Landing first job

mamayogibear · Mar 9, 2011

You could sign up to volunteer this would show you are motivated to work there. Then talking to HR might speed things up. Even though volunteering will actually cost me money (I have to pay for daycare) I am going to volunteer at a local hospital as soon as one of my schools is on spring break (i'm full time at two schools right now).

Baubo516, RN · Mar 9, 2011

If you can't wait 6 weeks to start working, could you go through a temp agency and do some temp assignments as a CNA? Or - are you still employed at your old job? Could you stay until you get the next job offer? I am still doing my CNA class, but working full time somewhere else. I don't know if temp agencies place CNA's, but I used to go to a temp agency any time I moved or needed to find some work right away, and they were pretty helpful.

MurrR · Mar 9, 2011

If you can't wait 6 weeks to start working, could you go through a temp agency and do some temp assignments as a CNA? Or - are you still employed at your old job? Could you stay until you get the next job offer? I am still doing my CNA class, but working full time somewhere else. I don't know if temp agencies place CNA's, but I used to go to a temp agency any time I moved or needed to find some work right away, and they were pretty helpful.

Temp agencies will take CNAs, but generally speaking it's not a great idea for a fresh CNA to be a temp.

That said, I did it, and it helped me land not only my last job but also my current job.

When you're new to being a CNA and new to a site, you're somewhat at the mercy of the staff to help you orient. You don't get training, you don't get an orientation - unless you're VERY lucky - and you don't get to shadow anybody.

Some staff can be hostile, though that was never my experience I have witnessed it while I was in school and we would sometimes have temps at our clinical facility.

My advice would be this: If you feel extremely comfortable in your skills, and you have a thick skin, some temp assignments might be right up your alley. Also, not every temp agency will take an inexperienced CNA - everybody has different requirements, just like any job.

neliii<3 · Mar 9, 2011

Temp agencies will take CNAs, but generally speaking it's not a great idea for a fresh CNA to be a temp.
That said, I did it, and it helped me land not only my last job but also my current job.
When you're new to being a CNA and new to a site, you're somewhat at the mercy of the staff to help you orient. You don't get training, you don't get an orientation - unless you're VERY lucky - and you don't get to shadow anybody.
Some staff can be hostile, though that was never my experience I have witnessed it while I was in school and we would sometimes have temps at our clinical facility.
My advice would be this: If you feel extremely comfortable in your skills, and you have a thick skin, some temp assignments might be right up your alley. Also, not every temp agency will take an inexperienced CNA - everybody has different requirements, just like any job.

Hey,

Why do you think it is so bad for a unexperienced CNA to work through a temporary agency?

I just got hired today, I am supposed to start beginning of next week. I am pretty nervous to be quite honest. I only have my clinical work as experience. Is it because you are just thrown in with everyone and expected to know how to do EVERYTHING right then? That's my fear...

Opinions?

Oh and I think I got hired with a temporary agency, if that is the same thing. I will be working with mainly these (2) facilities and I am on call. The agency that hired me is the middle man, good pay and what I am looking for, just questioning my capabilities... Is this normal because I have never worked in the medical field?

intothenight81 · Mar 10, 2011

Before looking around this forum yesterday, I didn't even know hospitals took volunteers on that kind of basis. I'm open to that. I'm not necessarily adverse to working in a certain type of facility; I did my clinicals in an assisted living facility and if that facility was closer to me, I'd go to work there. I've got a little bit of money saved up and I'm being recalled to my old job in a couple weeks (working hospitality) so I'm okay for now... it's just that sitting here, doing nothing, is driving me crazy. I'm 18 and I have worked in some capacity almost continuously since I was 11 (except for now.) I'm in school two nights a week plus alternating Saturdays and that isn't enough for me.

I go for my state tomorrow so I figured I'd just wait until I got it to go putting in applications. I figured that'd make the process simpler and easier.

One problem that I'm facing right now is that I'm not driving right now. I have to get another car but that's not gonna happen tomorrow. Thankfully I live in a big city where it's not too awfully hard to get around if you don't have a car. Admittedly, though, it does narrow my options down a little.

MurrR · Mar 10, 2011

Hey,
Why do you think it is so bad for a unexperienced CNA to work through a temporary agency?
I just got hired today, I am supposed to start beginning of next week. I am pretty nervous to be quite honest. I only have my clinical work as experience. Is it because you are just thrown in with everyone and expected to know how to do EVERYTHING right then? That's my fear...
Opinions?
Oh and I think I got hired with a temporary agency, if that is the same thing. I will be working with mainly these (2) facilities and I am on call. The agency that hired me is the middle man, good pay and what I am looking for, just questioning my capabilities... Is this normal because I have never worked in the medical field?

Generally speaking, the only support you're going to get as a temp worker is going to be at the discretion of the other staff on duty. Some people can be hostile towards temps because often you make more money than they do for doing the same job. Some people are just irritated by having their routine disrupted by somebody who "doesn't know anything." Some people are so grateful to have an extra pair of hands and a warm body on a day when they otherwise would've been short staffed that they'll do what they can - which may not be much - to help you out.

Between the lack of support, the unfamiliarity with the routine/expectations, and your meager self-confidence...it can sometimes be a recipe for feeling like you're not any good at this. Which is unlikely - most people fail to thrive under conditions like these!

Fall back on your training, and when that fails - and believe me, your training may have been thorough but it will never prepare you for the complete range of humanity you'll encounter - use good judgment and kindness. Also, look to your patients for hints. I often would say to my residents when I was getting to know them, "So, how do the other aids do this? I want to do it the way you're most comfortable." and if they asked me if I knew what I was doing I always said "Yes of course, but everybody does things to best suit them, so I want to be sure we do this the easiest way for you." But most of them were content to tell me "Well I need you on my right side.." or "The commode is in the closet, wheel it next to the bed.." and away we'd go.

If you find yourself being discouraged, know that you're in a tough position! If you made it through the day and you didn't send anybody to the hospital, you've had a good shift. You may have learned a lot that you didn't know before, and that's always valuable. Bad days can teach us more than good ones if we let them.

AntMarchingRN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

6 weeks is nothing!

If this is a job you want and is close to your house, you already said you have some money to cover you til you start. I would take it and wait the 6 weeks.

After getting my RN license it took me 14 months, 4 states, and thousands of dollars in monthly bills and job hunting expenses to find a position. Consider yourself lucky if all you have to do is take a position and wait 6 weeks to start a job. I'm sure if you don't, there are many CNAs that will talke it...

intothenight81 · Mar 27, 2011

I'd like to apologize for the fact that I got back so late. I've been having computer difficulties at home and although I'm on campus several times a week, I've been doing a lot of make-up work for school. I appreciate all the replies I've received so far.

As far as agency goes, my instructor told us that we'd be better off waiting to try agency until we have solid experience because of the "hit the ground running" with no guarantee of any kind of orientation aspect. That's true in other areas too but she said that agency isn't the best avenue for new aides, especially those that are nervous (and that's most people.) She wasn't necessarily trying to discourage anyone but rather inform them so they didn't go in blind, so to speak.

6 weeks is nothing!
If this is a job you want and is close to your house, you already said you have some money to cover you til you start. I would take it and wait the 6 weeks.
After getting my RN license it took me 14 months, 4 states, and thousands of dollars in monthly bills and job hunting expenses to find a position. Consider yourself lucky if all you have to do is take a position and wait 6 weeks to start a job. I'm sure if you don't, there are many CNAs that will talke it...

I'm not necessarily saying "Oh, I've got it" -- I was just pointing out that the last time I worked in a hospital, it took that time frame to get in. Thankfully at that point I had two other jobs so I wasn't hurt waiting for it. The money that I'm living on is money that I saved for other purposes but have now had to fall back on while looking for employment. I'll be much better off if I don't have to go through all my savings waiting but if I don't have a job tomorrow I won't be homeless or starving either. It's not gonna last forever though.

I've come across posts from both CNAs and nurses where members pointed out that calling the hospital helped. Most of the time, hospital HR representatives seem to rattle off the automated message about how your application will be active for X amount of days and if you haven't heard anything at that point, try again... but I've never tried calling HR in a hospital about a position in nursing. Although it seems pretty self-explanatory what to say when calling to follow up on an application, is there a best way to go about it or perhaps someone of a particular title I should ask for? For some reason, "Hi, my name is X and I'm calling about the X position I submitted for on X" (or any other closely related variation) doesn't seem like it'll cut it this time around but I'm not sure how else to tackle it.

Over the past week (now that I've got my paperwork in hand) I've applied at four different hospitals. I've applied for nursing support and transport. I'm usually pretty good at crossing all my t's and dotting all my i's and I think the resume I created is pretty good (and I'm pretty critical of anything I write or compose.) I know that patience is a virtue and sometimes you just have to wait, but I'm more active and less passive and I like making things happen. You never really get anywhere in life waiting for things to fall in your lap.

I also applied for a dialysis patient care technician position that I'm qualified for based on the fact that they're willing to train the right candidates and I have everything they're looking for in trainees. I'd like to start making phone calls this week but I'm kinda lost.