Entering my last semester of nursing school

[green34]

So when is the recommended time to apply for the first job? In my state, it takes about a month after graduating before you can even apply for your test date. It has to do with the school of nursing sending the paperwork to the college who fowards it to the state. It has to be checked every step of the way. So I graduate in December but I probably won't test till at least Jan. if not Feb. This is also assuming that Christmas Break won't interfere with them checking the paperwork. It did with my EMT.

Anyway, a little bit more about me. I have been working for one of the hospital systems for about a year now. First few months in a small ER as a nursing assistant and now I am working as a unit clerk and paramedic. I work about 36 to 48 hours a week. I used to be on a fire department but I gave that up because school was way too hard and demanding not to mention my job gives me a lot of hours.

When should I ask for reference letters? Some people say ask for them in the fourth semester before graduating. Do you normally get a copy of the reference letter or do you ask the person to send it to the HR department? Is it better to ask coworkers or to ask instructors? I have references but no reference letters right now.

Another thing is that our school has an exit test which is really hard. They want them to get 97% national percentile on it. I forget what the exit test is called (I think it's related to the ATI since we take ATI tests every class).

So basically, when could it be considered too early to start applying for jobs? Should I aim for October or November to begin? I graduate in December if everything goes well. Our school breaks up the classes into five week semesters and I picked the two harder ones out of the three to go in the beginning.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

If your school is known to the area facilities they are familiar with this whole timetable. Therefore I would start applying in October, reiterating that you expect to graduate in December with a X.XX GPA, giving them three references from faculty who know you well and at least one from a workplace. Many places will call your references and don't want you to give them letters out of your hand for fear of forgeries; ask what they want. Good luck!

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I started applying to places in January for my May graduation date. Only one place I applied had positions posted online that early - most were put up in February or March, so those are good times to apply. As far as references, work references are valuable since you've been working, but instructor references are going to be more important generally because they're the only ones who have seen you do specific RN duties. All of the hospitals I applied to had their own specific reference form for people to use, so don't just ask people to write you letters because a lot of hospitals don't take letters. Check the hospital's website or call them to see what they take before you get anyone to write anything. You might also want to check and see how many references are required. Most places I applied wanted three or four, but the most references anywhere required of me was five - at least two had to be clinical instructors for new grads and at least two had to be previous supervisors. I only had one supervisor reference but they accepted it so I'm assuming they consider clinical instructors to be supervisors. It was an online form and none of the references were sent to HR until all five had been completed, so make sure you do have at least five people lined up in advance, and make sure you have their email addresses just in case the hospitals you apply to require electronic references instead of paper ones.

You sound like you're really on top of things. :)

[green34]

Well, honestly sometimes it feels like I get to do more at my work than in clinicals on a consistent basis since I work in an ER than in some of the clinicals. It's not that my instructors don't try, but sometimes we get low census on the floors. I will aim for October. I will be in the middle of my 2nd to last class at that point. We do 6 week classes in the last semester for OB, peds, and geriatrics. Geri is viewed as the easiest class and that's my last one.

I've actually never had letters of recommendations and instead always put down phone numbers of the people for them to call. Most will probably be internal at my current hospital system.

[SubSippi]

Do you know which facilities you'd like to work at? Down here where I went to school, none of the hospitals have designated new grad programs, so there wasn't much of a point in applying before you have a license. The place where I am moving to, though, pretty much only has special training programs new grads get hired through, and most of the application deadlines were well before graduation. My point is, check the hospital's website and see if there are any deadlines you need to meet. If nothing is specified, it's not a bad idea to call HR and ask them if they prefer for new grads to wait until they have a license, or if it would be okay to go ahead and apply. I did that a couple times and I got both responses from nurse recruiters. I was also told that in many of these new grad programs, they don't wait until the deadline to start interviewing and hiring, so if you wait til the last minute there might not be any positions left.

Another good piece of advice I've received is that if you like the floor you're doing clinicals on, make it known to the staff and nurse manager there that you'd like to work there when you graduate. Before the last day, get their information so you can send them your résumé directly, even if there aren't any opening right then. Ask them to keep you in mind in the future.

As far as rec letters go, I asked my teachers for copies, and neither of them minded at all. Some places I applied to wanted the letters sent directly from the teachers (to make sure they were legitimate), but some didn't, and I was glad to not have to bother them every time I needed a letter. Also, I never had to do this because I ended up getting a job offer, but my plan was to take these letters with me on an interview, especially for a hiring process that didn't require recommendations, and leave them with the hiring managers. I thought maybe this would be a good way to help me stand out, and kind of let people know that my superiors thought I did a good job.

One more thing...when I asked my teachers for recommendations, I gave them a list of the most critically ill patients I had cared for, and what I had done for them, what my career goals were, and I reminded them that I always asked to be assigned the sickest patients the nurses felt comfortable giving me. It's helpful for them, and it makes the recommendations much more personal, instead of the usual "he/she is a dedicated student, blah blah." My career goal is to work in critical care, so it was good to have that for the critical care jobs I applied to. But you don't want to say your goal is to work in OB when you're applying for a med/surg job, you don't want them to feel like they're just a stepping stone.

Phew, that got kind of long winded. Hope it helps!

[green34]

Well, the rival healthcare system has a new grad program and they posted it a few weeks after graduation. The ones that may have been a trial new grad program appeared a few weeks before graduation for my system. I'm not entirely sure what that position was as we never saw it formally make it onto the main external hiring site. However, the orientation program is still up and I know one girl who was already offered a position before she's tested (they haven't given her number yet) but I think she applied after she graduated.

She did want a recommendation. I know two clinical instructors who will and I could get my first semester if necessary. She loved my group. I also think I can get a good recommendation from my job given how much I work here. Everyone jokes that I wear many colors.