This may be redundant cause I posted a similar thread some time ago, but here goes. I graduated from an ADN program last May, got my license in the beginning of September...I've been applying to lots of places and still no job. No I never envisioned that 8 months after graduation, I'd be unemployed...that I'd be seen as such a big burden, a useless tool. I feel like crap. I don't wanna call up people I've graduated with cause I don't even think they'll understand. I've already been told that I'm lazy...and well, that may as well be, when you're unemployed. I've no experience as a nurse or even a tech so I don't even think I could call myself a nurse. I certainly don't see myself as a nurse cause really I'm not. My confidence is down the drain...and it's always been low, but it's getting lower.
Anyways, these are all the hospitals I've applied to so far:
White Plains Hospital,
Westchester Medical Center,
St. Vincent's,
Lawrence,
Dobbs Ferry,
Riverside,
Montefiore,
Phelps,
4 Winds,
Hebrew Home,
Sarah Neuman,
Mount Sinai Queens,
Downtown Hospital in Manhattan,
Coler-Goldwater,
Bellevue,
Jacobi,
United Hebrew Geriatric Center,
Northern Westchester,
St. Joseph's
...and there's probably more.
And I have no preference and am willing to work anywhere. What do I have to do, apply to a prison next?
Is this not enough? Obviously not. I guess I could always apply some more, I know that. To some places, I've applied more than once, just so I could remind them of ol' me, still out there, lurking in the shadows...I know sometimes they don't like this, but it's worth a try, right? Anyways, I've had only 3 interviews. Out of the three interviews, I've only been notified once and that was via a rejection letter in the mail---and , I had called these guys who sent me the letter twice for some feedback some time after the interview, but they never even bothered to call me back and all I was expecting from them was for them to humor me with some BS about my lack of qualifications or what not.
Really, I don't know what to do. Most of the times, when I apply for a position, I've done so online and that's usually what HR tells me to do. I also notice that when I go directly to HR, they don't seem interested at all. I'm lucky if I get a full sentence out of them. I must have been very naive when I was in school or uninterested...I never really looked into jobs before graduation cause I didn't think it would be this difficult and of course all the faculty members in school would say "Oh you will get a job after graduation, no doubt about it. If you graduate our program, you will be employed." And I guess that's partly true...most people I graduated with do have jobs.
I just don't get it. There must be something I'm doing wrong. I know the big factor is economy as well as luck. I know they hire you if they have the means and are willing, but there must be something I am lacking or doing wrong. Am I not being aggressive enough? Am I being too high brow? Should I just try to be a nurse tech or something...but then they're just gonna tell me, "You're a nurse, why are you applying for tech position?" or "We don't hire RNs as techs, why don't you go for a real position?" (I did have a dream that I got hired at a hospital, but it was as a laundrywoman, and they were providing extensive training). Should I try to get in touch with an agency? I spoke to one, but they seemed very hesitant about taking in a new grad. Just don't know how I am supposed to break into this field. Maybe it was never meant to be. I know this sounds sorry assed, but I'm regretting the whole experience, the loss of time.
The truth is, I never wanted to be a nurse in the first place, but I put myself into it cause I never thought I would amount to anything. A sorry comment again, I know, but I'm just being honest. Just did it for the money and to have a stable career, and I'm sure I'm not alone here. Muscled my way through school...even though I hated every bit of it...the only thing I could find agreeable about it was that I would eventually be doing work that is meaningful and honest. I have a history of depression too, and of course it got worse during school. What contributed to it wasn't the nature of nursing school itself, but the stress it produced. Once I was bedridden for days because I couldn't cope anymore.
OK.
The whole experience has been pretty bad.
I'll still be looking for work of course.
Please offer some tips, advice, anything that might help.
