How is it that I haven't found a job yet???

HeartsOpenWide, RN · Aug 25, 2009

Apply for a Psych position. Apparently no one wants them and they have a high turn around rate. I applied to one on a Friday afternoon and got an invitation for an interview that next Monday, not even a business day later, still can not figure out how they got my resume and mailed me an invite so fast!.

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 25, 2009

it sounds like you may have started applying after hospitals already hired new grads, which is typically january-march for the may class and august-october for the december class... the summer is a very very bad time for a new grad to find a job. thus, try to re-apply throughout this fall and you may get more interested employers.

i recently applied for a job that was open to new grads and landed an interview within hours of applying! i worked for my current facility in a rn position in med-surg since graduation but am leaving for an ed at another facility. within my current hospital transferring to the ed is not possible within 18 months of being hired unless you are given special permission and the ed is willing to hire you (mine was not). however, another hospital took my 6 months of rn work experience and has given me a chance.

btw, i live in a rural area and apply for jobs in rural areas. if you find yourself in an area saturated with new grads, try to apply to areas outside of big cities that no one in their right mind would move to or commute except to work as a rn. gl!

86toronado, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2009

FYI- while you're waiting for that full time job to come calling, I just picked up a PRN job working flu shot clinics... I haven't started it yet but from what I hear, it's pretty easy and pays reasonably well. Just google "RN flu clinic" or look for it on careerbuilder.com.

Just an idea for if you're running out of money! :twocents:

tuttle13 · Aug 31, 2009

I am in the same situation as you JewlzRN. I graduated in May as well and have been looking since January. No new grad positions before graduation, and now that I am a RN, no positions now either. Only a small handful of my classmates landed jobs before graduation, and that is because they had jobs already as CNAs, EMTs or SNIs etc. I graduated at the top of my class, and it frustrates me when people who barely graduated by a point or 2 have a job and I don't. I have had only 1 interview offered, waited a month for it, and then they didn't even have the courtesy to call me back when I was told I had the job as long as the funding for new hires was approved. I guess it wasn't approved? Yes? No? Who the heck knows - no one returns phones calls or emails.

I am sick and tired of hearing about the "nursing shortage". Why is it that so many of us busted our butts in college to become RNs only to be told there are no jobs now unless you have at least 2 or more years experience? Why is it that the ANA is still begging for more people to get into nursing when the new nurses we have now can't get a job? Sorry to rant, but I am at the point where I feel like I just wasted my time becoming an RN. This is a second career for me and I am not going back to college again after spending all that money to become a RN. My family can't afford it, and I have my own kids to put through college soon.

As far as Psych nursing is concerned; I would love to be a psych nurse, but here you need experience as a pysch nurse or a med/surg nurse before you can get hired on a pysch unit. In fact, you have to do med/surg first to get into any specialty where I am. That includes L&D, VNA, ER/Trauma etc. I am going to try to get into a flu clinic for temp work so that I can at least utilize my RN license for something.

Good luck to us all - we need lots of it...

knittingknurse · Sep 1, 2009

JewlzRN,

I graduated the same day you did, and I feel your pain. I have applied to numerous positions in hospitals. I finally decided to look outside the hospital and was lucky enough to find a skilled nursing position in a rehab facility - I'm just entering my second week. It's PRN, however, so I'm planning on working vaccine clinics this fall and also continuing the application process into hospitals. I know it's hard. Something will come up one of these days for you and the rest of us. :icon_roll

aromarn · Sep 1, 2009

I am another one who feels your pain, I graduated in Jan/09 , but I knew I need time to study for NCLEX and I won't be able to look for a job actively, so I decided to continue with BSN, took some courses a, got my licence in APRIL, so finally I felt ready to hit the job market in JUNE. I did the online and Fax application everyday.I hit the hopsitals on foot twice already. Since then I landed 3 interviews.One was walk in interview, got an email a week later saying Sorry, the other promising one, called for 2nd interview , I was happy because 2 of my friends was told they wont call them for 2nd interview. Then, they call me , day before the interview they cancelled claiming they gave the job for someone inside. (it hurts) Then the last one they have enterance exam before an interview and I failed for one lousy point, and the nursing recruiter got the nerve to tell me , I got all the medmath quesions and difficult questions right!!( still hurts)

Anyway, I am home now, waiting for my children to go back to school so I can hit the road again. (3rd time is the charm) I refuse to do mollen immunization thing..I just want to work in the hospital!!!! I do not undersand as RN, I should be working in the hospital. No one called to day, I put my phone in the outdoor ring, waiting for someone to say , can you come to interview? then actually getting the job!!!

Sick of hearing we prefere BSN, experience and ACLS and PALS. Anyway, I am getting ACLS and PALS 2 weeks from now. Yet another almost $500 I have to spend..... and then what will be the story???

Anyway, its so discuraging , but I am keeping the faith. There is some hospital better and perfect for all of us. Untill then lets keep the faith, support each other and continue with the search.

bridgettem28 · Sep 1, 2009

wow..i feel sooo much better...i thought it was me, and i was the ONLY one not getting a job....i actually graduated in dec 08....took boards in feb, and have been looking for a job since....and just like all the other posts...NOTHING....thought it was something i was doing wrong......this is such a nightmare, and i totally empathize with everyones situation.....Im actually scared now about geting hired becuase it has been so long since i was in school or doing anything nursing related...feel like everything i have learned is slowly but surely leakin outta my brain....like use it or lose it, and i feel like im losing it...AHHHHHHH...lol..

JewlzRN · Sep 1, 2009

Tuttle13- I know exactly what you mean about those that barely skimmed by in nursing school ending up with jobs! In fact, there is this situation of one of the girls I graduated with that got a job at one of the local hospitals BEFORE she graduated...then this girl QUITS her job with NO notice to do the TEMPORARY flu shot job!! Seriously??? I would have killed to get that job and she tossed it aside like it was nothing. Some people are so stupid and they're the ones getting the jobs! I'm sorry, I'm just really frustrated and it helps to get it out, LOL. I was also offered a position and was told that it depended on whether or not the DON would budget for a new hire. I never heard back from them. What a load, right? The other 2 interviews I went on the Nurse Managers acted like they wanted to hire me...then didn't. Is it in their job training to make you feel like you have the job in the bag when in fact, you don't have a chance in Hades? It's not just us, I have several friends with the same experiences.

knittingknurse- Congrats on the job! That's great! I have applied everywhere and in every type of facility it seems. I would take ANYTHING at this point just to get some experience in hopes the hospitals might take me more seriously. I'm doing the flu shot thing too. It's good money but who knows how many hours I'll be able to get. They have hired TONS of nurses and I'm not sure if there's enough hours to go around....let's keep our fingers crossed!

aromarn- It DOES hurt! It's so humiliating to have to explain to people why you don't have a job in this so called "nursing shortage". I'm sick of hearing they want us to have ACLS and PALS too. I'm thinking about getting my ACLS too...as soon as I can scrape up that much money! I'm thinking that it will look really good on my resume, especially when most new graduate's resume's look pretty much the same. Good Luck on your 3rd trip! I really hope the 3rd time is the charm for you!

bridgettem28- It IS a nightmare! My mom is a nurse and she has always told me (until now) that nurses can find a job anywhere. That's exactly why I went into nursing. Something has gotta give, right? Don't feel bad about feeling like your forgetting everything...because I feel the SAME WAY! People will ask me something (that I should totally know) and I draw a blank! I have to go look it up!

Thank ya'll for replying to my message, it's made me feel so much better. It's hard not to get really depressed over it. I am trying so hard to remain positive and to keep the faith....that's the only thing that keeps me going. There is a perfect job for each of us out there...we just gotta find it. I KNOW with all my heart that everything happens for a reason and maybe this is happening to give us strength and to prepare us for something. I'll keep ya'll in my prayers and please do the same for me. Good Luck everybody!!

Platypus · Sep 2, 2009

I went to orientation for a company doing flu shot clinics - apparently, they are doing orientations all week and they have, maybe 50 scheduled clinics in two counties. 10 of them are close to me...10 for the entire flu season. Wow, think I could work 5-6 hours a week? I was thinking full-time might be pushing it....but 5 hours a week is kind of sporifice IMO

Well, at least I can put it on my resume now LOL

JewlzRN · Sep 2, 2009

I went to orientation for a company doing flu shot clinics - apparently, they are doing orientations all week and they have, maybe 50 scheduled clinics in two counties. 10 of them are close to me...10 for the entire flu season. Wow, think I could work 5-6 hours a week? I was thinking full-time might be pushing it....but 5 hours a week is kind of sporifice IMO
Well, at least I can put it on my resume now LOL

What's the name of the company? I'm doing the clinics through Mollen Immunizations. The schedule hasn't come out in my area yet. I sure hope I get more than 5hrs!!

HM2VikingRN, RN · Sep 2, 2009

IHS is an option....

Look for a public health job...