May 2009 OLD grad, called 17 hospitals today...

[GuatericanNurse]

i have officially come to terms that i am a may 2009 old grad

i have applied to over 100 jobs since march of 2009.

i have been a licensed rn for 6 months.

i have been a cna for 1.5 yrs at a major teaching hospital.

i am bls/aed certified.

i am bilingual.

i am a part of my professional organization (ana).

i have leadership experience as vice pres of the nsna of my school.

i have volunteer nurse experience.

and i still have no job...

i have recently started freaking out because now i realize that the may 2010 new grads are going to come and when demand is greater than supply, craziness ensues and people go nuts fighting for an interview, let alone to speak to the nurse recruiter...

so today, i woke up with a mission: call every hospital within a tolerable driving distance from me, and ask if they will hire new grads.

i accomplished my mission, but instead of helping, it seemed to hinder me instead. i am now even more discouraged than i was when i started. here is how it all turned out....

mass eye and ear- not hiring new grads

mass general- not hiring new grads

beverly hospital- not hiring new grads

lowell hospital- not hiring new grads

st.elizabeths- straight to voicemail (i have called this location at least 15 times in the past two months, trying to speak to the nurse recruiter and nothing! i have emailed her, left multiple voicemails, and i even tried using a fake name seeing if that will get them to transfer my call to her. i wish some people would have the courtesy to call back, or even email us back...)

tufts- straight to voicemail

mount auburn- straight to voicemail

lawrence general hospital- no new grads until january 2011

milton hospital- voicemail message, no option to speak to a real human being

newton-wellesley- straight to voicemail

quincy medical center- receptionist said they probably wont be hiring new grads, nurse recruiter wasnt available

umass memorial- straight to voicemail

brigham and womens- (this one really irritated me:nono:) - i understand that bwh is one of the most prestigous hospitals in the country, but they need to step their game up and update their website. i stumbled onto a website that said "nurse intern program" with a phone number and fax number. it says "call for more information about the nurse intern program. so i did... turns out, it is a non working number!! go ahead, give it call for yourself...617-525-3100. just when i thought i had a lead...

fenway community health center- no one picked up the phone

childrens hospital- not hiring new grads

so there you have it folks. i am throwing in the towel and hopes that the hospital i work at will hire me one day...

[kbok]

everyone already replied with the advice i would give. definitely consider smaller hospitals (outside of boston) not limiting yourself to larger hospitals.

i worked in a small community hospital prior to relocating here to boston. - the advantages of working in small community hosiptals are : you can have a large learning curve because you have more responsibility, and you become more independent because there is less staffing.

and i would also highly recommend relocating-even to another state, and even if it means you have to separate from your boyfriend temporarily. (you don't want to go too long without experience- you'll lose your skills and then future employers may require you to take a refresher course and question why you haven't been hired yet.)

i'm from texas and there wasn't a shortage of jobs when i graduated as a new grad. although its been 4 yrs since then, i've been keeping in touch with new grads there and they said although the job search is a lil tougher, there is no shortage of jobs and new grads are still able to secure a job even though the interviewing process is more difficult than in previous years.

[GuatericanNurse]

Thank U everyone for all the advice! I have taken your words of wisdom and I have began looking out of state. NH,CT and RI. I feel like with all my applications out there, something has got to give!

I work at Children's and spoke to my supervisor who has been so very supportive of me and she basically told me that because of the budget and the economy, CHB is taking a huge hit. They arn't firing nurses, but cutting hours everywhere so they wont have to fire anyone...

I received an email from Umass Memorial, they are starting up a new grad program...too bad they are requiring candidates to have a minimum GPA of 3.3...ughhh.

Hopefully something will open up for me...

[kbok]

don't give up. i'm sure you'll find something. be persistent and bug the heck out of those HR pps. =)

did you ask your supervisor at children's if there's another unit that is hiring? maybe she can talk to another manager on another unit that needs RNs.

[GuatericanNurse]

update:

I did not give up and i perservered and I landed an interview tomorrow!

I wont say where, because I feel like it will give me bad luck (im superstitious) but I will definately update again once I get the offer, because I KNOW I CAN!

Thanks again everyone for all of your advice and support!!!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

It is not just new grads having a hard time finding a job. I have been unemployed for a while now. I have 30 years experience. I was recently let go from a senior management position due to cut backs. I have a BSN but in these times they can hire a new MSN for less money than I for middle or senior management or education positions. I have tried bedside interviews and I have been told that my "clinical experience is not current". I have worked exclusively in critical care, open heart, and emergency medicine. Yes, my ACLS, BLS,ENPC,TNCC , and PALs are expired but I can get them again. I taught these courses and yes that too is expired. I agree that now with more new grads comming soon there are plenty of people to hire at less per hour than me....I just pray unemployment holds out for a while longer....... Still looking!

[Selene006, BSN, LPN]

congrats on getting the interviewriagomez06 ! i hope you get a break!

[kevx]

Good luck on the interview. I just graduated from nursing school and will take the boards in July.

[misty720]

I know it might not appeal to some but the prison system might be an option. There is a posting on there website right now for Suffolk County for an RN

[hotflashion, BSN, RN]

Community hospitals are not hiring either, at least not from outside. I've looked at every little hospital in every little podunk town in this state. They're not hiring either.

According to the Mass. BoRN website, for 2009 there were 2925 new RNs, breaking down like so:

MSN 215

BSN 1730 The breakdown between BSN and ASN is approximate.

ASN 980

Excepting the MSNs who are probably looking for advanced practice positions, that leaves 2710 new RNs looking for work in 2009.

I wonder where they all went?

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

I graduated in May 2008, and it took me 10 months to find my first nursing job. A nursing home in Newton hired me 8 months after graduation, but the job was canceled 45 minutes into my first shift.

Anyway, I applied all over Massachusetts. The only Massachusetts hospital that interviewed me was Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. Unfortunately, they didn't hire me.

[hotflashion, BSN, RN]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed at the moment -- a hospital within bicycling distance (!) has restarted their new grad program. I fear that they will see my May 2009 grad date and pass me over because of it.

I just want to work.

[FairyPrincess06]

Have you found a job yet....did the new grad prog work out?