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

Platypus · Sep 2, 2009

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!!

I would rather not say but they do a lot more than just flu shot vaccines. I applied to Mollen kind of late. I actually had tried since June, but it (the site) would not save anything I put onto the application and when I had to leave the computer for a few minutes it would time out. After trying 3 or 4 times I gave up until I had uninterupted time to get all the info in.

Another company that advertised for RNs for flu shot vaccine clinics I had sent my resume, had returned an email asking for copies of a ton of stuff - no interview or anything! I am a little leery of that - I don't even know if they are legit and I don't want to give them info unless I know who they are at least.

nurseme3, LPN · Sep 3, 2009

I just took an RN position at a hospital in my parent's hometown after 8 months of looking for a job and being licensed in two states. It was one of the toughest transitions in my life, and I wish you a bucket load of patience and faith. In the mean time, this was my plan of attack:

At the beginning of each week, I checked indeed.com on Monday and Tuesday by typing "new grad rn" and "nurse residency" into the search box. I would then apply for any and all jobs that seemed plausible.

On Wednesday through Friday, I would check for RN vacancies at hospitals in the states that I was licensed, even if the position did not take new grads. (I went to Wikipedia and printed off a list of every hospital in the state.) I did the same for LTC facilities.

On weekends, I relaxed (as much as you can).

Even though I know my words fall short to what you are feeling, but remember that you are a qualified, registered RN. The question is not if you will get a job, but when, and don't be afraid to take temp jobs until then. Best of luck.

Sarahtonin · Sep 3, 2009

I am in the same boat as you, although I had about 15 applications out there, not 50. I graduated in May, took boards in August, passed on my first attempt and thought, ok this is it, they'll alllll be calling me back now! Silly me, I thought that once I was licensed, they'd be jumping at the chance to hire me! Haha

I don't have much experience besides my clinicals at nursing school either. I have been doing home health private duty for a family for the past year, although that was mostly companionship, not really nursey stuff. I did get excellent references from it though.

I finally got offered a job yesterday... not my favorite facility or shift, but I'll get my experience and have a steady paycheck coming in, which is what I wanted a year & a half ago when I began LPN school!

Anyway, my only tips are call & bug the people who have your apps! (The places you'd be most interested in working anyway. With 50 out there, it might be hard to call every single one.) Just ask to speak to someone in HR and tell them it's been X amount of time since you applied and ask if they still hiring for that position. You might get some answers that way. Even if it's finding out that you didn't get the job, at least you can cross that place off your list & get some peace of mind.

And a good website for job searching is www.indeed.com. It searches through all the job websites and compiles it all in one place for you. You just need to type in a job title and a zip code or city name. :typing

Best of luck & congrats on becoming a nurse!

JMRN09 · Sep 8, 2009

Just wondering if any of you had your schools/professors react to what we are dealing with right now. I wish that my school was more helpful...maybe contacting our clinical sites and really pushing for them to hire new grads or something...I don't know. We have had no help from our professors...I started to ask for advice and guidance in February. Needless to say they were stuck in academia and totally out of touch with what was going on in the area. By graduation, it was "apply outside the hospital/something will open up/you all will be FINE." So much money, time, blood sweat and tears that we spent; I would think these smart nursing professors would be outraged.

Can we maybe start a letter writing campaign to the ANA or something...I just want them to acknowledge what is going on.

Platypus · Sep 8, 2009

RE:nursing professors:

Why would the nursing professors be outraged? They have their jobs and are doing it right (preparing students to pass the nclex). I am told is that it is just a phase and that nursing will bounce back. I am just thankful there are Flu shot clinic jobs out there! Something is better than nothing and I have a feeling many healthcare admin. executives are trying to wait and see what type of healthcare reforms will arise in the Obama administration. Nursing instructors have job security, I don't think they are too concerned about former students feeling that nursing will bounce back eventually.

JMRN09 · Sep 8, 2009

They should be outraged about the fact that the hospitals are still short staffed but refuse to hire an untapped resource ie: new nurses...If they all made a stink about it maybe it would put more pressure on them to give us a chance. We are out there, waiting, ready to work....thousands of us. It's so disheartening!

Platypus · Sep 8, 2009

Personally, In my last 2 semesters, it was almost impossible for us nursing students to get any skills practiced. One hospital would not let even senior students administer meds without instructor being there to supervise. However, since there were 8 students, she could only supervise 4 students a day - so we only gave meds once a week at that clinical. The rest of the semester was in an ER - and there was nothing for us to do! The nursing instructors and students are suffering from hospitals being terrified of law suits in this area. That is probably part of the reason why hospitals do not want to hire new nurses.

old dog learning new · Sep 2, 2012

True, Mollen has added about 13 other immunizations. It's not just flu and pneu. anymore. They only open the schedule a few weeks at a time to a month at a time, so keep looking, plus there are dropped shifts daily. Many are out of driving range for me unless I can get several in a row and a cheap hotel is cheaper than gas. The notebooks (laptops) are new this year, still working out the glitchs. Training was all on-line for me. Pay is weekly, that's nice. Easy company to work for. Old Dog