How to find a job in southern california - new grad

RunninOnCoffee · Apr 16, 2014

Not sure what city you are in, but we just moved here too. Have you considered travel nursing within the city and surrounding cities you are living in. I applied via Monster for one job and in the process apparently posted my resume for recruiters to see. For the next several days my phone and email were blown up by travel companies. Several claimed to have jobs for SoCal. Good Luck with your search!

RunninOnCoffee · Apr 16, 2014

Forget to mention several said they were looking to hire travel jobs for LA and Riverside areas.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Apr 17, 2014

Have you explored long term acute care? I hear new grads having more success in long term care (nursing homes and LTAC). I would think your interest in neuro would make this a natural fit though I'm sure acute care is more desirable.

melissagee · Apr 17, 2014

FLICURN and TiffyRN thanks for responding!

The temp agencies won't take me because I don't have experience as a nurse, just as a brain injury specialist (my official title). My facility refused to hire me on as a nurse, which, combined with the saturated market in the Philadelphia area, was part of the reason moving looked good. When it became clear we were definitely coming here about six months ago, I applied to all of the LTACs (nursing homes) in this area because I didn't think I'd have much of a shot with the hospitals. I didn't know anyone, and I knew it was a tough market here. To this day, I haven't heard back. They also state they PREFER at least a year experience before hiring you, so I'm thinking my applications have fallen into the new grad black hole. I've also emailed HR recruiters directly, but I realize they're busy, and I don't want to be a pest when they don't answer.

I also tried the VA because I know there's quite a lot of brain injury coming back from the wars, so I thought they might recognize my experience, but I didn't accrue enough points in their system to warrant an interview.

Basically, I'm all out of ideas and frustrated. My fiance agreed to pay my subsidized loans, (the only ones left because I paid the others by working full time at the brain injury rehab and getting 2 scholarships for achievement in nursing school - also on my resume), but I'm already a year out now in May and will be competing with those new grads, so I'm afraid if I don't get a nursing job soon, I'll have to take a refresher course, and I know already I don't have the patience for that, unless they teach phleb and IVs, which I always wanted to MASTER.

Other sites I've read say to volunteer, but I'm very gun-shy about taking that liability onto my license. Is this fear unfounded? Carmen says in her book to ALWAYS have personal Liability Insurance as a nurse, so I didn't really feel it was. This is pushing me away from nursing and toward possibly just staying home and having kids. However, I didn't tutor and graduate with highest honors and pass the NCLEX the first time in 75 questions to NEVER use my license :/

Now, I'm just venting. I'll tell you both if anything happens with all this. Hopefully, also, if I figure out how to get noticed, I can tell other new grads how to as well. Thank you for all of your suggestions

-Melissa

melissagee · Apr 17, 2014

I pulled up one of my old cover letters, so I could post what I'm saying to my potential employers.

Dear Ms. XXXXX,

The attached resume and documentation is in response to XYZ CARE CENTER's search for a competent, flexible registered nurse, who enjoys patient-care and working pro re nata. As a well-known provider of quality long term and rehabilitation services, I know that you're seeking an individual who is passionate and motivated by positive outcomes, evidence-based care, and teamwork. I am that person.

My deep interest in this position stems from a work history with survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) for the past four years. In nursing school at LMNO University, I was known as the neuro-endocrine girl, the go-to for clarification of neurological principals of care, as well as those of stroke. Prior to my education at LMNO University, I became certified with Crisis Prevention and Intervention strategies and those of CPR, which are certifications that I maintain. I also obtained certification of nursing research with the National Institute of Nursing Research.

My work experience includes delivering care to patients in states of confusion, irritability, and hostility, all of which may be applicable to your patient population. Prior to my experiences at XXX past company, I tutored extensively, which was where I learned how to teach at my patient's level and enrich their understanding. I enjoyed all of these jobs immensely, as well as the job of independent researcher.

From that angle, I envision your facility as dynamically refreshing, engaging, and challenging from every vantage: ethical, legal, physiological, psychological, and social. I would, after learning more about your operations, enjoy moving into your rehabilitation unit because I enjoy inspiring and helping people to re-attain function. As a nurse, I'm always happy to teach best practice!

I would enjoy the opportunity to expand my knowledge with XYZ CARE CENTER. I find your mission inspiring, and I believe that I will embrace your evidence-based approach to facilitate the positive outcomes and teamwork that are synonymous with your organization.

Thank you very much for your consideration,

Sincerely,

A New Old-Grad Nurse

Military Trauma Center Cover Letter:

Hospitals are busy and goal-oriented. With that in mind, I offer my briefest, concise cover letter in response to Adagio Hospital's request for a PRN registered nurse in the XXXX, California area.

My most recent job was as a PRN Brain Injury Specialist for survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI), so I'm accustomed to short notice and weekend scheduling that accompanies this position. PRN is a good fit for me, and I enjoy the flexibility and varied experiences that working multiple shifts provides immensely.

Employment as a brain injury specialist affords me extensive psychiatric experience, as each of my clients has battled several psychiatric diagnoses and traumas, ranging from schizophrenia to depression, compulsive overeating, anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sexual abuse, and borderline personality disorder. This offers me experience with staff splitting and manipulation techniques, as well as suicidal statement and safety protocols for clients and the team.

In addition to psychological injury responses, each of my clients also experienced physical limitations that influenced their mental and physical health. Some of these were diabetes, hemi-paralysis, asthma, congestive heart failure, contractures, anophthalmia and resulting sensory deprivation, Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and chronic renal disease. To individuals without cognitive deficits from a major brain injury, these conditions would likely have been depressing and distressing. However, on a brain injury unit, assessing and addressing their ramifications was a daily ritual.

To that end, I completed four years of crisis prevention and intervention training and used it regularly to assure that minor behavioral situations didn’t escalate and to diffuse already escalated occurrences. One of my chief principles was to build deep rapport with each of my clients, which allowed initial talk-through techniques of the program to work better and avoided physicality. This also reduced the need for intervention by on-call psychiatrists and support staff, especially on the weekends.

I learn very quickly and enjoy new experiences and ways of tackling problems. I also enjoy goal setting and helping people to reach their goals, both as a nurse and as a person. If these opportunities are present at Adagio Hospital, that’s where I want to be. I look forward from hearing from you once you’ve satisfactorily reviewed my application for employment.

Sincerely,

Same New Old Grad as the last letter

Another Cover Letter - this one from the view of the care I gave - this is an earlier cover letter and I stopped using the story style, though it is one of my favorites:

"Well, the call is yours. I'm not there," my clinical manager said through cold plastic.

As a nursing student, I looked at my long-term care patient and summoned everything I didn't yet know about emergency triage. He looked pale, gaunt, and listless, without his usual gruff humor. He didn't touch his juice at dinner and wouldn't drink the cup I brought during his evening routine. Brain injury had destroyed his self-assessment ability, but I knew it wasn't normal for him to swallow mouthwash instead of spit it out, occasionally at me. His temperature was low.

I made the call, nervously. Paramedics came.

I brought his wheelchair in the lift van and sat with him most of the night as he groaned and sighed that he felt fine. Before his injury, he'd been a lawyer, so we talked politics between IV sticks, temperature monitoring, and the hawkish watch I kept.

The diagnosis was septicemia.

At the time, I didn't realize how close my patient had come to death. As we studied emergency medicine in my final year of nursing school, I understood, and it terrified me. However, I felt that I had recognized the situation and done what was necessary to save his life.

I bring careful, yet basic assessment techniques to XXX MEDICAL CENTER and an eager desire to serve my patient population and improve their lives through ongoing education. I'm committed to learning to be the best nurse that I can be and hoping to find my place in your impressive community.

Sincerely,

Old New Grad

A Cover Letter for Bodynorth:

My Contact Info

Recruiter's Contact Info

Dear Recruiter,

The attached resume and documentation is in response to Bodynorth’s desire for a registered nurse focused on safe rehabilitative care.

I am very interested in this position because I’ve worked for four years in a facility that addresses the various medical, social, behavioral, and rehabilitative needs of survivors of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

I find my patients, (and traumatic brain injury itself), fascinating. I’m particularly interested in neuroplasticity and its utilization in treatment to maximize patient outcomes, reintegration, and recovery. My present job focuses on maximizing survivor functioning in a partial community life through the use of sheltered workshops and business-sponsored programs. However, my patients are maintained in a medical house and don’t return home.

Many follow dysphagia precautions, with copious queuing, and some have cervical and psychiatric precautions. Impulsivity and disinhibition are also common at my program, and I have completed Crisis Prevention and Intervention units yearly to address these and assaultive behaviors.

I would enjoy the opportunity to expand my knowledge at Bodynorth and see people return to their families. I find your mission and success rate inspiring, and I believe that I will embrace the team approach you value and that I have a record of doing so at University, both as a health mentors liaison and as a tutor. My goal is to exceed your eighty percent rehabilitative return and facilitate positive outcomes that embody teamwork for my clients. I would very much appreciate the opportunity to meet with you and discuss how my experiences might best suit your facility.

Sincerely,

I was a less old grad back then

RNBritt · Apr 17, 2014

I'm sorry to hear you're having a hard time finding a job. Every time I tell anyone how difficult it is to get a job as a new nurse, they get that shocked look and say "but I heard there's a nursing shortage."

I don't really have any great advice for you for getting a job here in CA. I ended up looking outside the area and was fortunate enough to get a position in my dream unit in TX, but I understand relocating isn't really an option.

If you're limited to the area, I think it makes it even more important to try and make an impression on the people that might hire you. That could mean volunteering so you can participate in an organization and network or even seeing if you can meet with unit managers to introduce yourself and sell your impressive experience. Most of my classmates who got jobs here did so at facilities they were working or volunteering at - sometimes it really is about who you know. Though other times it seems nothing can get your resume out of the new grad application black hole.

Sorry I don't have any awesome advice, but I hope you find something soon! I will say its hard to keep a positive attitude with all the rejection, but I think it's important to try!