I graduated in May. I should be fairly happy with where I am, but I'm not. I graduated cum laude from a very good university, passed boards and now I'm an official RN (yay!). I've been applying for jobs since March. I check the area hospital websites every day. I apply for ANYTHING. I went in to the HR offices recently and gave them a copy of my resume, too, hoping I would at least be a person and not just an electronic application. Nothing.
I have a job working at a clinic that does hormone therapy, weight loss, and some other things. I should be grateful that I at least have a job, but I can't help it. It's not a bad job (although my boss is a bit of a jerk), but it's not where I want to be.
I still check my websites every day. I apply for anything, whether I have the experience or not. The job listings are dwindling, and there weren't any to begin with. I haven't gotten so much as an interview from anywhere I've put in my resume. At first, a lot of my classmates didn't have jobs so it was kind of normal, but now it seems like most of them have gotten something. I can't even get anyone to notice me enough to call me for an interview. I know this part shouldn't bother me this much, but I REALLY hate running into people and the questions about jobs, and the stories they have about starting work, buying scrubs, etc.
I don't know. I'm afraid if I continue to work at my semi-clinic, I'll lose all my clinical skills. Then I won't ever be able to find a job that I want to do. It seems my only options at this point are to continue where I am and hope that something changes soon before the next batch of new grads who have fresh skills, or possibly relocate. Of course, then I would have to move, which involves a whole mess of other problems.
I don't know what I'm looking for here. Advice? Encouragement? Somebody to tell me I'm not a complete loser? Maybe just a little bit of help. Please and thank you :)
I graduated in May 2009 and it took me MORE than a year to find a nursing job. I was working in a field not related to health care at all. I almost stopped applying, after completing hundreds of applications and only getting 1 interview and started to consider dropping the idea of ever working as a RN . This was very common in the year and location I graduated from. I finally got a job in a med surg floor but had to relocate. A couple of my class mates did also. So don't give up yet.
Thanks for all the input! I'm starting to look a little more into relocating, like what I have to do for another license, etc, and filling out some more job applications, but in more places. I have probably 10 different cities that I'm looking in.
Thanks for the Indian Health Service suggestion. I didn't think of them before. They only have one position in my state open, but you can bet that I've already applied for it! I know this is a silly question, but does anyone know of somewhere in the US where nurses are still in demand? It seems like the jury's out on Texas, but I'll apply there anyway :)
Congrats to those of you who have gotten jobs so far!
anotherone, BSN, RN
1,735 Posts
I graduated in May 2009 and it took me MORE than a year to find a nursing job. I was working in a field not related to health care at all. I almost stopped applying, after completing hundreds of applications and only getting 1 interview and started to consider dropping the idea of ever working as a RN . This was very common in the year and location I graduated from. I finally got a job in a med surg floor but had to relocate. A couple of my class mates did also. So don't give up yet.