New Grad with no experience feels like being discriminated

Nurses General Nursing

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i went to a job fair today and i was so enthusiastic to meet with the recruiters. upon my arrival, i noticed some applicants were waiting and some were called into another room as i continually filled up my application form. i excitedly handed in my resume and the recruiter immediately asked me if i have experience with the job that i'm applying for? i replied that i'm a new grad and just got my rn license and hope to get a job in their hospital. she stapled the paper and without even looking at my resume, she said "i'll just put your resume on file". most applicants who were turned down in the past knew that what she meant to say was a big "no, you are not qualified!". i felt so bad 'coz it looks like a form of discrimination!!! how come those applicants with experiences were called for an interview in another room, and we, new graduates with no experiences, were not even given a chance to be interviewed at all. the least they can do is glance at our resumes, but they didn't even bother to do that either. hospitals, nursing homes or any establishments that provides healthcare and employs nurses should stop this kind of discrimination that they are doing to new graduate nurses right now! we worked as hard as these other nurses who was ahead of us and already had experiences. but definitely, one time in their lives, they too were in the same shoes as we are right now...new grads and without experience! the recruiters or human resources people should give new grads a chance to prove themselves. i'm sure, if we'd be given the right training or orientation, we can be as good as the old timers. i am just too tired seeing and hearing that only nurses with experiences can apply. and i strongly believe that we are being discriminated and we don't deserve that! :mad:

Specializes in Med/surg, rural CCU.
this is a job fair, employers come there with the hopes of getting the cheapest labor i.e not having to train someone. Mistake number 1 "do you have any experience" and you answer no. always answer yes, when they take you to the next room, elaborate to the interviewer that you did a clinical rotation in which you were there for x number of days and had to do this and the other, that makes you look more intelligent that just answering plain "no"

I'm not sure I agree with this. I think it would look manipulative. They know new grads have clinicals. I do usually recommend to friends though to focus on what they DO have though. When asked "do you have experience"...instead of yes OR no, simply explain what you can do for the company. "I am computer savvy and have patient care experience as a CNA ......yada yada"

In this economy- it's all the extra little experiences that will benefit a new grad...but I don't know that trying to make clinicals sound like a bigger deal is the way to go.

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Specializes in Cardiac.

I know a girl that was just hired as a new grad RN into a unit that she used to work as a secretary over me a 1+ experienced RN. We are both internal employees. Is that discrimination?

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This is why whenever I have a student nurse with me I always encourage them to get a job as a tech or even better, a nurse extern. You will get wonderful experience - during my externship I worked 24 hrs/week, accrued retirement benefits, vacation, sick time, etc. - and you will easily land a job after graduation (and not an undesirable one, either - I started in ICU). I have found that so many of the student nurses are unwilling to work during school, though. :uhoh3:

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Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.
I know a girl that was just hired as a new grad RN into a unit that she used to work as a secretary over me a 1+ experienced RN. We are both internal employees. Is that discrimination?

No. That just sucks!

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sometimes you get very lucky and meet someone willing to take a chance on you as a new grad, but during these economic times such luck is difficult to find.

you may have to take a position in a facility, such as ltc/snf/alf, in order to gain nursing experience for a hospital job. you have to get your foot in the door somehow, even if it is not your preferred job.

the pickier you are, the more difficult it will be to find a job.

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Specializes in PICU now, Peds and med-surg in the past.

I feel for you, OP. Believe me I do. I was lucky when I graduated over 6 years ago to have a job lined up 5 months before I graduated from my school - I went to a hospital based diploma program and all of us from class had jobs lined up before graduation, most of us at hospitals other than the one we trained at. It's obvious that these new grads aren't having near as easy a time as we did. I've even seen some experienced nurses having employment issues over the past couple years too, not just new grads - a lady I worked with at a previous job in Peds lost her job along with all the unit staff when the unit closed related to money troubles. It took her 4 months to find a job as an experienced nurse of 30 years and she finally had to do it in an area she didn't desire or have experience in (LTC) and on a shift she didn't want (nights). Another nurse was hired in advance for the ED in our hospital and when time came for him to start there hadn't been as much turnover as was anticipated and he was displaced to a full time job in the NICU (not at all what he wanted). Another experienced nurse (but new to her unit) was displaced from med-surg to Peds when they decided to decrease the number of beds on that unit (again, not a specialty she wanted but fortunately now does enjoy). My advice to you is keep your options open, you will likely need to work in a specialty you aren't interested in, on a shift you don't want, more weekends then you would like, at a smaller, less prestigious hospital/facility or even part time vs full time as I've seen some do just to GET experience, any experience. Another thought - an RN friend of mine with experience who had to relocate for her husbands job is having difficulty finding full time employment so she is working per diem for travelling flu clinics. Is this a possibility for you for now? I have seen how hard it is for new grads and I saw one new grad who didn't pass her boards when she took them so the hospital revoked the GN position she was given and told her she would have to reapply for an RN job after she passed the boards rather then giving her a chance to try again and holding the position. I wish you tons of luck, just try not to be too picky!

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[color=#990099]

[color=#7532a8]a big thank you for all who understands my plight...it's always nice to know there are people who still care. :heartbeat

"good friends are like stars-you don't always see them, but you know they are always there. "

~ anonymous

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[color=#7532a8]a big thank you for all who understands my plight...it's always nice to know there are people who still care.:heartbeat

[color=#7532a8]"good friends are like stars-you don't always see them, but you know they are always there. "

~ anonymous

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Specializes in med surg,stroke.

Strawberrypie,

Don't give up hope and keep trying. Go door to door with your resumes and meet nurse managers. I had a friend who applied to 72 jobs online untill she started going physically on floors and she got a job within a month.

Keep trying and somebody will realize your worth.

All the best:nurse:

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I can see all points of view and I really feel for all the new grads struggling to find work but I can also understand how employers may be reluctant to hire a new grad over an experienced nurse.

As for the nursing industry itself not being obliged...well actually I think that the nursing industry itself should start getting involved in some way. Why? Well assuming that most graduates are younger and the average ages of nurses is ~45 it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going to happen when a lot of nurses in this age group retire. I think the nursing profession and government needs to take a good hard look at what's going to happen long term.

In Australia most hospitals run nursing graduate programs that provide extra support for grads during their first year out. At major hospitals there are usually over 100 nurses each year on a GNP. While it is not compulsory for a new grad nurse to participate in a grad program, it is strongly recommended. They are usually ran over 12 months and are temporary positions and I believe are funded by the government. I'm wondering if there is a similar program in the US?

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strawberrypie,

don't give up hope and keep trying. go door to door with your resumes and meet nurse managers. i had a friend who applied to 72 jobs online untill she started going physically on floors and she got a job within a month.

keep trying and somebody will realize your worth.

all the best:nurse:

thank you so much prettyodd. may all nurses be as kind as you. :heartbeat

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Specializes in Med/surg, rural CCU.
I know a girl that was just hired as a new grad RN into a unit that she used to work as a secretary over me a 1+ experienced RN. We are both internal employees. Is that discrimination?

How would that be discrimination?

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