Career suicide?

[angelkerri]

I am a new grad and I JUST received a job offer today. Very excited. However, the thing is, I may have to leave in 6 months in order to move to a new area...is it career suicide to have to leave a position after only 6 months? I know in some places this is looked down upon, but nursing may be different? The normal rules don't seem to apply to us. Tips? Advice?

[MikeyBSN]

I don't understand why so many new grads think that "the normal rules don't apply to us." Why would you think that? Despite what your fellow new grads who are as clueless as you will tell you, yes, leaving a job after a very should time looks bad. I've been attacked for telling new grads, who ask for advice on the subject, that job hopping is a bad idea in the worst economy since the Great Depression. Although there is sometimes a good reason to leave a job after only a few months, it is always going to be a gamble. Hospitals spend a lot of money training new grads. They have to pay for your orientation, for all of your certifications, your paperwork, starting your benefits, equipment training, computer training, health screenings, and they often pay preceptors more per hour. Indeed, it probably costs a lot more to train an RN than to train other employees in other areas. Hospitals don't like to invest in someone who won't stay. So, unless you have a pretty good reason, I would stick out any job for at least two years.

[angelkerri]

This job isn't at a hospital and I would have a very good reason for leaving if I did leave.

[caliotter3]

Take the six months experience. But I would certainly never admit to the employer that you knew that you had to leave before you accepted the job.

[RoxyDi]

After many years experience and several employers, my advice is this: Do whatever is in your best interest at all times. This may mean staying in your position until you must leave for a good reason, or it may mean staying there for 30 years. The bottom line is, no one but you will lose sleep over the decisions that you must make. Loyalty should not be the driving force in your decision making. If you believe your spouse will be transferred in 6 months but are not sure of it, why would you deprive yourself of experience and the hospital of an extra pair of hands? You may not be transferred after all. Believe me, I have learned this myself the hard way. Nothing is a sure thing. The cost of training new employees is built into the salary offers. And in my own experience, most facilities don't do too much to entice nurses to stay long-term, anyway. We have been treated somewhat as "expendable crewmen" in that respect. Easy come, easy go. What's good for the goose...

[angelkerri]

Thanks for the advice. I really don't know for sure what will happen in 6 months time, but I knew that leaving here might be a possibility...I don't plan on making a habit out of job hopping, but at this point in my life things are very uncertain.