When should I apply for a job?

Nursing Students General Students

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Hi. I will be graduating with a BSN in May, and I'm curious as to when I should apply for a job. One H.R. person told me not until April, but I know previous grads who had jobs 2-3 months prior to graduation. I'm nervous that if I wait too long for the "perfect" position, I won't be able to find anything, and I'm also nervous that if I jump the gun and try for the first job I see, I'll get stuck in an area that I'm not really interested in.

Thanks for your help!

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

hi, piperdoodle!

you are right. you need to start looking for your first job about 3 or 4 months before you graduate. at least you should be putting your applications in by then. something you should also be doing is keeping your eye open for job fairs in your area. the nurse recruiters from the area hospitals attend most of these job fairs and they often take resumes, applications and even do some preliminary interviewing right at the job fair. the nurse recruiters generally keep applications on file for up to six months. it also doesn't hurt to make a phone call to one or two recruiters and speak with them. let them know who you are, when you are going to graduate, that you are interested in working for their hospital (that doesn't mean you are committing to them) and what area you'd like to work. from working with a nurse recruiter, i know they remember people that are courteous with them and looking for jobs.

you should be working on your resume and cover letter now. approach the instructors who you have a good rapport with and who you think will give you a good reference and ask them if they will be willing to be a reference for you. something else you can do is check the regional nursing job papers. many are now online. here are two that send me papers in the mail all the time. you should also be able to get job and job fair information from your state board of nursing and state nurses association.

welcome to allnurses! :welcome:

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