If you graduated between 2008 and 2009,how long did it take to find a job ?

[Back2Nursing09]

And what state are you in ??

[mauxtav8r]

2008 summer, employed prior to graduation. But . . . those in my graduation group who delayed employment by just a few weeks had a wait of several months before getting employed, and ended up in less-sought-after positions.

[CT Pixie, BSN, RN]

I graduted LPN school in late June of 2008. I was hired as a GPN prior to my graduation ceremony. I happened to start the day I found out I passed my NCLEX in very early July of 2008. The DON was thrilled I passed, the personel dept..not so much. The had a ton of paperwork they had to redo since all the paper work was done as a GPN status.

I'm in CT

[carluvscats]

May 2008...did not take NCLEX until October. Was genuinely surprised to find out in the short time between spring and fall how much the job market changed. I could not score a job in a hospital, so was hired by a pediatric home health agency and started in December.

I'm in Iowa.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Graduated June '08, had job offer in March '08 contingent on passing nclex. Took nclex in July '08, started work August '08. In NJ.

[Bobylon]

Graduated March 28 2009 (something like that), passed NCLEX April 5-ish, started working fulltime LPN April 16 .... in all fairness, the LPN program I attended is put on by our local hospital, and (at that time) they paid for your schooling and offered you a job, provided you agree to work for them for X amount of time (or you could buy your way out if you chose to work elsewhere). Apparently, they no longer do this, and you pay for the schooling and have to find a job. I and my fellow classmates were lucky, I think the following class was the last to benefit from this. Not to mention, I live 3 miles from the hospital..... has worked out well, for the most part (although some nights I wonder if it's worth it....the last 3 nights being some of them .... incredible patient load with short staffing.....nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose )

[kcochrane]

Graduated Dec. 2009, had two job offers before I graduated. Live in upstate NY.

[RaziRN]

I graduated in May 2009, took the NCLEX in June and started working in December. I searched for seven months (this includes the time I was searching before graduation). I'm certainly not in a coveted position but it sure beats sitting around at home waiting for interviews. I'm in NC.

[Multicollinearity, BSN, RN]

I graduated in Dec. 2009. Over 1/3 of my classmates are still unemployed. Many have moved out of state for jobs.

[shanyone]

Graduated May, 2009. I sent out so many resumes and applied for so many jobs (at least 75) before I got a great job in a great hospital in October, 2009. This is in Ohio.

Just keep trying. Perserverance is the only thing that will get you where you want to go.

Good luck to anyone trying to find a job now!

[cam_RN]

I graduated in Dec '09... passed the NCLEX in Feb '09... and just landed my first RN position (in research) last week. I began my search last October and only scored one hospital interview in the last six months (that I didn't get)... I'm in NC.

[amjowens]

Graduated in Dec.'08. I applied for jobs in December, hoping to at least work as a GN or CNA until I took and passed my NCLEX. I did get a job, started in mid-Jan working as a CNA/GN. I now work fullt-time as a nurse on mostly day shift at the same facility, and love my job. I did initially have to travel about 45min to find this job, but have since moved near my job (now less than 10min away).

A friend of mine waited until Summer '09 to take her NCLEX. She applied everywhere, got her license in another state to apply there, and still couldn't land a job. She had no health care experience, but a solid work history. To make a long story short, she's now working at the same facility as mine. She had to start as a CNA (even though she'd passed her NCLEX) because no nursing position was available. After a few months of this, a nursing position opened, and she now works two 12-hour shifts on the weekend.

A matter of one semester made a dramatic difference in job opportunities. It's been about a year and a half since I graduated, and I still had to start out as a CNA in order to work my way up. Now, even that seems not an option. SO MANY NURSING PROGRAMS have opened in my area. It's REALLY a shame for the people who paid for private trade schools with the promise of "recession-proof" nursing...

The only upside to all this is that it's going to be that nursing is a profession people enter because they GENUINELY want to be nurses and not because of just "having a job".