How do I go about this situation?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I am getting ready to graduate nursing school with a BSN this May. However, I still do not have a job. The only hospital I still have a chance at interviewing at is the one that I have been doing my clinicals at. When the hiring recruiter reached out to me he said he only had interview spots at certain units I was unfamiliar with, but I still made an appointment for an interview at the unit because I do not want to be job less.

However, I been doing my rotations at the same hospital on the oncology floor, and I have began to love this floor. The nurses and my friends who got hired say there are more spots available on this floor. Therefore, my question to you is would it be bad to directly email the manager to this floor to see if she is doing any more interviews when I already have scheduled an interview at the same hospital for a different floor. I am just not sure how to go about this situation.

Dear Not Sure,

Congrats on graduating in a month!

The best course here is to go with the interview you already have scheduled.

Direct your questions about openings to the recruiter. The recruiter has more accurate information about openings than your friends. It could be that there are openings, but for experienced nurses only, or that your friends think the unit is short when in fact the budgeted positions are filled.

Hopefully you will get an offer after your interview, and down the road, if you still feel you love oncology, you can plan to transfer.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

Author, "Your Last Nursing Class: How to Land Your First Nursing Job"...and your next!

[JKL33]

I would take the chance, if I had a trustworthy, reputable friend already working on the floor, of having that person ask the manager 1) if there are openings that need to be filled and 2) what the best way to refer someone would be.

Hiring onto a random floor being pushed by a recruiter would be one of my last options for trying to not be jobless. That isn't to say that I wouldn't go to the interview if it was already set up, of course.