CNA with no type of experience

VinTX2019, CNA · May 30, 2019

Absolutely! Don't give up. You'd be surprised that once you're trained and certified, there are many homes and facilities in your area needing CNA support. I also don't have any experience, but LTC and rehab centers were waiting for me to finish my CNA program, so I could join them after passing exam. Luckily, my school had great connections to the industry in my area. They invited HR people from different facilities in town during class sessions, so they could start recruiting future CNAs. Not sure if you picked out your school yet, but definitely ask the school before signing up with regards to LTC/ rehab center connections in your area. Most schools, if not all, actually want their students to be employed after graduation. It's their way to prove success in their program and help them recruit more students to their school program. Hope this helps and makes sense. You definitely have hope ?

Neo Soldier, BSN, RN · Jun 5, 2019

You can ask your CNA school program director to help you with that and in fact some are willing to put in a good word for you. The director at my school always told us to come to her for a letter of recommendation if we needed one. Also I knew of many CNAs who said that their program instructor got them hired where we worked. Some places where you have clinical could be willing to hire you once you graduate. Treat your clinical days as an "interview." Show up early, be polite, and be willing to help.

verene, MSN · Jun 9, 2019

I don't think being young and with out prior work experience will significantly hamper your ability to get a CNA job. It is an entry level position in most settings, and as such many hiring managers are used to interview individuals with limited or no previous work experience.

*Do* think through your school work, extra-circulars, volunteer work etc. for examples of situations where you exemplified traits that employers want to see in a CNA as preparation for interviews. Since you don't have formal work experience it may feel difficult/awkward to answer some of the interview questions, but you can likely find an example that gets at the underlying question.

For example: "Tell me about a situation where you had interpersonal conflict with a co-worker or a patient and how you resolved it" - They want to know about your conflict resolution and communication skills so find an example from your own life that highlights this e.g. "when I was on the soccer team we had competing priorities among team members which was causing conflict, by identifying that communication differences and competing priorities were interfering with our abilities to play as a team and lowering moral- I was able to speak to parties involved to resolve the differences and reunite us in our goal of winning district play offs"

It may help to speak to your CNA instructor about common interview questions for CNAs, and desired skills/personality traits so you can prepare.

napswithcats, ADN, CNA, RN · Jun 12, 2019

CNA’s are in HIGH demand, many places won’t even let you leave without filling an application and doing an interview right then and there. They are desperate for people because unfortunately, it is a hard job with a very high turnover rate. Trust me you will have no problem finding a job.

Murse4 · Aug 20, 2019

Thank you so much guys! I secured a CNA job a week after the CNA written/Skills exam. Just waiting for the license #.