I know this gets posted often...

MillennialNurse · Jul 23, 2016

I hear you, OP. I'm a new nurse with almost 2 years of experience. I live in the Northeast, where the job market is pretty heavily saturated, and there are a lot of BSN nurses to compete with. I seriously must have put out over 100 applications over the course of the summer after graduation from my associates program. I only got 2 interviews...this was with 4 years of EMS experience, graduating valedictorian from my EMS programs and top 25% of my nursing school class, along with some other things. Heck, I even had connections in some facilities! I *finally* got a job as a nurse in a community ER. I've since moved on to a level 1 trauma center.

My recommendation is to start networking. Find a professional organization in the specialty you'd like up be in. (The ENA, for example, if ER was your game.) Try taking ACLS/PALS, and other courses like that. I'm guessing that if it was down to you and one other candidate with similar resumes, except you had ACLS etc, they'd pick you, simply because now they don't have to pay for you to take the class.

As far as weaknesses go, this was my version: Obviously, my lack of experience was my weakness. But, I have a drive for knowledge. As a result, I have no problem asking for help when needed, and turning the moment into a learning opportunity. I graduated towards the top of my class, and I'm currently taking courses for my BSN. What I lack in experience, I make up for with passion, drive, and the ability to look at tricky situations with fresh eyes.

Hey, it obviously worked--at least one time! Good luck out there!

MillennialNurse · Jul 23, 2016

Forgot to mention: enrolling in a professional organization allows you to network. Go to meetings, classes, conferences, and workshops. You never know who you're going to run into, or who's going to say, "Hey, I think there's a position opening up here in a month..."

ayejay09 · Jul 23, 2016

It took me 3 months to find a job in nursing. This is in an area that had a critical nursing shortage. I did 6 months of psych before finally getting an acute care job. Good luck. There is no logic to it.

DeeAngel · Jul 23, 2016

Consider having a thorough background check done on yourself by a professional. It might reveal something that recruiters are seeing in your background check that you are unaware of.

Second, look for local community programs that help people with interviewing skills. The local library would be a good place to start.

NursesRmofun, ASN, RN · Jul 23, 2016

I'm not sure either. You didn't say exactly how many interviews you had. Maybe two? Three? I would say it wouldn't be too out there to not get hired during 2-3 interviews, if there is tough competition. I'd keep looking outside the area. Good luck!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 23, 2016

I'm a new grad and these interviews are for new grad programs. I dress very professionally. Today it was black slacks, black flat shoes, and a white button up top. They asked me why I wanted to work in the department, I answered that I enjoyed my clinical experiences in similar departments and found myself drawn to them, enjoyed patient/family teaching component. They asked how I handle a conflict with a coworker and I said that I would speak to the person privately to try to find a resolution prior to taking any other action. They asked what my strengths and weaknesses are. I stated one of my great strengths was my compassion (which was corroborated by 2 of my exemplary letters of reference from clinical instructor/nurse preceptors). I also mentioned my ability to put myself in the patient's shoes so to speak and see things from their perspective. Example, you have a patient being rude and grumpy, this may be the worst day of their life, they are in the hospital, not feeling good, etc. For weaknesses I said I had a hard time with delegation because I tend to want to do everything myself and that I will be working on delegation skills.
These are just a few examples.

I'm just guessing here, but try to discuss a strength other than compassion. Everyone says they're compassionate, and you want to stand out a bit. Besides, your letters of reference already say you're compassionate. And second, you might want to take a look at what those letters actually say. Are they really strong references, or are they damning you with faint praise?

I was once asked to write letters of reference for grad school for two nurses I worked with: one was super smart, nice, reliable, friendly and never made mistakes. I wrote her what I thought was a glowing letter of reference. The other was . . . well, NOT. But she gave me a packet when she asked me to write her letter. The packet contained her goals, her achievements, letters of reference from others, a list of adjectives she felt described her and suggestions for how to write the letter. When I wrote HER letter, it really was a glowing recommendation and the letter I wrote for the first nurse paled in comparison. Fortunately, the first nurse got into anesthesia school anyway.

aspiringrn1987 · Jul 24, 2016

Right but I do think it's a sign I'm interviewing really poorly if I go through a 6-8 week recruiting process only to interview and receive a rejection email a few hours later stating basically that they haven't hired anyone yet, but it's definitely not going to be me. And yes I haven't had many interviews. That's because out of the 150ish applications I've put in nationwide, I've only been given an interview for 4 of them. It's just disheartening. One I had a phone interview for would not give me an in-person interview unless I was already moving 1500 miles away to their city. They were not okay with the idea of relocating for a job. It's just been crazy and very discouraging.

barcode120x, RN, NP · Jul 25, 2016

As one of the posters said, your area just might be too over-saturated with new grads and/or you may just be unlucky. Southern Cali has it tough for new grads too, more-so a few years ago. A friend of my graduated with a BSN from cal-state LA back in 2012. It took him over a year to get a job, and when he did, he got a job in Arkansas. He told me had received less than 5 interviews from SoCal hospitals and sent over a thousand apps. I knew him personally and I don't think he had bad interviews or a terrible resume. He ended up taking the job in Arkansas. If you're willing, maybe relocating may be required, but I would apply first/interview before moving.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 25, 2016

I saw 2 things in your posts that jumped out at me.

1. You do not have a BSN

2. You are applying to acute care hospitals and new grad programs. (You said you are going to start to look at LTC facilities now.)

Many new grad programs limit their hiring to BSN's -- and will only hire ADN's if they don't have enough good BSN candidates. Once they know they can fill their class with good BSN grads, they cut the ADN's loose. My guess is that you get the interview before they get a good look at the BSN applicants. They interview you as they get a look at all the applicants. Then they make the decision to just go with the BSN's and reject all the ADN applicants. It has nothing to do with anything you did in the interview.

You may have to set your sights on LTC or on other facilities that are not actively trying to increase their BSN numbers right now. Those new grad residencies are often reserved for the BSN population and that may explain it all.

Good luck to you.