New grad market improving?

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I'd like to know what people's perceptions are on the new grad job market. Is it really improving? If so, what geographic areas are improving the most? Are there any places where it's just "good"? I haven't seen as many postings where people are complaining about the market as poor as it was, say, a year or so ago, so it made me wonder if more people are finding full-time work in hospitals.

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Specializes in Telemetry.

It's not improving here in Southern California. Very few openings for new grads and way too many people competing for them. Hospitals receive 100's and sometime 1000's of applications for the few new grad positions they have available.

I've been looking since January, sent hundreds of applications and never got a phone call back. Out of my class of 35 only 5 people found employment in hospitals and only because they already worked there. The only calls I got are from hospitals out of state so maybe in other parts of the US things are slowly getting better.

Daniela

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I live in N. Arizona....bad around here. The hospital is planning to either cut the new grad program out or else cut it to 10 positions only with 200 applicants expected. I will probably have to drive 1 to 2 hours out to the boon docks to get a job :( There are still grads from 12/10 who don't have work yet. Don't know how it is anywhere else...would be interested to know.

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I'm an ADN new grad, class of 12/2010 in Washington State. Still no job. Some of the LTC's are willing to hire but with very minimal training/orientation. The local hospitals either are not hiring new grads at all such as hiring freezes or the residency program is d/c'd, etc... or they're only hiring new grads from BSN programs. The ADN grads that I know who have been hired either already worked at that hospital prior to becoming an RN or they know someone inside to help them get an interview. In this economy, it's not what you know, it's who you know!! :twocents:

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Not good here in North Texas. There are literally packs of new grads competing for very few positions open to them.

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My sense is that Philadelphia has gone from poor to fair. Definitely not good but also not as bad as it was a year or two ago. I graduated in September and still have classmates finding jobs, but it seems like another big batch got hired in Jan/Feb. My guestimate based on the classmates I keep track of and see on facebook is that a veto majority of us have jobs now at 8 months post grad.

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In SF bay area it is next to impossible to get anything. Same goes for the entire state of CA. 700-1000 people compete for a handful of jobs. I have been looking for a year. About 10% of my graduating class got jobs. Of those 10% most had hospital experience (cna's) or had family members/friends to get them in the door. The degree is turning out to be a goose egg--what a waste. I noticed that what new grad programs that are acailable require that you be a new grad (2011), so people like me are screwed. You have a 6-8 month window of opportunity to get a job after graduation. I you don't get one by then you, and your degree, are SOL. I asked a professor about the "Refresher Course" they offer ($1700 in tuition) and questioned if those taking it are fairing better in the job market. Her reponse was "not really".

6 years ago things were different. Now things are screwed up and the majority of those who graduate do so to unemployment which eventually (and most often now) leads to "stale grad" unhirable status.

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In SF bay area it is next to impossible to get anything. Same goes for the entire state of CA. 700-1000 people compete for a handful of jobs. I have been looking for a year. About 10% of my graduating class got jobs. Of those 10% most had hospital experience (cna's) or had family members/friends to get them in the door. The degree is turning out to be a goose egg--what a waste. I noticed that what new grad programs that are acailable require that you be a new grad (2011), so people like me are screwed. You have a 6-8 month window of opportunity to get a job after graduation. I you don't get one by then you, and your degree, are SOL. I asked a professor about the "Refresher Course" they offer ($1700 in tuition) and questioned if those taking it are fairing better in the job market. Her reponse was "not really".

6 years ago things were different. Now things are screwed up and the majority of those who graduate do so to unemployment which eventually (and most often now) leads to "stale grad" unhirable status.

You hit on something that I've wondered about to friends and that is a window during which you have a chance to get something. I'm not sure that is any different for other careers/graduates but I believe it's definitely true for nursing. It worries me that one could not find something for reasons out of their control yet be rendered useless by employers as a result of that.

That aside, I knew the California postings would be bad...the Arizona post didn't surprise me either. North Texas being poor was a little bit of a surprise as I've heard that TX fared better than most. But, it's probably all relative too.

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I agree with CrunchRN with the job market in North Texas. I graduated 12/10 with an ADN and passed the boards in February with still no luck in finding a job. Most of the rejections I have received from the hospitals say that they went with an internal candidate. I also have a friend who was rejected by one hospital for the L&D internship even though she has her certification in PALS, NRP, & ACLS.

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Yeah, I almost feel like this degree is kind of useless these days bc you can't even get your foot in the door. Without a new grad program I am not going to get very good training, which I feel I need to be successful...but there are hardly any new grad spots at all.

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There is a difference between nursing and other degrees. A business degree can be used in several different settings while nursing is very specific to nursing only. The degree is pretty much useless outside of RN positions. At best it lies with a liberal arts degree that has no real focus. Sad, really sad. I am at a point where the degree is actually a hindrance. As for going on to a masters in nursing--- why? Very few NP programs will accept you w/out acute care experience (at least a yr) and the few that do will graduate you to unemployment in the same boat. You can get as many degrees and certs as you want and they will all be useless without (say it with me) “1-2 years acute care experience”. That phrase will turn into your mantra within 3 months of looking for a RN position post graduation.

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Haha...yeah....it makes me cringe already. I am probably the most interested in behavioral health nursing but even they require you to put in your time on med surg. I think I might try to work at a doctor's office for less money. I'm not sure the crazy hospital setting is for me anyway....I need something calmer bc there is no way I will be ready to take on five patients upon graduating. I am doing my preceptorship in the ICU this month and I am so clueless.

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