all need it, especially the new grads!

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

I'll be there too... I just passed NCLEX a month ago and I'm a few weeks in to my job search, trying hard to hold on to my optimism and sanity. I'm looking outside NYC/NYS as well, but I don't want to uproot TOO far. For now going to the job fair will give me the sense of being proactive even if nothing will actually come out of it. Since I started the job hunt I spend at 2-3 days a week going to open houses or dropping by hospitals.. nobody wants new grads. I'm researching just about every nurse residency program in the country, but as I said it's not so easy to relocate.

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Hi 0907,

I'm going to hit my one year mark soon... I've had a handful of interviews but another nurse got selected for their experience. I hope you get to go to the career fair. I know it's rough for all the nurses right now but at least you get to network or get more information by going...or maybe even find out who's hiring new grads. That's the way I look at it.

Best wishes,

Jobless

Thank you, Jobless!

Thank you for your quick response and your sharing. Your strength not to give up is inspiring! I hope that we all will find some luck in the job fair...:redbeathe

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I will be going to the job fair tomorrow. I graduated from an accelerated program in August with my BSN. I also have another Bachelor's degree. I passed the NCLEX-RN exam earlier this month. I must admit that I was not anticipating such a large gap of time between graduation and the first day of work...

Finding a job has indeed been difficult for new nursing graduates - which by reading these posts, is obviously quite frustrating for us. Right now I am focusing my attention on 2 things in addition to attending events such as career fairs and applying to positions online: NETWORKING (talking to everyone I know - family, friends, family's friends of friends of friends that knows someone higher up, etc.) and VOLUNTEERING (I recently got accepted as a nursing volunteer at my #1 choice hospital - again, another opportunity to network and get a feel of the organization and patients). Luckily, my mom is employed at the hospital I want to work at so she's also inquiring with nurse managers to determine if they are hiring new grads and has a copy of my resume ready to hand to them if they are.

In preparation of the career fair tomorrow, I suggest you take a look at the exhibitor list and determine which ones you are planning to visit... and then bring the right amount of resumes accordingly. This is also a huge time-saver. I plan on visiting about 5 organizations so I will bring about 15 resumes... and that's actually an excess because they will tell you to go online anyway. Lastly, look fresh & professional. ;)

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

So....I went to the fair today. Although I gained some info on schools, I felt pretty dejected on jobs. As I left feeling disappointed, a kind stranger asked me how was the fair. I vented a bit about the lack of opportunities for associate degree nurses and new grads and she offered me words of encouragement as well as her contact info. She works within my dream hospital on my dream unit :rolleyes:. She took one of my resumes and she continued to give encouragement. Even if this encounter ( and the phone calls I plan to make) doesn't result in work, I am still thankful for a friendly ear and that ray of hope that she gave to my otherwise gloomy day.:hug:

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So....I went to the fair today. Although I gained some info on schools, I felt pretty dejected on jobs. As I left feeling disappointed, a kind stranger asked me how was the fair. I vented a bit about the lack of opportunities for associate degree nurses and new grads and she offered me words of encouragement as well as her contact info. She works within my dream hospital on my dream unit :rolleyes:. She took one of my resumes and she continued to give encouragement. Even if this encounter ( and the phone calls I plan to make) doesn't result in work, I am still thankful for a friendly ear and that ray of hope that she gave to my otherwise gloomy day.:hug:

I went to the fair today also...all by myself, first time going to job fair...doesn't expect anything and it pretty much true nothing coming out of it. I am glad I went even though I am pretty much rejected the moment the word, "new graduate" come out in all hospitals...only few home care agency do hire new graduate...I am glad someone offered you encouragement, we all need it...wish you luck...:heartbeat

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Good luck to all new grads searching out there. Remember that a set back is just a set up for something great to happen :anpom:

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Hi everyone,

So.... I guess I give this job fair a B-, lol...not really a lot of jobs for new grads, and if the recruiters said there were new grad openings, they had about a couple hundred to choose from. I thought the lines for Montefiore, Maimonides, NYU, Mt. Sinai and all the big names was insane! I did like how some recruiters took the time to talk to the new grads and not just shoo them away like some organizations did. I only had 30 resumes on me and I didn't even use them all.

So, I talked to a lot of people and I was surprised at how many experienced nurses there were in the mix. Some of them already had full time jobs and just wanted to pick up extra shifts. Some of them had their hours cut or were part-time and said they couldn't get full-time. ***. It's hard enough competing with hundreds of new grads.

I felt really bad for all the ADN nurses that were pretty much shoo'd away with the first question from some recruiters, "Do you have a BSN?" I want you guys to know that I know how hard you worked and you need to keep your heads up. If they tell you that you need a BSN to be considered, maybe you can follow up with "Yes, I am planning on pursuing my BSN. One of the reasons I am interested in your hospital is because you help with tuition reimbursement for a BSN." (most of the big names have some sort of tuition reimbursement program). I saw a few grads who just gave up and walked away. Don't be defeated! Some of you have done your clinicals at these NY hospitals and have a huge advantage. I wish I had that going for me. I would have been able to start the conversation talking about my clinical rotation at that hospital, instead of "Do you hire new grads?" LOL.

Anyway, I didn't go there expecting much so I guess I'm not that disappointed. I hope something good comes out of this for everyone.

Best,

Jobless

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