Hi, I'm a Dec '08 BSN grad looking for a new grad position in the SF Bay Area. Earlier this week, I hit the "Big 100" as in I've submitted 100 applications for New Grad and Staff Nurse-1 positions with local hospitals. So far, I've gotten interest from 1 hospital. I graduated with honors, have approximately 1200 hours of hospital clinical time, BLS/ACLS, but don't know what else to do.
Went to a job fair today (Kaiser Modesto) and wasn't allowed to even give my resume to any hiring managers because only nurses with at least a year of med-surg experience were being allowed into the conference center to meet with hiring managers.
What do you have to do, to get your first nursing job? Without at least 6 months of experience in acute care, you are unemployable as a nurse. And no one wants to give you a chance to get that experience. Nursing pre-requisites were hard, and nursing school was harder, and the NCLEX was harder still.
But I never thought that once I overcame had overcome all of that, that I might not be able to find a job.
Many new grads from my graduating class got hired on at Mad River and St. Joseph's Eureka. Sutter Coast in Crescent City hires new grads too. I was offered new grad positions at Fremont/Rideout in Yuba City and Enloe in Chico.
Do you live in the area? I submitted multiple applications at Fremont/Rideout, but never received a call from them. Did you personally give them your resume?
A recruiter told me that they prioritize local applicants, and I live in San Jose.
BTW, I graduated last Dec 2008, and I think I've already reached over 100 applications both in Northern and Southern California.
If applying for a new grad program online, do you guys suggest to go to the hospital's HR and submit your resume personally? Does this help?
I'm also applying to skilled nursing facilities in desperation, and was wondering if I get the experience there for about a year, would I be able to get hired in a hospital without acute care experience?
Are many of your classmates experiencing the same?
I've heard this over and over. Does this still hold any truth?
At the info session, the director at Oakland campus was saying that she will "take care of her babies(Oakland campus students)" finding a job. I don't know how much her "taking care" helps but I wish the same was done for other campuses as well.
Appreciate your input and I hope you find a better luck soon. Hang in there!
I volunteer at John Muir - 3 recent grads just came back.. They cant get hired anywhere
I am sorry to hear that you having a terrible time landing a job. I live in Michigan and Detroit Hospitals are hiring like crazy, they also have new grad programs the pay is good and the cost of living is not as high, plus they have tons of Overtime. If moving is not an issue i would seriously consider moving yes the economy is hurting but there are pockets of opportunity and healthcare is booming in the Detroit area even for LPNs
I am starting an accelerated program this May. Looking ahead to the future.. Are there specific hospitals that are hiring.. Can you tell me the general cost of rent and pay?
Most hospitals aren't hiring new grads because they're holding off on the new grad program. Also some hospitals are only hiring new grads within. Try the long term facilities, they usually are hiring. Most hospitals will hire experienced RN's from the long term care facility for the general med surg. Then from there you can move into specialties. Good Luck
Most hospitals aren't hiring new grads because they're holding off on the new grad program. Also some hospitals are only hiring new grads within. Try the long term facilities, they usually are hiring. Most hospitals will hire experienced RN's from the long term care facility for the general med surg. Then from there you can move into specialties. Good Luck
Hi I just too a CNA course and we did our training at a LTC facility.I thought the cna's were great!!!The nurses seemed mainly to hand out meds and look at wounds...though I know they did a lot more.!! They were swamped and I admired their dedication!! I was trying to see how a new grad RN would fit in.. It seems like there wouldn't be enough training for a new grad to be able to do the job... Can you elaborate on this? Thanks a lot..
Most hospitals will hire experienced RN's from the long term care facility for the general med surg.
It actually can be difficult to make the jump from LTC to hospital. Hiring managers can be reluctant to hire nurses without recent hospital experience. I'm not saying it's impossible, because it certainly is possible to move from LTC to a hospital. But it may take quite a bit of persistence to convince a hiring manager to take a chance on you. One may need to take a refresher course with a hospital clinical component to assure potential employers that they've 'got what it takes' to handle the different demands of hospital nursing. I'd bet lots of hospital nurses would struggle to function well in the LTC setting but that's a moot point in regard to the difficulties often faced by nurses without recent hospital experience trying to get work in a hospital setting. A new grad may not have much choice in where to work given the difficulty in landing ANY position; I just wouldn't want to give the impression that it would be no problem to make a switch from LTC to hospital work in the future once one had some LTC experience under their belt. I imagine that in some geographic areas, depending on how LPNs are utilized in the hospital, LPNs might face more or less difficulty than RNs in attempting to land a hospital job after working in LTC for awhile.
Manang Biday
57 Posts
Do you live in the area? I submitted multiple applications at Fremont/Rideout, but never received a call from them. Did you personally give them your resume?
A recruiter told me that they prioritize local applicants, and I live in San Jose.
BTW, I graduated last Dec 2008, and I think I've already reached over 100 applications both in Northern and Southern California.
If applying for a new grad program online, do you guys suggest to go to the hospital's HR and submit your resume personally? Does this help?
I'm also applying to skilled nursing facilities in desperation, and was wondering if I get the experience there for about a year, would I be able to get hired in a hospital without acute care experience?