Having some difficulty making my first job decision. Please help!

[Sylfaen]

Hi, everyone. I just graduated from nursing school and recently moved to Atlanta, GA. I no nobody in this area except for my family since I'm not from here. I do not have a car and intent to get around by public transit & Lyft. I'm unsure of what type of specialty to pursue & want to gain work experience at the moment. I have received a job offer from Emory & interviewed at Piedmont; I need to have an answer to Emory by Monday & am still waiting to hear back from Piedmont.

I received a job offer at Emory's residency program at the care initiation unit. It's a 2 year commitment. The first year consists of classes and training (in this case, emergency services training), then the second year I'd be a regular full time employee with the freedom to try to transfer to another unit. An advantage to the CIU is that everybody is off on the holidays. I think that Emory would be a great place for networking, because I'd be working on the college campus with access to the campus' facilities and activities. I have no friends here, so Emory would be a good place to meet other young, educated people. The 2 year commitment is a little daunting to me, especially as someone who isn't from Atlanta & is just getting adjusted.

I interviewed at Piedmont hospital today & I think it went well. They said I'd hear back from them next week & asked me to rank my top 3 choices. I ranked the medical surgical floor first (as I'm interested in surgery), and the nurse manager had me tour the unit. The residency program itself is 9-10 weeks, with a suggested (but not contracted) 1 year commitment. W/ Piedmont, there's more flexibility and less of a commitment.. Everyone I met seemed friendly. It also seemed like a great place to network.

So I have to give Emory my decision probably before hearing back from Piedmont... At this point, I do not know which hospital I would rather work at. I'm trying to work it out in my head. I got a good feeling about both hospitals & both are in good areas. I have briefly looked at the benefits for both; they both look good. The pay for Emory is 26/hr & for Piedmont 27/hr.

So if anyone has any advice on making this tough decision, please help! Thank you all and I appreciate you taking the time to read this.

[Sour Lemon]

As it stands, you have one offer. There's no choice to make yet. Don't torture yourself prematurely.

[Sylfaen]

I need to make a decision, which may be before I hear back from the other place. & I didn't mention, but I also received a job offer at another hospital (Wellstar). I didn't get a good feeling at this hospital so I didn't mention it. The person who interviewed me there did not show up, and someone else had to come see me (30 minutes later than my appointment time).

[beckysue920]

SYLfaen, Did you take the job at Emory? How is it going? Did Piedmont eventually offer you a job?