Jobs (post-graduation)

Editorial Team / Moderator · Mar 17, 2017

Hi Justin! I have never had a problem; in fact, I have been offered every job for which I have interviewed since becoming an RN. It's that first job that is the most important, in my opinion. After you get experience as an RN, it typically does not matter to people where you went to school. I think some of the difficulties may be regional, if you have someone in HR at a hospital system who has a negative view of Excelsior grads, for example. I think many places realize that EC grad RNs are highly motivated and already have experience in healthcare in some form or another. I was offered an RN position in the same ER where I was already a tech when I became an RN, so that was my first stepping stone to becoming an experienced ER nurse.

A possible issue: some areas show preference over ADN-prepared nurses for those with a BSN. That is definitely something to look into! But often those places that prefer the BSN-prepared nurses will consider an ADN-prepared nurse who is in an RN-to-BSN program and is actively advancing his/her degree. Just depends on your local hiring climate.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Mar 18, 2017

I've never had a problem getting a job as an EC graduate. My previous full time position which I absolutely LOVED, yet had to leave due to personal reasons, was as a nurse investigator for this state.

Fortunately and surprisingly as things returned to normal on a personal level, when I recently (like late February/early March) reapplied for the exact same position; however someone felt that I'd be best suited as a nurse manager. I cannot tell you how excited am about this opportunity! In addition to all the perks of the previous position, this one comes with a $15-$16K/year increase over the previous position.

As Pixie.RN stated, the motivation within EC students is not invisible. Employers do recognize this key factor of an Excelsior degree, and expect that they'd see the same in you as an employee.

Also, had I not graduated from EC's ASN program, I never would have received this new opportunity. The ASN from EC is what motivated me to pursue the BSN. In that BSN program (community health nursing course requirement) I finally realized that my passion in nursing was to be found in Community Health. Searching the want-ads on my state's community health website landed me not only my first dream job, but now a second dream job within the 7 years that I've held my EC degrees. I owe all of this to Excelsior College!!

RNBearColumbus, BSN · Mar 19, 2017

I didn't have a problem either. After graduating from EC, I landed a job on a med/surg floor of a major hospital in my area. No one has ever disparaged my degree, or even asked where I got it for that matter.

Nalon1 RN/EMT-P, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2017

Not an issue. around here.

As mentioned, having an ASN/ADN can be more of an issue than being an Excelsior grad if you are in an area that prefers BSN.

I had one manager ask where I had received my degree (as a curiosity question, not part of the hiring process) and when I told her, she had never heard of it. I explained what the program was and she thought it was really neat that something like that existed. There were 2 other Excelsior grads that worked in that department that she did not know about (both were LVN to RN, both were excellent nurses, both had gone on to get their BSN).