how to get a job as a new grad?

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Hello everyone!

Maybe some of you can be of assistance. I will be grad. in May with my BSN and hope to move to miami to work. But today i have spent hours on the phone trying to get a hold of nurse recruiters. The few i have got a hold of say "they do not hire new grads unless they are in their scholarship program" or something along those lines. So how do you get hired at a great hospital when you can't get a hold of anyone or they simply say no. Also i am still putting some faith in Jackson Memorial since i left the nurse recruiter a message. Any suggestions? also many of the hospitals are doing the Versant program...has anyone been through this? what did you think, did it help?

thanks!!

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I can't help you with Miami....but if you were bi-lingual (Spanish) that would be a bonus down south....

You might want to contact the moderators to change your user name. They seriously frown on your name being "nurse" when you have not passed the NCLEX yet...because you are not a nurse. I assume STL stands for Saint Louis?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Well, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with three years of tech experience and multiple scholastic honors in May, have spent almost a year job searching, and still do not have a job.........I think that sums it up.

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Sarah Beth,

Do they have any military bases down there? I only mention this because I read an article that the Navy is having serious issues hiring Civilian nurses. (We have NAS JAX here.) I looked at USAJOBS.COM and saw that there were positions avail.... I also see why they can't recruit any! (The pay is unbelievably low!) BUT, that being said...it is a nursing job and you might be able to launch off that later when the economy improves.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

You may have to travel. I live in Boston, and graduated in May 2008, and got my RN in July. I just interviewed in Vermont, and I have interviews in Pittsburgh in 2 weeks.

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I think you may want to rethink your move to miami. I graduated in Philadelphia and move back to home to San Francisco and have really found this to be a bad decision. I had no contacts here, no idea about the job market and my school and program are not known at all in the Bay Area. If I had stayed in Philly I would have been able to get a job. My advice is to stay where you are, get a year experience and then move on. Seriously, consider it, I have been looking for a job over 6 months now!

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Newgrad..... contact your acquaintences in Philly....someone might know someone else in San Fran! You never know until you ask.

My brother is a nurse in Manhattan. I mentioned my fear of not getting a job when I graduate. He said that he has a contact here in Jax that will help me then. Too cool! You never know!

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.

My suggestion to you is to bypass the nurse recruiter. Apply to the floor and go straight to the manager. The nurse recruiter were I am at told me no one hires GNs. So I applied to a med surg floor and went to see the manager. She said she liked how I took the initiative and how I was assertive. The position I wanted was already filled by a nurse with experience but she had another opening for night shift and gave it to me.

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I have a few questions about getting an RN job too :) I know they may sound silly, but in the past (I was a nurse apprentice) i was able to get jobs by applying online. I've read a lot of things that have said "go in person" to the hosptial.

but when I get to the hospital who should I ask for? The nurse recruiter? Where should I go, HR?

I know Chicookie said to go directly to the floor....but I moved after i graduated to SoCal, and am not familiar with the hospitals, do I just go walking around? BTW, Thats very gutsy chicookie, I applaud your courage, and congrats to you!

I've also heard about the Versant programs, anyone have any input on those?! and when they take applications?

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.
I have a few questions about getting an RN job too :) I know they may sound silly, but in the past (I was a nurse apprentice) i was able to get jobs by applying online. I've read a lot of things that have said "go in person" to the hosptial.

but when I get to the hospital who should I ask for? The nurse recruiter? Where should I go, HR?

I know Chicookie said to go directly to the floor....but I moved after i graduated to SoCal, and am not familiar with the hospitals, do I just go walking around? BTW, Thats very gutsy chicookie, I applaud your courage, and congrats to you!

I've also heard about the Versant programs, anyone have any input on those?! and when they take applications?

Thank you! Yes first go to the hospital and talk with the nurse recruiter. Usually (well here they do) they have someone at an information desk that can give you directions(the also give like patients room numbers, etc), just ask them where the nurse recruiters office is. Go and see what they say. My second step was to find the medical library, most hospitals have them, Or a place where the patients can use the computer. Again ask the people at the front desk. Once at these computers their homepage is the employee intranet, there you can look up manager numbers, etc. Ask for a map of the floors, and then go to the floors. Unless its a locked unit they can't kick you out I think. Once on the floor I just asked the lady at the desk. Yes you have to have thick skin because sometimes they are rude and don't want to see you. One manager was like I don't even know why you are bothering here. I just smiled and said because its something I really want to do, handed her my resume and said if you change your mind I am ready and willing to work. She actually sent it to another manager and she called me, I had an interview, but then someone with experiance came along. Sadness. It was better this way because it was the ICU. :D

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If the hospital (espically a big one) has an online application format apply to all of the places that you are interested in working. Alot of hospitals employ RN recruiters for different disciplines and RN managers only look at the ones that they are managing so if one recruiter passes you up another may not. You are bi-lingual and will have a BSN which makes you more qualified than me (I just have a BSN) and I got 3 job offers in MD. The northeast coast is screaming for spanish speaking RNs if you don't mind moving up there.

Plus just show up at HR. It really does make an impression or as the RN recruiter I met said "showed initative".

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I would like to bring above article to your attention, and if someone could research nurses websites concerning the huge difficulties to find a nursing job for fresh graduates.

The article in newsweek gives the interpretation that in this country we are not willing to do nursing job.

This is far from the truth.

Most new grad nurses beg for a job, and many months goes by without any result.

The problem is two fold, the first year of RN must work in pair with another RN. This is expensive for the hospitals, so they deeply cut back on their new grad positions.

But yes, Americans are ready and willing to do the job, if only they would have a place to begin.

I wonder if some of us responded to comment in Newsweek, because what she has written is not the full picture.

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