Do new graduates really get a job that easily in nursing?

[Bchung5]

I know nursing is a career that is in high demand however, is it really that easy to get a job fresh out of nursing school with a BSN? I'm just curious because I have read several different threads on this website and people are talking about not being hired due to lack of experience. I understand that there are ways of gaining some type of experience before actually going out into the field such as volunteer work, internships, and shadowing but what if somebody doesn't have those opportunities besides just simple volunteer work which doesn't even really give the experience hospitals are looking for. What should I be doing in order to ensure my spot in some hospital after graduation?

[SerenePeach]

I'm going to tell you what worked for me. I just graduated with my bsn two weeks ago and I had a job offer by graduation, as did many of my classmates. -Keep your grades up. Several hospitals in my area had minimum Gpa requirements for their GN residencies, and you want to be able to apply to all the hospitals out there. Having a higher GPA will at least help you get noticed for an interview.-Become a student extern- I didn't do this because I had a lot on my plate, but many of my classmates did and they got hired onto the unit they were working at.-Volunteer! It shows that you can multitask and that you care about giving back, plus it's fun-if your school has a research class where you can participate in actual nursing research, I would recommend it. I did that as a senior project and it was a great talking point in interviews-mosT importantly, NETWORK! Especially in your last semester. Sometimes it is about who you know and not what you know. Talk to the nurses you do your clinical with,and let the nurse manager know that you'd love to work at that hospital. Treat every clinical you have as a potential interview and always be professional.Hopefully that will help you land a job. Good luck with nursing school!

[kbs36]

I live in the philadelphia area, where there are tons of nursing schools...but there are also many hospitals. I really don't think it is impossible to get a job. I graduated in April with my BSN and had a job in May without even passing my boards yet. It really is who you know, not what you know. So, like everyone else says, NETWORK.

Also, tell everyone you know that you are in nursing school. The word will get around, and someone is bound to know someone who is either a nurse or a hospital administrator. ...And that is exactly how I landed my interview and got my job.

Good luck!

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Depends on where you want to live. My class had 100% hire rate within one month of graduation.

[ShantheRN, BSN, RN]

Move to Ohio.

Hmmm....someone should tell that to my classmates that are still looking for jobs, over a year after passing boards Maybe that's true in the teeny towns throughout the state, but if you want urban living, don't even look here lol

[DutchRN09]

It depends on your location. I am in Illinois, worked as a PCT while in nursing school, and then applied and was hired by the same hospital (different floor) once I graduated. I have worked there for the last 2.5 years and we have quite a few opening at the hospital. A BSN is not required for a staff nurse position. I am relocating and applied at a level 1 trauma hospital, had 3 interviews and a job offer and start there soon.

I do have a B.A. and a Master's degree but neither are in nursing. I am enrolled in a BSN completion program online, I do not know if that made a difference. No one really asked about it. I am planning on finishing that at the hospital school of nursing, also online. But I am learning my job first, that will take a while, so I am taking the Fall semester off.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Network. Introduce yourself to anyone and everyone who has some pull with hiring. Say your name at least twice. Be confident and professional during your chats with people. Use every resource you can, especially in your last semester. Become a salesman, with the commodity being yourself.

[Guest 360983]

I got my dream job straight out of nursing school, but it is at a less glamorous hospital and I had EMT experience. We have perhaps 10 large hospitals/systems in the area and I had interviews at 2, one of which I had my senior internship at. I had a very good GPA and I was very involved in extracurricular activities. Most of my (BSN) classmates found jobs shortly after graduation, but some are still hunting 6 months later. I applied at the local long term acute care hospitals (between regular hospitals and nursing homes) and didn't even merit a callback.

In Maryland, the state is on a hiring freeze; it has been for years. While they still hire a few people, it's not much, and not like they used to. UMD apparently used to hire a bunch of people; now it's mostly Hopkins or Sinai or even smaller systems/hospitals. A BSN is a MUST. I mostly know Baltimore, but I've heard DC is tough too (just insert different hospital names). I grew up in Maryland but currently live halfway across the country; one of my coworkers moved to my area because he and his wife both could not find jobs in MD.

The only good news is that if you aren't even in school yet, perhaps the economy will be better in a few years. Maybe.

[Music in My Heart]

What I just read is actually quite discouraging. I always thought the world would need nurses so finding a job even when nurses weren't in high demand it would be easy to acquire a job.

Of course the world needs nurses... the problem is, there are far too many inexperienced nurses out there competing for the same entry-level jobs...

One of the problems is that there are plenty of people like me... competent, experienced nurses who are willing to work full-time, over-time, and per-diem to the tune of 60-72 hours per week, even at low-paying, low-prestige rural facilities far from home.

I didn't think nursing was about knowing people or having the hook up

Nursing is a job, just like any other... and when the market is super-saturated (as it presently is), networking can be the *only* way to get hired.

I saw it as hiring and getting people to work for a hospital that are passionate, qualified, and hard working.

What you may be failing to realize is that there are far more passionate, qualified, hard-working folks fighting for limited entry-level jobs than there are openings...

[raianne]

I have read many of the same posts about new grads not being able to find a job and I think that it depends on where you live. I'm in Pittsburgh, got my Accelerated BSN at Pitt, and pretty much everyone in my class (20 of us) got jobs within a month or so of graduating. Some people had jobs before we graduated. I've worked on my current floor for 8 months, and I'm getting married and moving to WV in July. I was super nervous about finding a job there since I haven't had a year of experience yet...but it turns out that didn't matter at all and I got the first job that I interviewed for, on a cardiac stepdown unit!

I also agree with the advice to network. My fiance has a friend who works at the hospital I'll be working at in WV, and she was able to tell me what floors are good to work on, and which ones I should avoid, which was a huge help. One thing that worries me is that after my fiance gets his PhD, we'll be moving to wherever he can get a job, which is looking like Texas or California, and I've heard that the nursing job market in Cali is horrible...I'm just hoping that I'll have enough experience to make me marketable when that time comes.

[SonOfStBenedict]

I agree with raianna it al just depends on where you live, I'm in an ADN program in south Mississippi and in the class that graduated in the fall more than 3/4th of them have jobs and one even became a charge nurse in February only after working for 2 months. Also my good friend just graduated from the UMCs BSN program and had a job lined up for about a month now, & she just graduated last week, they're paying half of her loans and her NCLEX and giving her a signing bonus. Although she didn't work as a CNa she is really nice and leaves a lasting impression and got a job where she did rotations so just do your best to make a lasting impression and hopefully doors will open for you :).