Applying for jobs

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Specializes in Med surg.

Hello,

I will be graduating in May and I am wondering when is a good time to start applying for jobs? I know people who are applying now and we haven't even taken our 3rd exam of the semester yet. I just wonder what the HR or managers think when they see a person applying for a RN job who hasn't graduated and it is not a new grad position. Am I being pessimistic?

Don't worry about what anyone thinks, if you want to start applying now, do so. Or wait until you have your nursing license in hand. People who accept jobs and then don't pass the NCLEX, put themselves in a bad position.

Apply now if you can. I graduate in May as well and just accepted a job offer today for a new grad internship program. I inquired about the internship in December and interviewed this past Monday. Some hospitals want to fill their spots early and others will wait to fill their spots. You need to call around and find out who is hiring and when....if you wait too late the job you want might be gone

Specializes in NICU.

it doesn't really hurt to start applying, but keep in mind there are tons of new LICENSED RN's out there also applying for jobs. I would figure that if it came down to someone who was still in school and couldn't start for a few months vs someone that already has their license, the licensed RN would win out. What if they they hire someone and they end up not passing the boards? I don't think hospitals are going to take that kind of risk, they don't need to. just my :twocents:

I graduated in December and I'd say about 1/4 of my class had jobs before we graduated. I'd say apply now, it couldn't hurt. I did the same with no luck but that was just my experience. After graduating I focused completely on NCLEX and held off on applying until I was registered. Recruiters were MUCH more interested in talking to me after being registered!

I also learned that a lot of my apps didn't pass prescreening the second I clicked the button "does not have a current license to practice" in the online application. My advice, if you are really interested in a position that has that has that button, CALL. Your application probably won't make it anywhere if you don't.

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