Applying to 'no experience necessary' jobs and being rejected for lack of experience?

Nurses Job Hunt

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I've been a nurse for 4 years and have not worked in the hospital setting but am trying to get back in so I've been applying for positions like internships and positions at certain hospitals that are listed as having no experience required. Then I'm getting rejection notifications saying that my background and experience don't meet any positions they have available. What does that even mean?! I spent hours last night filling out 13 different applications for positions and in one email they dismissed me.

So disillusioned and frustrated. How can I apply for an internship and be rejected based on lack of experience?!

I don't have any advice but can tell say you are not the only one going through this. There is no nursing shortage - at least not where I live. Current experience or not - the market is tougher than I've ever seen it.

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Yes. Only applying for hospital positions. I have no desire to work in an office, clinic, home health or nursing homes. If that is the only kind of work I can get as a nurse I'll drop working on my BSN and pursue a different bachelor's and switch fields. I also can't pursue my masters in nursing without hospital

based experience. I have applied to so many different hospitals at this point. Many in my area are only hiring BSNs now, too. :/

That's a great viewpoint. /sarcasm

You need experience in any way you can. Don't discount certain places unless they are dangerous.

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The residency programs in my area are only open to BSN prepared new graduates or BSN experienced RN's looking to transfer into the specialty of the residency. Possibly this is the case with your area as well.

For everyone else, does gaining experience in a nursing home help to land a position in a hospital a couple years down the road? Or does it limit you to nursing homes since this is not acute care experience? Thanks

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Specializes in CCM, PHN.

You had my sympathy up until the "no desire to work in doctors offices, LTC," etc. part. Someone in your position had better be prepared to take whatever they can get. As countless threads here on AN will tell you, it's a rare bird in nursing that gets what they "desire."

By the way, I went straight into Public Health nursing after graduation, then ambulatory clinic nursing and now case management, and I'm doing just fine - way less stress and more money than hospital floor nurses I know. So don't knock non-hospital nursing. I understand you're frustrated but it seems you've brought it on yourself by being so unrealistic.

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The residency programs in my area are only open to BSN prepared new graduates or BSN experienced RN's looking to transfer into the specialty of the residency. Possibly this is the case with your area as well.

For everyone else, does gaining experience in a nursing home help to land a position in a hospital a couple years down the road? Or does it limit you to nursing homes since this is not acute care experience? Thanks

I worked with a new grad in the ER. She had been a LPN in LTC for 4-5 years and got her RN. She had no problems getting the hospital position.

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You had my sympathy up until the "no desire to work in doctors offices, LTC," etc. part. Someone in your position had better be prepared to take whatever they can get. As countless threads here on AN will tell you, it's a rare bird in nursing that gets what they "desire."

By the way, I went straight into Public Health nursing after graduation, then ambulatory clinic nursing and now case management, and I'm doing just fine - way less stress and more money than hospital floor nurses I know. So don't knock non-hospital nursing. I understand you're frustrated but it seems you've brought it on yourself by being so unrealistic.

I've been doing work in immunizations clinics hoping that would help. So far I've been told repeatedly that by 'experience' they mean 'hospital based experience'. It didn't seem like there was a point to work in a dr. office (where I wouldn't make enough to cover childcare) or a nursing home (where I don't want to work and it doesn't gain me experience).

I just got a response from the recruiter and she said they had 3,000 applicants for the position so they get to be choosy. Sigh.

I'm being choosy because if I take a full time job in a part of the field that I don't actually want to work in it will drastically slow my progress in my BSN. I DO NOT want to be stuck working in a nursing home. Some people would consider that snobby but I didn't become a nurse to do that. :shrug I don't want to work in home health because I have no experience and I think it's risky to put myself out there in solo practice without a foundation of experience.

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I just got a response from the recruiter and she said they had 3,000 applicants for the position so they get to be choosy. Sigh.

And that is the reality. So, you can keep banging your head against a brick wall by applying for positions you don't have a snowball's chance in heck of getting, or you could set your sights on jobs that are more attainable for you.

Though such jobs might not be what you've envisioned for yourself, with the right attitude they can be great opportunities to learn and advance your practice, and down the road, you will be a more well rounded nurse than one who went straight into acute care and has done nothing else.

Basically, you don't have enough experience to get to be choosy. Not in this job climate.

My philosophy is that I can do almost anything for a year. Were I in your shoes, these would be my thoughts.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
I've been doing work in immunizations clinics hoping that would help. So far I've been told repeatedly that by 'experience' they mean 'hospital based experience'. It didn't seem like there was a point to work in a dr. office (where I wouldn't make enough to cover childcare) or a nursing home (where I don't want to work and it doesn't gain me experience). .

I daresay you will learn a whole lot more about being a nurse working at a SNF than you would doing vaccine clinics. If I were a hiring manager in L&D, I would take the nurse with SNF experience over the nurse with flu shot experience in a heartbeat.

Anyone can learn how to give shots, but working in a SNF tells me that you have great time management, prioritization and delegation skills, and those are not things that anyone can learn in one afternoon.

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Specializes in OB-Gyn/Primary Care/Ambulatory Leadership.
if I take a full time job in a part of the field that I don't actually want to work in it will drastically slow my progress in my BSN.

How so?

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Specializes in Pedi.
Yes. Only applying for hospital positions. I have no desire to work in an office, clinic, home health or nursing homes. If that is the only kind of work I can get as a nurse I'll drop working on my BSN and pursue a different bachelor's and switch fields. I also can't pursue my masters in nursing without hospital

based experience. I have applied to so many different hospitals at this point. Many in my area are only hiring BSNs now, too. :/

This is an unfortunate attitude if your goal is hospital nursing. You're shooting yourself in the foot. Vaccine clinic experience is not experience that a hospital will like when they look at your resume. If you had a year of LTC or even Private Duty Nursing (where you would be caring for patients with chronic vents, trachs, G-tubes, Central Lines, etc) you'd be much more marketable. If I were a hiring manager in a hospital, I'd consider LTC or PDN experience but would probably ignore someone who's only done vaccine clinics in four years.

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Yea, good luck getting anywhere beyond your current situation with that attitude. You function as an MA essentially at the flu clinics. There is a ton to be learned in alternate settings and I agree with other posters in that hiring managers will likely opt for better (read: nursing) experience when seeking an experienced candidate. You no longer qualify for a new grad position.

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How so?

Because I will be working full time and have less hours to devote to school.

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