Hard time finding job in Chicago, Illinois

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Hi, I'm a LPN with 31 yrs of experience...I have a problem and want to know if anyone else is experiencing this-I am barely in my 50's and am not able to retire, but find it hard to change jobs...I kow that I'm going to have to do another at least 5 to 10 years before I can retire even with age...Any suggestions

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical, Telemetry/ICU Stepdown.

Chicago is one of the worst American cities right now to look for a job-even Forbes magazine and the Wall Street Journal had stories that said as the country is recovering from the recession, Chicago is actually sinking deeper. This is because of rapid population growth and a huge number of universities and schools offering degrees without any growth in the job market.

There are unemployed BSNs standing on every street corner in Chicago. I realize you're an LPN but BSN is all I ever had to so I'm sharing from my own perspective.

I have friends in Chicago with 8 years of med-surg experience who can't find a med-surg job. This is asinine, med-surg is an entry level unit, but it's a coveted position in Chicago. My other Chicago friends accepted mediocre positions out of desperation, doing something they never wanted to do, but they feel the other option is long-term unemployment, so they are afraid.

A majority of Chicago's medical centers had nurse layoffs, sometimes in several phases, but most did their best to hide it.

This is a localized nurse glut, in other parts of the country the job market, while competitive, is much better, and you don't have to spend 2 years sending resumes as in Chicago.

I was able to get a med-surg position with just 1 email I sent to a recruiter, but the condition was I had to get out of Chicago and relocate to an area that has a strong demand for BSNs.

Good luck.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

I just looked on indeed.com. While the number of RN jobs listed is 7 times as great as LPN listings, there are more than 625 LPN listings

There are jobs out there, but not as many for LPN as there used to be. Since you are probably going to work for another 15 years or so, have you thought about becoming an RN? A new RN with decades of LPN experience is more marketable than a new RN with no clinical experience.

Good luck.

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I'm sorry you are having such a hard time finding a job, especially with more than 39 years of experience. Have you tried SNF? Skilled nursing facilities? Private duty/home health? I've heard how difficult it is to find a hospital job in Chicago but maybe you'll have better luck in those other areas?

Sent via my iPhone using allnurses.com ❤️

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Specializes in clinical setting,MS,ER,Short Stay.

Agreed!!!

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