It Finally Happened... A Job!

182 Posts

Specializes in medsurg, progressive care.

Last week was my 23rd birthday; while on break I noticed I had a missed call from a familiar area code. Turns out it had been the hospital I had interviewed at 3 weeks prior, offering me a job. Best present ever!

The job isn't a new grad position. I met 3 of the other women interviewing on the same day as me and all had varying ranges of experience, but none were new grads. I met with an HR rep and the assistant nurse manager. The interview with the HR rep was short and to the point; later she explained she wasn't feeling. I then met the asst. nurse manager, who halfway through the interview flat-out told me she thought it was going extremely well. She had actually lived in the same area where I went to nursing school (out of state) AND had worked at a few of the hospitals I did clinicals at! I sent personalized thank-you notes to both, telling the HR rep to feel better (so she would know I remembered and paid attention to her) and thanking the manager for not only recognizing the name of my school but knowing that it was very well-known in the state where it's located. I remember leaving the interview feeling pretty good about myself, as it was my first official job interview.

This is exactly what I needed. I had to renew my license this month and it left me feeling pretty down and frustrated. I just hope this shows my fellow new grads not to give up hope and not to let being a new grad be a BAD thing. While interviewing I played it up and said that being a new grad meant I had a lot to learn, but also that I didn't have any bad habits. I explained that I was excited to be given the chance to learn how this hospital did certain things and if hired could base my skills and techniques on theirs. I said I loved constructive criticism because I ws eager to develop my own methods.

Good luck to all the new grads, don't give up hope! We will all get jobs!