career reboot

[kublerk]

I have been out of the hospital for 4 years, I was caring for an aging family member and was needed at home. I am now looking to reboot my career, but I send resumes and apply for jobs and never get calls back. I never thought I would have trouble finding a nursing position. I am 50 years young, and know that I have about 20 years left until retirement. My experience is varied, I specialized in Critical Care Nursing and Emergency/Trauma nursing. I maintained my CCRN for 28 years, now I am a CCRN alumnus. For the past few years I have been trying to develop a Nurse Consulting/Holistic Nursing Business, but the income is not sufficient for my financial needs at this time. I have 3 kids to put through college. Any ideas, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[amoLucia]

In no way shape or form am I an expert, but since you're not getting any bites, might it be your resume?

Also, ageism is REAL, so does your resume reveal any dates and/or old employments?

However, I did just read something how recruiters regard date-vague resumes suspiciously as they consider it as an attempt by an older applicant to 'hide' age.

Seems like you're damned when you do, and damned when you don't.

Maybe a refresher course would help?

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

Yes, my first thought was that a 'refresher course' would spiff up your resume'.

I will be 50 this summer, and for the first time (in applying to my current position) I 'experienced' that vague fear that recruiters would look at my resume and think OLD! But . . . 50 years old is hardly old! Not any more. The pay 'we' older nurses have earned and request seems more of an issue with hiring than age, I'm thinking. My best guess for you OP is you've been 'out' for the last four years and most employers will be concerned about you being 'rusty'. This is not a well-founded concern IMO, I went almost 3 years between one job and the next (for a variety of reasons, a major one becoming a goat farmer ). The position I took after that break was an RN residency position, in part because I was a psych nurse and the position was medical/oncology, and second because I worried about being 'rusty'. SO MUCH came right back, just like riding a bicycle, and I'm saying 'came back' from nursing school and my first couple of years afterward. Try and convince a new manager of that, though.

What kind of positions are you applying for, by the way?