I figured I would just like to post to keep hope alive for some of you. I'm not a nurse yet, Though I'm attempting to become a crna. I see alot of individuals posting about how they are having a hard time finding a job. What you must realize is that you will eventually get a job, nothing stays the same for ever, I can assure you that. As long as you are a hardworking individual and are doing the things that you need to be doing to stay ahead of the curve, you will be just fine. I will tell you that I have never had a problem getting a job and I believe because it is my outlook and that I'm hardworking. Ask yourself these questions and you will see that you shouldn't be that concerned.
1. Do you really think that you will go forever without a job in a nursing career after graduation?
HIGHLY UNLIKELY
2. have you ever been in a situation and thought you would never get out of a tough situation?
EVERYTHING ALWAYS WORKS ITSELF OUT IN TIME
3. If everything has always worked it's way out in the past why would this be the exception?
As long as you are a hardworking individual and are doing the things that you need to be doing to stay ahead of the curve, you will be just fine. I will tell you that I have never had a problem getting a job and I believe because it is my outlook and that I'm hardworking.
I'm sure you did not mean to do this, but by saying this you are telling all us new grads having trouble finding jobs that we aren't hardworking or working to stay ahead of the curve.
It's really frustrating to have people who aren't in your situation tell you how things will work out. If the OP was a recent grad looking for work or one who'd found a job after a long job hunt, I guarantee the replies would be different.
This is exactly what I was going to say. I'm sure in the end we will all be just fine, but you can't come here when you haven't experienced not being able to get hired after working all those years in nursing school and tell people it's because they aren't working hard enough.
I don't think the person's screenname helped either. I'm one of the lucky ones, I was able to find a job in ICU after the tide turned, but I know many who are still struggling from my class of graduates in January of 09. All were experienced LVNs as well, but their places of employment had freezes. Bay area is not nice for new nurses.
The OP should also realize that no one in the depression was just hanging out starving because they were too lazy to find work....just sayin.
It's really frustrating to have people who aren't in your situation tell you how things will work out. If the OP was a recent grad looking for work or one who'd found a job after a long job hunt, I guarantee the replies would be different.
Before I started school, I had family and friends dismiss my concerns of getting a job after graduation as a silly insecurity on my part. This was really frustrating on a couple of levels: first of all, it denied that my feelings were valid. Secondly, all they knew about the job market was the general line in mass media about a nursing shortage yet they felt they knew the market better than someone who'd been combing classifieds and talking with local, recent grads.
In school we learned about therapeutic communication: no false reassurances and don't dismiss the patient's feelings and concerns. I found the OP incredibly untherapeutic.
That's it exactly. I know MANY non nurses who still think switching to a nursing career is the answer to ever being laid off. They think we have our pick of jobs with great working conditions that allow lots of time and energy for a full life outside of work.
The reality is there are lots of RN's looking for work and many who are looking for better and safer working conditions. We sacrifice a lot in our lives to become and to be RN's.
i figured i would just like to post to keep hope alive for some of you. i'm not a nurse yet, though i'm attempting to become a crna. i see alot of individuals posting about how they are having a hard time finding a job. what you must realize is that you will eventually get a job, nothing stays the same for ever, i can assure you that. as long as you are a hardworking individual and are doing the things that you need to be doing to stay ahead of the curve, you will be just fine. i will tell you that i have never had a problem getting a job and i believe because it is my outlook and that i'm hardworking. ask yourself these questions and you will see that you shouldn't be that concerned.
1. do you really think that you will go forever without a job in a nursing career after graduation?
highly unlikely
why is that? each and every semester that goes by creates a new crop of new grads, many of whom are hardworking, smart, creative, energetic, and willing to take any job that comes their way. meanwhile, the people who've graduated earlier but haven't found work become more stale with each passing month.
it's quite plausible that a substantial percentage of new grads will never find gainful employment in nursing.
2. have you ever been in a situation and thought you would never get out of a tough situation?
everything always works itself out in time
that's a wonderful notion but not one grounded in reality. things don't always *work out*. some people do, in fact, get locked out of the job market. some people do end up having to take work in other fields or that's well below their skill and education and simply become stuck there. some people have to change professions entirely - that's where a significant number of the current flock of nursing students and new grads have come from.
3. if everything has always worked it's way out in the past why would this be the exception?
it is not.
um, because it hasn't?
while many (even most in some areas) new grads will find work, a significant percentage of them will not.
upon what do you base your blind optimism that that things are somehow going to get better anytime soon? all of the economic indicators show enormous risk and many very smart people see much worse times coming before any real improvement.
of course nobody should simply give up but i see no value in baseless optimism. i, instead, am a realist and i acknowledge that some very smart, hardworking people are finding themselves locked out of the nursing profession through no fault of their own.
I totally respect and validate the concerns of new nurses not being able to find jobs. When I first graduated in 1973 (when the dinosaurs were finally dying off) I had difficulty finding a "perfect" nursing job. But the economy has EVERYTHING to do with this problem today! It has little to do with anything except the downturn in the economic situation. Please just don't take this personally (not being able to find a job) and let it take away your confidence or faith. Please keep your head up! I get scared when people talk about giving up. The environment now is totally frightening. I wish I could retire, but I can't afford it. As a patient, I have seen what not having enough nurses on the units has done. Patients do suffer! God Bless all of you!
I read a post on here today by an RN with no experience who has been looking for medical work for awhile. It was suggested that she could get some medical experience by volunteering in a third world country. The poster said that she actually had been thinking of volunteering in a hospital in South America to get experience. Working for free is what they are doing in the Philippines due to the over saturation of RN's. It's sad and devaluing that some US RN's are thinking of volunteering just to get experience and a toe in the door.
Unless you were reading another post, it sounds like you were talking about me. It is sad but I wouldn't necessarily say devaluing. My hope in doing it was so I could be apart of change. Or make worldly changes so-to-speak. The idea was that I was doing it for that, not because I couldn't find a job (lol). But it is what it is sometimes. And I wouldn't bypass any experience, freelance or not.
Actually the perpetual negative attitude displayed in every "new grad can't find a job thread" is becoming very old. I graduated not that long ago and even then I had known in school that finding a job was going to be difficult. I prepared for the realization that I may not find a job right away and I may need back-up plans and ideas for what was going to be my future. most of my class mates did not, they fell under the blanket of people who believed there was always just going to BE nursing jobs out there for the picking.
I worked prison nursing out of school after the job hunt went cold. I hated it, every minute of it, but they were taking new grads, and I knew I needed the money and even that experience, is experience enough if you know how to work a resume and talk it up in an interview.
What ended up happening was an RN i worked with there had a good friend who was a manager at a rural hospital south of a large city west of us and said they had some positions that were not even posted and gave me her number, called, emailed my resume, and she called me in, built some report on the interview and got offered the job. I had to relocate, and move away from family, and basically start new, but it was a sacrifice I was will to take.
What my real point is, that more than 10 of my other classmates knew about this prison nursing job and said "I would never do anything like that", "I went to school to work in a hospital", "Thats too far away", "I dont want to work midnights", "they make you work 16's there" all kinds of excuses why they wouldn't work there. But in the end I ended up finding a hospital job before them, and had a well paying job in the meantime, even though I did work midnights, I was forced to work 16's back to back, and I did move. Plus I learned a lot of valuable lessons working a job like that.
So sending in applications, and calling HR is what everyone is doing, but what doesn't work needs to be replaced. Make a sacrifice, perhaps relocate, work an awful job to EARN an awesome job, stop posting on here how horrible the economy is, we know, we all work in it.
This thread is right, YOU WILL find a job, Things work themselves out if you put the work into it, but it is possible to fail, no one is going to GIVE you a job, no one is going to hand you anything. This economy is capitalist, those who work hardest usually succeed. Perhaps you need to re-evaluate your job searching technique.
With out pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing. We all went to school, we all have debt, most new grads found jobs...thats a fact, instead of complaining about it, get out there and figure out how they did it, and you will eventually succeed, I know most of you are already doing that, so keep at it.
It's always been WHO you know that gets you in the door, thats another fact people must face. Hard work, intelligence, and experience are extremely valuable, but when managers hire they are also judging character, whether it be perceived character or true character. So if they know you, or know someone who they trust that recommends you, you better be certain they will call you over Joe Blow's resume sitting on the desk. Because now they have a character reference to go on, or past personal experiences with you to judge you on.
You ever notice that guy/girl always saying hi to everyone, telling a joke, always going out of the way to talk to managers, and "brown nose" a little. Annoying yes, but isn't it funny how they are the ones usually getting that promotion, or new job opening. You should learn from that, not frown upon it and complain about it.
Call it unfair, call it unprofessional, call it whatever you want, but its the way the world works, sometimes you just gotta get out there and politic a little, go outside that comfort zone and sell yourself, meet people. Its all about PR, the more people you know, the farther you'll go.
I wholeheartedly agree with Ty practically on every aspect. And I like how you gave advice with supporting examples to reinforce you argument. Its no lie that its who you know more than what you know. But how will you KNOW who to KNOW, if you don't get out there in mingle.... They say public speaking is the number one fear next to death. While in the job search, work on your PROFESSIONAL socializing skills. I read a book on how to break the ice when talking to strangers. It really helped me and now I find it easy getting information from people without specifically asking for it. Double Kudos Ty!!
Hey New grads I dont know if it helps but I got a call from a recruiter today from one of the best hospital systems (actually it is considered the best by many) in the city about RN position that I applied for a while ago.I'm a old new grad (I graduated on May 2009) who has been doing home health care for the past 6 months.I'm really surprised they are interested in me (although I probably wont end up getting this position anyway).Yet,situations like this shows that maybe times are getting better for us?? Oh I forgot to mention I only have ADN.
Your lack of confidence really disturbed me. Its almost as if you're intending on NOT getting a job. I don't want to give false hope but at the same time, if you don't get the job, I wouldn't be surprised. You've got to get rid of that "stinking thinking". Nobody likes a Debbie Downer and it shows RIGHT THROUGH your post. They obviously called because you meet the qualifications. So act accordingly at that interview and ROCK IT!!! Show them that calling you was the best decision they ever made. End of discussion!
In conclusion, this post has mixed emotions all around. I will say that as positive as the OP is being, (I believe it means original poster, correct me if I'm wrong. Very new to this.) we all know that as nurses you do not give false hope to the client. But let us step back here for a moment. Regardless of our position, RN, Nursing Student, Clinician, etc, we have all had a point in our lives where we felt it was the end of the road. Someone lends us advice and we accepted it wholly or shunned them for not understanding because "its never happened to them." Some of us will unknowingly get our mojo back and others may never see the light. That's life. But to make it easier, approach and presentation is everything. If you're a complainer, and you don't think you are, maybe you should mirror yourself. Have you really done all you can??? Am I a Debbie Downer??? If we think you are (and we're online and can't even SEE you), just think what employers think about you?
And if you're on the receiving end, what have you done to help? Telling me to be positive when I've been 2 weeks into the search isn't all that bad. But when I'm knocking 3-4mos, that's when we need to hear constructive criticism more than ANYTHING. It's like when you do something wrong, people always tell you what you should've done then, instead of what you should do NOW. I came to allnurses. com so that I can network, not to whine and pout. I'm everywhere, LinkedIN, FaceBook, job fairs, health fairs, neighbors. In my mind, any person I meet is another contact to another nurse I don't know, but WILL know SOON. I've met a lot of people and I don't feel nothing I've done has been in vain. When it comes it will come like a storm, but till then, keep a positive head and being UNconventional in your approach is what I feel will stand out best!
Graduated in May of 2010- got a job in August- how?
1. I took an on-call position at a LTC facility that is part of a large corporation of LTCs and TCUs- -it was in a really bad neighborhood, have of my pts were addicts and a pain in the butt, but I stuck with it-
2. In mid-October, a full time (0.8) day shift position opened up at one of their TCUs in a different part of the city- and I got it! It is far from ideal, the staffing ratios aren't so hot, the paperwork is a killer, and I run my ass off the entire shift, but I have learned SO MUCH!!!
One of my friends from the first facility who is also a new grad ( we were hired together) recently came to my new facility to help fill in on my floor and she was amazed at how proficient and knowledgeable I had become she said "You seem like you know so much more then me now!" And I guess I kind of do- at the new place training was far from extensive, and it was kind of sink or swim- well, I swam and now I have been told I do a good job many times
Oh and I live in Minneapolis, and the market is brutal here for new grads- It is doable, the job thing- take anything, look at the places you would have never considered working as an idealistic student- just get your foot in the door!
Oh and 1. I did not know anyone at this company and
2. I did not work there as a CNA, nor did I ever work as a CNA
I would like to first start my 2nd post in my own thread to mention that I am a male, not a female. I realize that most nurses are females, so I completely understand the assumption. I see a good amount of the posters on this thread assume quite a bit. Correct, I am not a new grad but I have been in the medical field nearly all of my life, literally. I have been in the industry for years, so I am aware what I am getting myself into and I realize what the job market looks like. I'm not to worried about getting a job when I graduate. I have a good amount of connections with doctors, nurses, and surgical techs working in the hospitals. I also, presently work for a owner of a homehealth agency, which is a rn.
Yes, I am a optimist but my views towards life has treated me well, thus far. It seems as if there is alot of hard feelings on this website, so let me give you a little bit of background about myself, then make your own judgements. I had my own business for a couple of years and at this time I was making near six figures. I decided for my 21st birthday to buy myself a house, which I did. A couple of years down the road the economy hit rock bottom, guess what happened to my business. I had money saved up but that was it. I had no real income coming in at this time, all while I had a 700.00 dollar a month car payment and a mortgage. So, I went out everday for about 8 hours a day until I could find a job consisting of shift work.
Do I make as much money as I did before, No. I make an average rn salary though, as of right now. Eventhough I was hit by hard times I was still able to manage to pay off my car, save up enough money to pay for all of my schooling before I decided to even enter nursing school, for the exception of my master crna degree in cash. So, in conclusion I know the economy has hit some of you hard, it has hit me. I'm sorry, my optimism has disappointed some of you. I am in no way trying to brag. I just figured some of you should know where I'm coming from before you shoot me down. Forgot to mention, I'm doing all of this while I've only attained my highschool diploma. Call me lucky, call me knowledgable. As for the posters that weren't aware of the job market before they decided to get in to this career, I can only be so sympathetic. Your complaining about not being able to find a job but it seems as if you started out not doing the proper research before getting into this field. So, may I ask, are you doing the proper things to acquire a job since you seemed to lack the ability to do proper research in the first place. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. As for all of the other optimistic posters I'm sure you will be first in line when the job market opens up, keep your heads up. Thanks, for all of the positive and negative posts. I will agree to disagree with some of you. I am an optimist to a point but I am also a realist. In this economy, if you haven't networked and exhausted all of your options you are not ahead of the curve, I digress. Adios!
As for the posters that weren't aware of the job market before they decided to get in to this career, I can only be so sympathetic. Your complaining about not being able to find a job but it seems as if you started out not doing the proper research before getting into this field. So, may I ask, are you doing the proper things to acquire a job since you seemed to lack the ability to do proper research in the first place.
Some folks likely will have started nursing school before things got really bad, so the market they're graduating in is very different than the market they would have researched prior to going to school. I knew what I was getting in to, but even being prepared for a difficult job search doesn't mean it's not still frustrating and doesn't mean I can't empathize with the frustration of other new grads.
You talk about your optimism, but it really seems to be shored up by the notion that folks who are having a hard time finding a job deserve to be having a hard time through some failure on their part. Excuse me for not finding that to be positive or uplifting at all.
Hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure when I land my first job I'll be here crowing about all the right things that I did that everyone else should be doing if they are serious about getting a job (NOT).
Some folks likely will have started nursing school before things got really bad, so the market they're graduating in is very different than the market they would have researched prior to going to school. I knew what I was getting in to, but even being prepared for a difficult job search doesn't mean it's not still frustrating and doesn't mean I can't empathize with the frustration of other new grads.
You talk about your optimism, but it really seems to be shored up by the notion that folks who are having a hard time finding a job deserve to be having a hard time through some failure on their part. Excuse me for not finding that to be positive or uplifting at all.
You are reading to far into my statement. I don't believe that everyone is out of a job because of their own negligence or because they are not hard working individuals. My statement was directed towards the individuals that went to nursing school that assumed that they were going to have a job when they got out by, hear say, after the job market was saturated already. I'm not talking to the individuals that went to school and the job market suddenly changed for the worst.
All i'm saying, is that in this economy you really need to network and get out there and be noticed, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil". Coming from my own business where networking was everything I should know. My business dealings dealt with word of mouth and getting out there and being known, otherwise I wouldn't have any income coming in. So, you can qoute this because this pretty sums up what I'm trying to express. In this economy you have to exhaust all options. When I say exhaust all options I mean the following. If your having problems paying your mortgage, get a roommate. If you don't have a job in your related field get a job in another field while still applying to jobs in your related field until the mess gets cleared up. Take a pay cut if needed it is only temporary. Network, network, and then network some more. Most jobs are landed because of networking not because of credentials. Call me what you would like a optimist, a realist, or just an *******, " I call it how i see it".
I was just trying to inspire and give hope to people that are having a hard time finding a job in the slugggish economy. I understand that you might not land your dream job or even maybe in your related field temporarily but at the end of the day you have to do what you got to do. Some of you are very sensitive, don't take it to heart. To you not so optimistic people I guess you will never get a nursing job the rest of your life, things won't work themselves out, life is horrible. There ya go! What happens to any living organism when It seizes to adapt, it goes extinct. I hope some of you see my point! Well I hope the economy gets back on track, so that my fellow nurses will be employed and have lucrative careers. After all, that is why you went to get your education.
DizzyLizzyNurse
1,024 Posts
I'm sure you did not mean to do this, but by saying this you are telling all us new grads having trouble finding jobs that we aren't hardworking or working to stay ahead of the curve.
This is exactly what I was going to say. I'm sure in the end we will all be just fine, but you can't come here when you haven't experienced not being able to get hired after working all those years in nursing school and tell people it's because they aren't working hard enough.