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!
It is not discrimination. They are looking for people with experience and you do not have it. They do not have the time or money right now to give new grads a chance to prove themselves. Its sounds harsh and it sucks, but that is just the way it is right now.
Realistically, we have new grads in our department. But we can't fill ALL the open positions with new grads, we HAVE to have nurses with experience to balance things. New grads don't "count" for 6 months, they are on orientation and have to be paired with an experienced nurse. Nearly all of our grads in the last three years have done their "one year" (half of it on orientation) and then taken off, which leaves us up in the air starting over with yet another new grad to teach and orient. Frankly we don't have enough "old timers" to orient that many! You bet your bippy we are going to advertise for experienced nurses. Our patients deserve it as well.
Realistically, we have new grads in our department. But we can't fill ALL the open positions with new grads, we HAVE to have nurses with experience to balance things. New grads don't "count" for 6 months, they are on orientation and have to be paired with an experienced nurse. Nearly all of our grads in the last three years have done their "one year" (half of it on orientation) and then taken off, which leaves us up in the air starting over with yet another new grad to teach and orient. Frankly we don't have enough "old timers" to orient that many! You bet your bippy we are going to advertise for experienced nurses. Our patients deserve it as well.
Not to mention how exhausting it is to be re-inventing the wheel over and over as newer grads move out and new ones move in.
Some places have addressed this by requiring new hires to certain specialties - usually critical care - to sign contracts for a certain term to try to get some bang for their training buck or sign-on bonuses. And then, I've seen threads in which posters are complaining about that and looking for advice on how to break the contract. Can't make everyone happy, I guess.
Ok, but that is not what the OP is talking about-- she never said she felt entitled to a job or felt she should be hired over an experienced nurse. But is it really too much to ask to have someone take the time to even GLANCE at your resume? Or to interview you to see if you have potential and seem like a good, hardworking, dedicated employee? I'm sure there are a ton of new grads who get trained and then jump ship, as the previous posters mentioned. There are crappy employees everywhere, unfortunately, and I am willing to bet that the new grads don't have the market cornered on that one. Based on what I am reading in her post, it sounds like she just wants a chance to be even considered and not to be automatically dismissed without even having the opportunity to sell herself a little bit. I would imagine that anyone looking for a job would want the same, wouldn't they?
What I was trying to point out, is there are times when new grads simply can't be accomodated, we have to find experienced nurses in a hurry. It is possible that is what was going on at that fair. They did, by her original post, say they would keep her resume on file.
What I was trying to point out, is there are times when new grads simply can't be accomodated, we have to find experienced nurses in a hurry. It is possible that is what was going on at that fair. They did, by her original post, say they would keep her resume on file.
Look, we all know that being told "We'll keep your resume on file" in an economy like this means "Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya" (to borrow a phrase of my grandmother's,) about 99.5% of the time. There are rare exceptions to that, but they are just that: exceptions, occurring under unusual circumstances. So I can definitely understand the OP's frustration over no one so much as giving her resume a glance before she's brushed off with "We'll keep your resume on file," it's stuffed into a "No experience" candidate pool file (or more likely, sent through the nearest shredder.)
I certainly understand employers' need to snag experienced employees as quickly as possible. I just wish they'd be a little more balanced about doing so. Experience is a great thing to have in an employee, but at the same time, new grad employees bring benefits too, even if they are more costly in terms of training.
The feast or famine routine when it comes to hiring hurts both employers and potential employees - insane competition, bonuses, and outsize wages for anyone with a license or certification in a given field at times of famine, fastidiously disregarding any new grads and choosing only those with the most experience during feast times. Obviously the matter of who has the upper hand in employment searches (labor v. management) is a market-driven issue; however, the extreme swings seem to cause a lot of damage.
HeartsOpenWide, RN
1 Article; 2,889 Posts
It is not discrimination. They are looking for people with experience and you do not have it. They do not have the time or money right now to give new grads a chance to prove themselves. Its sounds harsh and it sucks, but that is just the way it is right now.