New Grad RN CAN'T FIND WORK!! What should I do?

LadyAscheRN · Oct 19, 2010

I currently live...well, in the middle of nowhere, NY! I would say my closest "cities" are Middletown and Kingston, and, like you, I graduated in May of this year, took my boards at the end of July, got my paper from NY with my number on it in August...and have been beating doors ever since. The real kicker is that I was an LPN before I went back to school for my RN, but it's as if it never happened now...that experience counts for nothing.

I have, as of today, filed 172 applications since August 4th - hospitals, home care, nursing homes, public health, flu clinics, you name it. I have had 3 interviews, and one of them was in Albany, which is unreasonable to commute to for any period of time. I have a stack of 68 turndown letters, many of which telling me either that I am underqualified or having returned my resume with "No Grad Nurses" highlighted in yellow on the response letter (thanks, Orange Regional!). My favorite are the LPN jobs I've applied for where I'm told I'm OVERQUALIFIED.

Being that I still have to make ends meet, I have been working at the local grocery store for $8.90 an hour as a clerk. I am beyond dismayed that I kicked and clawed my way through nursing school, passed my boards with flying colors, and now can't even get an interview. When I went to apply for unemployment, the clerk all but laughed when I told her I was an RN and said, "Honey, have you tried writing a resume". Oh my gosh, evil woman, what a unique concept - I never would have thought to! **sarcasm**

In short, it's sucking bigtime for all of us. If you come across any solutions, let me know.

stressednurse70 · Oct 19, 2010

May I offer some suggestions that you may or may not have thought of?

1) Subscribe to local nursing journals like Nursing Spectrum where they have the jobs section in the back pages.

2) Do go back to your school and check into their Career Development Dept. Bring your resume and cover letter. You might need to tweek them to get you in the door for an interview.

3) Make sure when you apply for a job it is a specific position on a specific unit. I made the mistake once of applying for "any nursing" job and the application just got filed away and never really seen. So this might mean several applications to the same hospital but for different units. Always attach (stapled!) your cover letter and resume to the application and address the cover letter to the nurse manager of the specific unit you are applying for. They are the ones setting up the interviews usually, not HR.

4) Go to any job career fairs. You never know what you might find or who you might network wtih.

5) Do volunteer at the hospital you want to work in even if it is in the gift shop. Once inside you will hear about job postings that isn't posted to the outside world yet, plus you are networking in the hospital you want to work at.

I know this is a lot of work but once you have a nursing job the pay will be more rewarding than being a waitress (no offense to any waitresses!) plus you will be doing what you want to be doing and trained to be doing!

serenitybarbara · Oct 19, 2010

I am sorry that you all are having such a difficult time. I actually told one of my colleagues that I do feel dismayed at the number of ads for nurses and that due to the current economic situation there truly are no positions available.

The facility I work for is on a hiring freeze, as well. So, when I have applications come in I have to write or call and tell them that presently I do not have a position for anyone, seasoned or new.

There are many people that just do not have a clue. I wanted to get my Geriatric Nurse Practitioner license. However, where I live, would be a huge mistake, not only in time, but, in money. The doctors/facilities in the area where I live, just do not have any respect for them and will use a PA over a nurse with more education. I told my husband, if I were younger and could/would be able to make a move that would use my skills, then I would. So... my advice is prayer and keep on keeping on. Hopefully, you will be in the right place and the right time. Do not get discouraged. Nursing can be a wonderful career.

naturalome · Oct 19, 2010

Aubrey...I just talked to a nurse recruiter and she told me that she cant hire a RN as a CNA for liablity reasons...so theres goes that idea for us....but Im not sure if thats applies to a RN working as a LPN--Im still going to apply to those jobs. I agree with the volunteer opertoonities..this is what a hospital volunteer basicly said" you can volunteer to improve your interpersonal skills, but it wont actually count as RN experince for your resume ( cant perform skills) & she actually suggested I make sure to gain experience through paid work and not waste my time.....im sure you knew that, like you stated. The only volunteer work that might be a good idea is if working side by side a nurse ( like 1 time oppertoonity & make small talk to gain an "in") but I wouldnt waste too much of your time.

Im glad we have this forum to support each other!

Guest27531 · Oct 19, 2010

I just found a job for Junior Public Health Nurse (School Nurse) with the NYC Dept of Health. Here is the link to the page on which I saw it. Give it a try and see what you think.

http://sh.webhire.com/servlet/av/jd?ai=741&ji=2438517&sn=I

Whatever you do, don't expect Volunteer work, NA, LPN experience to count as anything...toward an RN job. It just doesn't.

Tankweti · Oct 29, 2010

Just wanted to offer some info to some of the posters: to LadyAscheRN, I am in a similar situation, grad in May 2010, 3.5 GPA, departmental honors, Sigma Theta Tau and have yet to have even one interview. Aside from applying to hospitals as far away as NYC, have also applied to homecare, nursing homes, etc ad nauseam. NADA. ZIP. However, I know colleagues of mine who grad with me and who are now working at Orange Regional. How they got into that position was that they were already there as CNA's. This practice is also happening locally where I live in some hospitals. The market is so flooded with new grads that these places have decided not to hire "outsiders" at all, no matter how good their credentials. The thinking is that if someone has worked for you for 3 years as an aide and gone to nursing school that you will hire them. As an aside, and I have this on good info, aides who are currently nursing students are being told, "don't expect we will hire you as an RN if your grades are poor, just because you already have your foot in the door". But that is exactly what they are doing. So, I would take your rather rude rejection letter from Orange Regional (highlighted, no less) in conjunction with the fact that they ARE hiring prior CNA's to become RN's that they are following that practice. It is now no longer LPN to RN. It is now CNA to RN. Ridiculous!

Also, I applied to the NYS Prison system (they came to a job fair at my school just prior to graduation and said they were looking for per diem nurses). I called first and they said they had a "waiver" for a per diem nurse. When asked what that meant, they explained that the position had not been funded yet. They were supposed to mail me an application, which of course they never did. I expect, given the current state of affairs in Albany, that that position will never be funded.

My school just as with, I suspect, so many others does not give help to find a job. They have a general career center and those people will help with resumes but have absolutely zero connections to any outside employers. They are, for all intents and purposes, useless. After I graduated, I called and asked if they could review my resume to see if they thought I should add or delete anything. I sent a personal email to the lady who does that and never received a response either to my phone call or email. So, just like everything else, once they have been paid and you have graduated, then they really don't care.

I checked out the post by NYLady for a junior public health nurse position on the City's website. I don't know what she is talking about, but that posting very specifically says, Experience Required. So, I guess that one is definitely not for new, inexperienced grads either.

I get really tired of people telling me"good luck" and "you will find something". I wrote a letter to the National League for Nurses complaining about this whole situation and the response I got back was that I could go into nursing education as more educators were needed because of the demand for nurses !! (Boy, even if I had the credentials to do that or could get them without experience, which no one can) that is not a solution for the problem of nursing oversupply. Doing that, you are just fanning the fire more. Her second suggestion was that I move to South Dakota because they are hiring nurses there or that I move to a "more rural area". I already live in one. Interestingly, working on a reservation (which I would love to do, but according to the government website the max hiring age is 44, making me too old - interesting because that flies in the face of already existing Anti-Age Discrimination Legislation) is now done (in the main) using travel agency nurses or at least so I heard from these pages.

Of course, many of us have outstanding students loans that are about to demand their first payment, for those of us who graduated in May, next month.

I bet this whole thing will come to a head when we all start defaulting en masse and the taxpayers have to pick up the tab for the defaulted student loans of newly graduated nurses during the supposed GRAND NURSING SHORTAGE. Boy, will there be alot of angry taxpayers then! That is when it will get the public attention this whole situation needs.

AtomicWoman · Oct 30, 2010

You've probably already done this, but try combing through the CraigsList medical jobs ads. Some physicians advertise for RNs on CL, and sometimes people who need a one-on-one for their sick family member advertise there, as do home health agencies. Hang in there! It sure has been a tough year for us new grad RNs!

CAL05699 · Oct 31, 2010

I graduated last year and share your pain. I applied to over 60 jobs before I found one. This sounds really lame but you have to just keep trying -- apply to everything that comes down the pike, drs. offices, nursing homes, home health. I ultimately found a great job in my chosen field, through a connection I made talking to someone at a nursing home which was not hiring. It is extremely discouraging to have graduated, done well in nursing school, and then not be able to find a job. But you have to keep your head up and keep trying.

GQGomer · Oct 31, 2010

Sorry for all who can't find work. A lot of people think it's the same old cyclical hiring pattern (happened in the 90's too), but this time is different due to terrible economy. It's a combination. Employers are hurting and they're also afraid to hire not knowing what is coming down the turnpike at them. Hopefully, the USA won't end up like Japan with an economy bumping along the bottom for 15-20 yrs after a major recession/depression. One of the biggest problems for employers right now is having politicians in office who are spending the USA into oblivion/humongous debt and also legislating (or threatening to) laws that are very anti-business. Every time you hear these politicians pandering to the public re "getting the greedy companies," just remember those kinds of sentiments against companies are killing jobs too. People need to wake up to this. Please start looking beyond the political rhetoric. If you want jobs back, this economy needs to turn around. It's not going to turn around as long as people are short-sighted and keep voting in these politicians who are spending this country into the poorhouse (with all sorts of freebies and goodies for the public) and who are also anti-business. There are some pretty dire consequences. Let's all get out and vote next week and get these spenders who are killing the economy OUT of office.

BTW, for those who think Bush did this, you're wrong. It was the Democratic Congress during the Bush era (and prior) who set these wheels in motion; particularly, the housing debacle (and that is what set all of this off). The Community Reinvestment Act was at the core of the whole thing. It wasn't even the "greedy" bankers as so many people naively think. Sure, those bankers became greedy (and so did the middle class) once the seeds were sown, BUT is was definitely the Dem Congress who planted, fostered, and insisted on planting those seeds (all to grab voters/power). BTW, for those who don't know what Cap & Trade (now called American Power Act) is: it's also an economy killer. The politicians are trying to push it off as some sort of environmental issue. Nope, it's a money-maker for the billionaires. People are so naive. That bill needs to GO (and they sneaked some of it into EPA rules), and so does the Obamacare bill. They are both going to destroy what is left of this economy in a few yrs. In addition, Bernanke needs to quit printing "fake" money. It's setting us all up for some pretty nasty inflation in a few yrs. Anyway, I suggest you do some real research (and educate yourselves on economy as well as the nuances of finance/Wall Street/monetary theory, etc too so you really get a good grasp on what is political rhetoric vs. the true realities) and quit listening to political rhetoric. It's very plain and simple, one simply cannot spend what one does not have. The paradigm is the same whether applying it to an individual household or and entire country's national budget. We all need to start looking beyond the ends of our own noses with the "what's in it for me?" attitude and start focusing on the long-term effects on this country and our entire economy. This IS what what eventually make ALL of us prosperous. Let's focus on saving this country and our jobs!

PACNWNURSING · Nov 1, 2010

I would first try to land a job doing something else while you wait for your first nursing job. There is no magic formula to landing the first RN job.

biblepoet · Nov 1, 2010

I know the only job I could land here was in a prison. Not the most glamerous job, but I have been interviewing lately at the hospitals where I could not get an interview when I first graduated. Still cannot land the hospital job, but I guess I am getting further in the interview process and have gained a little experience on the way.

rn2010mh · Nov 1, 2010

I'm in the same boat, it's frustrating, seeing some of my classmates look for 2 weeks and get a job, yet I've applied to over 200+ jobs since July and only had 2 interviews. The state of TX wanted me to interview, but they wouldn't pay for me to fly out or do a phone interview first. It's just too expensive to not at least do a phone or internet interview first. Especially for a first interview. I have tons of education, high GPA, work experience in customer service, yet as of next year, I'll be unemployed as my current job is closing (non-nursing related). I'll be forced to take a job in retail management again, or worse waiting tables.

From the horrible stories I've heard from some new grads getting in bad situations, I guess I'm glad to not take just anything as some classmates have. I'd hate to have moved across country only to have to quit because it was a risk to my license. I think as of today, I just gave up the search. I'm tired of not even being considered, competing for butt kissing competitions not based on actual qualifications, I'd rather wait tables for a living than deal with this rejection.