I should have become a teacher!!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I am so discouraged....Applied for over 30 jobs online and no luck! It is impossible for a NEW GRAD RN to find a job in New Jersey..or maybe its just me. I've been looking for a month and 15 days now. These people don't understand that in order to have experience I need to start somehow. I've only had one job my whole life and only for a year and I know that it counts against me even though I'm in my very early 20's. I'm fed up with all the cliches: "keep trying, you can't lose hope, keep looking, you'll find something soon, good luck, just hang in there, keep networking, make sure you have good references...."

Then you must be thinking: what do you want us to do? well I guess nothing..I just needed to let it out. at this point I don't even know what to think or expect. I sould have become a teacher!!!!!!!

Specializes in ED.

I applied at over 200 places (I quit counting at 200) and spent six months looking for work when I was a new grad 2 years ago. It literally was a full time job looking for a full time job. I got lucky and finally landed a gig. The stars just aligned right, it was the right application at the right time. I took the job, didn't care what dept or what hospital.

Just keep looking and keep applying your number will come up. Good Luck

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I know a lot of teachers who are having a REALLY hard time finding (and keeping) jobs. Job searches often take longer than a month and 15 days, in any profession. Where I live, an RN or LVN can get a job at a nursing home in a hot millisecond...but many hold out for the hospital jobs. You aren't entitled to a job just because you got your credentials. You need to be patient and have more realistic expectations.

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i am so discouraged....applied for over 30 jobs online and no luck! it is impossible for a new grad rn to find a job in new jersey..or maybe its just me. i've been looking for a month and 15 days now. these people don't understand that in order to have experience i need to start somehow. i've only had one job my whole life and only for a year and i know that it counts against me even though i'm in my very early 20's. i'm fed up with all the cliches: "keep trying, you can't lose hope, keep looking, you'll find something soon, good luck, just hang in there, keep networking, make sure you have good references...."

then you must be thinking: what do you want us to do? well i guess nothing..i just needed to let it out. at this point i don't even know what to think or expect. i sould have become a teacher!!!!!!!

oops!

oh well, even teachers make mistakes. i made a big mistake once-i became a teacher. i hated it, absolutely hated it. trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

i hope things work out for you soon.

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I feel your pain- I have a couple of years of experience but stupid me I didn't go right into the hospital after graduation so now most doors are closed to me (I get told that my experience isn't med/surg or critical care so it isn't really experience- my hx is in corrections and short stint at ALF). I have been unemployed for a while and working per diem. The hospitals in my area want a nurse who is fresh out of school and have precepted at their facility or someone who has been a specialty nurse forever.

Teaching isn't the way to go. In desperation I looked at that option and trust me it is not the way to go- other posters have done a good job laying out the numerous reasons why teaching is not a lucrative career unless your heart is totally sold on being a teacher (living on love not pay).

Coming from a fellow unemployed, I will offer some suggestions- use them if you wish- but first (in response to another poster) I will mention that all clinics and hospitals in my area have online apps and they tell you at the door that they don't accept a resume in person or speak to a candidate. I think you have to apply for every single position that pops up not just the ideal ones you want. Be the squeaky wheel. Find out a name of HR person and call him/her. Let them know you are an assertive one that really wants a job. Go online and make sure your resume and cover letter are perfect. In an interview, dress like you are applying for a position on Wall Street.

In the meantime, find 2-3 part time or per diem jobs if you can and work them. It's flu season and you can give shots- there is a job.

Just to make you smile- I was looking into a school nurse position in my area recently- I saw that the school nurse makes only ONE DOLLAR MORE AN HOUR than the school secretary. Just can't win. :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Peds Homecare.

Plenty of nursing jobs in Syracuse, NY too. Long list in the local paper for RN's, LPN's, CNA's. I have said this many times on here. http://www.syracuse.com

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I know it's frustrating being a new grad and searching! I am a teacher that spent 3 years searching with over 60 interviews and no job! Lots of temporary gigs that never panned out because they laid off instead of hiring the next year! It was the best thing that ever happened to me bc I got an inside look and we were truly viewed as disposable! I'm going back for healthcare and I hope I will have better luck but budget cuts in my area are projected to be even worse next year! There are friends of mine who have been looking for 5 years and have subbed the whole time!

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Home health.

A month a half of job searching really is nothing, many people including myself spent six+ months and hundreds of applications before getting a job. If your this discouraged this early in the search, you're in for a long ride.

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HAHAHA!

Sorry your having a hard time, but the title made me laugh.

On night shift this week we were all at the nursing station talking about how we should have become teachers, (similar pay, WAY better hours and insead of having to work extra in ths summer having them OFF!)

The economy stinks, you might be living in an area that was hit hard. Nurisng has been through this before and will again, hopefully thing will turn around soon and you can get in somewhere.

Good luck

PS a month and 15 days is not a long time. It took longer then that between my interview and hiring at the hosp I'm at. I acctually got an call this week from a resume I dropped off 6mons ago. You dont just hand in a resume, they read that day and call you the next. You go to the bottom of a big pile and when they are hireing months from now you get an interview. My friend handed out a ton after graduation and got a job in AL, 16mons later she got a call from one of the hospitals and ended up with that job.

I felt the same way as you I was looking for months, but now am in a job I love.

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I sould have become a teacher!!!!!!!

Our district laid off 500 teachers over the summer; they're probably thinking "I should have gone into nursing!". :D I've been a teacher for 20 years...believe me, it's not easy. Unprepared kids, oblivious parents, demanding administration.....and paperwork that never ends even when you bring it home, which is often....and I teach preschool! And summers off? Yeah, right! I work through the summer so I can keep getting a paycheck for June, July, and August.

The job market is tough all over these days.

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Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

I have a nephew who lives in New Jersey who is a new grad teacher. He has been looking for his first job for over a year now -- has been on some interviews, but no job yet.

If you had become a teacher, you'd be posting to allteachers.com that you should have become a nurse!

It took me 5 months to find my first nursing job. Keep trying, and good luck!

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Specializes in PCU.

Get a professional resume, dress professionally, and go in person to the hospitals, talk to the charge nurses, directors, find out which hospitals have internships (some hospitals have internships for new grads to be assimilated into the units) or even PRN slots. Sometimes getting to know those in the facilities helps you get a foot in the door.

LTCs/SNFs are more likely to hire than hospitals, but limit your options as time goes on. Good luck with your job search. :up:

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Specializes in FNP.

The avg time to find a new job (across the US, across all fields) is 10 months. Buck up little camper, you have a long way to go!

All you can do is all you can do. Apply, apply, apply. In the meantime, make sure you have a good resume (and it is possible to get a good one even with your brief work history and no RN experience, but I'd hire a professional) and cover letter, and have appropriate interview attire at the ready. Go to some Toastmasters meetings and ramp up your speaking skills so your interviews will go smoothly.

Don't waste time in the interim, be able to show potential employers you are industrious. That means doing something beside sitting home watching Maury and filling out online job apps (not that that's what you are doing, just sayin'). Get out into the community; volunteer, take a new class, or teach one. Learn the broad strokes of a foreign language that might be common with the underserved population in your area.

I'd also give some serious consideration to taking at least a part-time position, either paid or volunteer, anywhere you can get it. You want to have someone to attest to your reliability, collegiality and ability to learn OJT, etc.

You don't like people telling you good luck, so I won't.

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