In South Florida. Nursing homes, home health, doctor's offices say I need experience since I will be unsupervised so that leaves hospitals. I've applied to over 200 med/surg and telemetry night shifts at the 5 major hospital corporations down here. Actually had 4 interviews. I have a rough first impression being a muscular 6'5 280lb white, heterosexual guy. I have to compare it to a Haitian girl trying to be a fireman down here. The nurses that interviewed me were cold, no personality, and rarely asked more than 3 questions. Calling back for advice, 2 said I was great but went with another candidate, the other 2 never respond.
It's all hospital scholarships, networking from currently working in a hospital, or friends/family in the business down here. HR never returns emails or voicemails and they always say they'll contact if they want an interview. It's discouraging considering I was a top student and the first to get my license. Classmates with hospital scholarships are walking into ICU, ER, and Critical Care jobs within a week of graduation, unlicensed.
After 8 months of this I'm giving up and joining the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. I hear it's close and in some ways tougher than being an RN. I refuse to get a tech job taking vitals for a year while my classmates make $60k and are already halfway to getting their BSN.
Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I also graduated in 12/2010 and I am still jobless. It seems like everyone around me is getting a job. I've talked to some other people and it took them roughly a year before they were hired. I was given the advice of applying for anything in the hospital since they hire internally first. I wouldn't mind taking vitals or giving flu shots for some income. It's better than nothing. Hang in there!
The Navy has a program where they will pay your way through the BSN program and even pay you a monthly living allowance while in school as long as you commit to entering for a certain period of time as an officer in the Navy as an RN. They also have a really good bonus check for getting through, something like 50k maybe? Not exactly sure of the amount, so don't quote me on that. We had a recruiter come to our school and told us all about it. If you were going to join as a corpsman, why not do this instead???
in south florida. nursing homes, home health, doctor's offices say i need experience since i will be unsupervised so that leaves hospitals. i've applied to over 200 med/surg and telemetry night shifts at the 5 major hospital corporations down here. actually had 4 interviews. i have a rough first impression being a muscular 6'5 280lb white, heterosexual guy. i have to compare it to a haitian girl trying to be a fireman down here. the nurses that interviewed me were cold, no personality, and rarely asked more than 3 questions. calling back for advice, 2 said i was great but went with another candidate, the other 2 never respond.
it's all hospital scholarships, networking from currently working in a hospital, or friends/family in the business down here. hr never returns emails or voicemails and they always say they'll contact if they want an interview. it's discouraging considering i was a top student and the first to get my license. classmates with hospital scholarships are walking into icu, er, and critical care jobs within a week of graduation, unlicensed.
after 8 months of this i'm giving up and joining the navy as a hospital corpsman. i hear it's close and in some ways tougher than being an rn. i refuse to get a tech job taking vitals for a year while my classmates make $60k and are already halfway to getting their bsn.
you are thinking like a nurse--if plan a does not work, have a plan b. good for you for coming up with a solution--and i envy your opportunity (i would love to be in your shoes but i am over the cut off age.) you may want to consider all other services--if you went air force, after your time is up you may be able to work as a flight nurse...although your height may be a severe problem.
i do wish you worked in my acute care facility. many of the other nurses are short--i am not--and i am always called to help move, turn a patient. i don't understand why your height would be a problem; if anything, it would certainly make you stand out. the nurses i know would love to have someone of your height on the floor.
there is a nurse who recently went into the army (i think that is the service) after graduating from excelsior. she is a blogging on allnurses about her experience--i think she started basic in april. sorry, don't remember her name, but others may. you may be interested in her experiences and her training. i don't think she is a corpsman, i believe she is a nurse.
anyway, good luck to you and, in my opinion, you made a great choice.
Money and time are preventing me from getting my BSN for now. My Navy recruiter is speaking with the Nurse Corp regarding my position.
I made a fortune in mortgages and lost it all investing in rentals. I had to move in with my parents and wait tables while in school. I took on a lot of debt and borrowed from my family. My resume is a bunch of out of business mortgage shops and restaurants. Not very impressive for 31yrs old.
I mentioned being a giant, straight, white guy because of the demographics in south florida. The majority (80%+) of nurses are Caribbean black or hispanic and woman. Most of the male floor nurses are gay. Straight white guys tend to be fireman that got into the ER as paramedics, became RNs, and end up in the ICU. New grads interview for night shifts as floor nurses.
The race thing works both ways. Back in mortgages, I put on my $1000 suit and would get hired over drinks at a bar because I look like the guy from Wall Street that stole your parent's retirement money.
As a side note, I just got a 6 week job! Applied to Mollen to do flu shots yesterday. Got a call today. Hired me over the phone for $22/hr from September to mid-November. I have to do about 3hrs of online modules, fax in some paperwork, and then I get access to the self-scheduling website in about a week. Crazy, huh?
That is just basically what it says. You find posts here on AN about nurses taking jobs that either they know are at kind of shady facilities or agencies -or- they soon find out are at shady facilities or agencies right after hire because there are no others calling for interviews after having applied and networked hundreds of positions. If you are a new nurse this is more likely to happen to you vs. nurses with many years experience and more choices. They leave rather quickly to save their licenses and since the job market has not changed much, they are back looking again. It is surprising when you realize these places are not shut down. And if you are new there is always the "how bad can it be", and "I can make it a good job", line of thought. It's best to try and find out from other nurses if you can, as they are pretty much always right. Also I've been checking glassdoor.com and other sites to see what's said. You can pretty much tell who is "for real" when they describe working situations.
They need to work, so they leave nursing as a career behind.
If you are a nurse and regularly keep up with other nurses, you will become familiar with this type of situation. It's pretty common today with the slim pickings out there. Some nurses however are completely oblivious to this if they have not been out in the market for some time, and began their careers in a good economy.
Thanks so much for the thorough answer. I am just starting nursing school so unaware of all that stuff. But it makes sense as there are so many scams out there and companies cutting corners.
People who are just starting nursing school be prepared to not find a job when you are done with school..... My friends and I have not been offered jobs anywhere..
quietpatty
38 Posts
Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I also graduated in 12/2010 and I am still jobless. It seems like everyone around me is getting a job. I've talked to some other people and it took them roughly a year before they were hired. I was given the advice of applying for anything in the hospital since they hire internally first. I wouldn't mind taking vitals or giving flu shots for some income. It's better than nothing. Hang in there!