How to land your first RN job in Arizona?

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I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in Indiana and have passed the NCLEX in June of 2014. My fiancé lives in Arizona and I am planning to move in with him there. I visited him last month and was there for a month and took the opportunity to apply for jobs while I was there to go to interviews. I applied to a million jobs and no one called me! This confuses me because there were a ton of open jobs there, compared to Indiana especially where there are barely any. I have my BSN, I worked as a student nurse for over 2 years in a surgical ICU, I have a Spanish minor, I have my BLS. I do not have ACLS yet and do not have my AZ license yet (I was applying with my Indiana one assuming they would know I will get my AZ license if hired). Any advice for landing an interview would be helpful! I went to the best nursing school in Indiana with a B average, was extremely involved in leadership opportunities at school, and gained a TON of experience working as a student, and can speak intermediate Spanish. I have a great résumé, other than not having RN experience yet I don't know what else to do. I have applied to EVERYTHING even nursing homes and am very open to my first job. I have to start paying loans back next month and am really freaking out and feel hopeless at this point. I don't know if it is because I am not applying with an AZ nursing license (Btw I was applying with AZ address). Any help or advice please!!!

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Specializes in Operating Room.

I was in a similar situation in California last year - a new grad with a BSN , 3.5 GPA and a Florida license. After pounding the pavement for 5 months (literally walking into area hospitals and LTC facilities which I recommend NOT doing) and applying to every job posted in Northern California, I returned to my hometown and accepted a new grad position as an OR nurse. I had quite a few connections in No. Cal but to no avail. Personally, I think I was unsuccessful in finding a new grad training program because I did not physically have my California license (received two months after leaving the state). Hopefully Arizona is different and much quicker in issuing licenses. The job market is very tight for new grads in most large cities especially if you are an out-of-towner. Perhaps area hospitals take "their own" before hiring an "outsider". I wish you the best of luck in your search.

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Specializes in labor & delivery.

AZ is a tough market for new grads and has been for a few years. No one wants to invest the time and money to train a new grad when there are plenty of experienced nurses to pick from. Having your BSN will help since most of the hospitals "prefer" the BSN now, and some will only hire BSN's. Having experience as a student does not help much around here. Keep looking and applying to everything you are qualified for. Good luck!!

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I graduated a couple months ago, passed NCLEX, and am completing my BSN in Oct. I live in Arizona and can tell you it is TOUGH here for new grads. As soon as I got my AZ license number I applied to anything and everything with no response. I called recruiters at almost every hospital, called staffing agencies; you name it, I tried it.

Recruiters usually go straight to voicemail and never call you back, staffing agencies rarely work with new grads since everyone wants someone with experience, and applying online is almost worthless since I got instant rejection emails for some reason. The online application process is a joke.

Out of my graduating class in May, the only ones that had jobs 8 weeks out were ones that worked as aids in hospitals and pretty much had an RN job waiting for them.

What eventually worked for me was a combination of dumb luck and persistence. After work I came home and scoured each hospital website and applied for jobs. I viewed applying like it was a job of its own. I spent at least a couple hours everyday, applying, calling, searching, and researching. At work one day I called a recruiter and finally got a live person. She did a quick phone interview, called me in for an in person interview with a manager. I eventually was hired and start in a week.

My advice is this: get your AZ license, get your resume tight, apply from your home state each and every day, and get phone numbers and names of recruiters for hospitals and call, call, call. Even after I was hired they still didn't call me back when I left messages so I basically just called every 30 minutes until I got a live person. Persistence is the key here. There is a glut of new grads pounding the pavement and we all look the same to recruiters.

If you're looking for hospital work you can search Dignity Health, Banner Health, Scottsdale Health Care, John C. Lincoln, Mayo residency program (yes you get paid :) ), Abrazo hospitals, just to name a few. Phoenix is a big place with a lot of health care opportunities, but you'll just have to devote a LOT of time and energy. I hope this helps.

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Thanks so much! I went ahead and accepted a job in Indiana.. .my plan is to work for about 6 months, get my AZ license, and try again. Hopefully I'll have better luck then!

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Thanks I was hoping my SN experience would help especially since (or so I was told) hospitals in AZ do not have SN positions, but it did nothing to help me haga I'm going to keep trying!

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Thanks Soida that does help me a lot. I accepted a job in Indiana and after I get my AZ license and some experience I am going to be very persistent. I didn't try to call recruiters so I will try that as well. Its nice to know I'm not the only struggling new grad out there!

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