Job prospect for males

Your issue has nothing to do with your gender. There are plenty of male CNAs and not all female student nurses are CNAs. There could be many factors playing against you. Even though a nurse intern or tech job may not specify needing CNA certification, there may be many actual CNAs (both male and female) applying for them. From HR perspective, they will prefer certifications if enough of them apply. There could also be many applicants with similar resumes to yours and you just didnt get picked for interview. You could be applying to late. Recruiters will usually only look at so many resumes. It is best to apply within a day or two of a posting to maximize your chance of even having your resume looked at.

Also, when you graduate and are licensed, your application will not be the same. You will have RN after your name, and you will have a license number. CNA or tech experience is helpful, but it is not the end all say all of what is needed to get a job. GL

I'm not sure what this has to do with gender. Nursing provides equal opportunities to males and females. I know many males who have their CNA, and many females who don't, and vice versa. The nursing job market is tough in many areas- don't give up hope!

Male CNA checkin YO!

gender and gpa will not play a role in your employment.

Thanks for the reply's. I just feel that I need to start networking and by the accounts of the nurses that I worked with during my clinical rotations, they had jobs lined up before graduation, and this was largely due to them getting to know the nurse managers during their tech jobs. Another point I want to make is that in my rather large class 100+ we had 18 male nursing students. I do not think I've seen a total of 18 male RN's in all the floors I have been in so far. But, I suspected as much when I went into this, so I'm mentally prepared. I'm also not they only male student applying for tech jobs. Only 2 have gotten hired, compared to 10+ females with the same exact education and clinical experience. When you state that gender plays no role, the stats just do not support that unfortunately. I'm sure it differs depending on how progressive the community one lives in is.

I did a observation day in endoscopy and was told my an older RN of the tropics, why I was doing nursing, that it is not suited for males, and to try doing the PA route after my BSN. This is the only negative feed back I have received in 5 different clinical rotations.

I'll report back, classes start again tomorrow.....Peace

By chance.. do you list on your applications that you are currently in nursing school and are graduating in May? All positions require resources, time, and money to hire someone new and many hiring managers frown on someone that they know that they are going to have to replace very soon.

Don't take it personally.. it's just business.

Update! Things looking much better lol :) :) Can't divulge too much info at this time, but staying positive is my quiding principle

Again, you are applying gender to your woes. So there are 100 student in your class. 2 of 18 have gotten a job. That means that 10 out of 88 females have gotten a job. Simple math shows that roughly 11% of BOTH genders equally have gotten jobs while in school. That would show that the males had the same chance of getting a job. There may be more females with jobs but that is simply because there are more females in your class. And not seeing that many males on your clinical days means nothing. Nurses work only a couple days a week. Plus they are spread among many floors. Yes, there are more female nurses in the field. And there may be some places that discriminate. But the majority of facilities dont care your gender. Just that you can get the job done. But based on your most recent post, it sounds like things are better today. Good luck in whatever has gotten your spirits up.

The best advice I've gotten is to start thinking about a job once you are less than 12 months from graduation. There are areas in the country with overages (more applicants and jobs) and shortages (more jobs than applicants). I've started to look at areas where I'd like to work and am compiling lists of facilities in those areas. Once I've got my list I will do a little research on the hiring process in each potential job site. I'll also talk to people in my personal network to see if there are any mutual friends who could help me get a job in one of those places. Over the summer I'll visit potential job sites and introduce myself to HR people and some nursing managers. Next fall, while I'm in my last semester, I will be relentlessly following through on any lead that comes my way.

I guess I'm trying to say this: Getting a job is a job. In this economy jobs just don't happen. Hiring someone is an investment for any organization, including hospitals. You have to sell yourself and convince the people making hiring decisions that you are the best investment they can make when it comes to hiring for whatever position they are looking for.

Since the days of internet applications I have always gone in within a day or two of submitting an online application and personally introduced myself to someone in the HR department. "I submitted my application the other day, I am really excited about this hospital and the opportunity to work here, is there anything else I can provide you that will help you take a serious look at me?" If I know someone in the organization I will give them a call and say, "Hey, I just applied for this position in your organization. I'm thinking I'd be a really good fit for the job. What do you think?......Is there any chance you could put a word in for me with the person doing the hiring for that position?"

Again, it is work getting a job. Jobs just don't happen!

I guarantee you, your gender has nothing to do with your lack of job offers. There are lots of men in nursing, particularly in the ED and ICUs.

You say you've applied for a dozen jobs... that's just scratching the surface. I personally know people who've applied for well over 100 jobs throughout the country.

Several of our new hires are graduates of local schools who moved to NY, TX, CO, IL, and WV to begin their careers. If you're only applying locally, you're severely limiting your options and you should expect it to take a very long time to find a job.

I think you're the only one making your gender an issue. For the most part, jobs don't care about your gender.

I hope that the lead you have is working out!

Hello fellow murses :)

I am about to start my last semester here in Florida. I have made it a point to keep a positive attitude through-out my nursing school journey and have not pondered the "what Ifs"

As I near the end, I have begun to apply to Nurse Tech positions with the goal of gaining more hospital experience and also making connections. I have applied a dozen times so far, mostly for "per diem"/ Pool positions, which require only a few shifts per month. I have had no luck, not even a call or request for an interview.

Like many of us males, we do not have previous CNA backgrounds, as compared to our female counterparts. So my resume "work experience" contains zero hospital or patient care jobs, but I meet 100% the job qualifications and description for a "Nurse Tech". They also have "Patient Care Techs" and those are reserved for CNA/Techs with a State License.

I'm starting to get a bit worried that if I can not get hired, nevertheless even make it out of the HR office to the nurse manager's desk for consideration for a Tech position, I am screwed when it comes to get hired as GN, since I will pretty much have the same info/background on the resume.

I went over my resume and cover letter with my cousin, who is works in the HR department of a federal department in D.C

GPA 3.55

Any tips/pointers?

Hello OP

First of all, I don't like the term "murses" althought some guys are cool with it. It just sounds unprofessional in my opinion.

Concerning men and jobs, I think some are being quite naive to say job prospects are equal for both males and females. That is not the case for male driven professions and certainly not the case in this female driven profession. There are some areas that are pushing for more males mainly for diversity requirements, and somes areas where a male will never be considered hands down. Females will always have the upper hand...that's just the reality.

Now concerning job prospects, I followed a similar tract as yourself trying to and actually got a CNA job during my last semester. I had no hospital experience but I did have some years as a EMT like 10 years before I decided to go nursing school but other than that, nothing relevant to health care.

Had I the option to do it again, I would say do not take a nursing tech or CNA position in your last semester and I have several valid reasons based on my experience:

1. The hospital that hired me as a CNA with promises of moving me up to RN once passing my NCLEX betrayed me and it never happened. Between my inital interview and getting RN, managers changed and All their awesome stories changed once I got my RN to.."sorry we have too many new nurses with

2. Working as a CNA was only a distraction from studying for my NCLEX once I did finish nursing school. Firstly, everyone will constantly haggle you about when you going to take the test and when you going to be an RN and if you passed or not. Not a big deal, but it was just plain annoying to hear it literally everyday.

3. Not only does it make for a bad working environment but it also delayed me taking the NCLEX and wasting maybe 2 months of my life. If you complete school and focus totally on passing the NCLEX you will be able to start applying for real jobs quicker. Not to mention having more time to study and in additional working in a hospital might actually confuse you as to the real world and the nclex world.

4. If you do get a tech job and later become the RN on the same floor some of the staff both RN's and CNA will have problems with your transition...ignore what they say about "everything will be fine" because I've seen it happen. Some RNs will still treat you like a CNA and some CNAs will refused to take instruction from you. In other words you will have to work extra hard to get respect from the staff. It is not my experience, but like I said, I've seen it happen.

5. CNA experience still equates to NO EXPERIENCE. This experience did not give me an upper hand during any of my interviews. It was hardly even mentioned. If you kept nursing journals during clinicals, I'd refer to these NOW and start working on interview preparation, things you excelled at, made a difference in, your weaknesses, strengths etc and networking during your nursing clinicals. Many of the questions I got I referred back to my clinicals during school so refreshing on those will make you more prepared for RN interviews.

EDIT: Also start talking to instructors about recommendations and if you can use them for references. Most hospitals including ask for 4 references using instructors and your clinical preceptors. Some may even ask for 2 letters of recommendations so get those lined up during your last semester.

Despite all the negatives, there are some of my classmates who had positive experiences. Firstly, wait until after you graduate and then apply to Nurse Tech positions. I'm also in Florida and Florida Hospital has a lot of these and they are specifically designed for GRADUATE RNs who will be taking the NCLEX-RN within 6 months. All my classmates who had these positions were immediately transitioned to RNs literally the day they passed NCLEX. These are the only type of positions I would go for and not just for regular CNA positions posted.

Now mind you some people have circumstances where they absolutely have to get a job and with a family and kids I really had no choice, but if I had planned my exit strategy from school better, I would not have opted for a CNA job.

The other issue you may be having, which is not gender related is as one hiring manager told me, they just at first did not see the sense in hiring me as a CNA when I'm going to be an RN soon, so you may be experiencing some of this rejection especially being your last semester and if they are looking for a long term CNA positions.

The other issue you will be dealing with is I could tell you that Florida hospital and many other hospitals recently hired a bunch of new grad RN's of those who graduated in August and in December. All of the males in my cohort got jobs there or elsewhere. For FH in particular they hired during October and again in January. So with a bunch of new grads on the floors right this minute, that may not be keen on hiring a CNA who is going to be an RN soon.

You may not be in Central Florida but Call up the recruiters in your area and find out when they are hiring the next batch of new grads, it might be in May/June just after you graduate, so that's why I say focus on passing NCLEX rather than a CNA job and you'll be an RN sooner.

FYI once I got the ball rolling with my RN applications I got 4 job offers and my GPA is lower than yours (honestly some employers ignore GPAs). So keep your head up, there are jobs in Florida and you will get there.

Post your resume to the career section and get advice from nurses in the field. Omit all personal info/places real school/job names etc.

Good luck and PM me if you got any further questions.