New grad RN in Denver - no job after 3 months of looking

[westfall520]

Just wondering if any of you experienced RNs have job hunting advice for landing your first RN job. I feel like I am sending applications into a black hole since I never hear back about most of them. The responses I do get all say the same, "we don't hire RNs without a year of experience". I am getting so sad/frustrated...how exactly am I ever to get experience if no one will hire me? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Apply EVERYWHERE. Not all places require a year of experience. Look at nursing homes, outpatient clinics, anywhere and everywhere, NOT just hospitals.

Unfortunately, there's a glut of new grads out there, not just this year but last year and the year before that, so there's quite alot of competition in most places. If you're willing to move, you might look into other areas of your State, other States in the country. Generally speaking, the more rural the setting, the greater the need. The more urban, the slimmer the pickin's.

Good luck.

[klone, MSN, RN]

I know there are a couple pediatric home health agencies in Denver that hire new grads. Look on the Denver Craigslist, they advertise there regularly. Pay is poor, but it will help you gain experience.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

Geez... are there ANY signs of hope that the job market will improve in CO? Or will it just get more and more competitive?

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

The number of new grads every year is not decreasing. The number of new hospitals is not increasing.

It has been like this for about 5 years. 3 months is a SHORT job search time for a Colorado new grad who has a BSN and came from a well regarded program with good placements. Last I heard, 3-9 months was the normal search for a new BSN, 7-12+ was normal for new ADNs. (There are always outliers.)

[martinoni]

I'm a new grad too and all I can say is everybody I know who got a job did so through some kind of personal connection. I don't know of a single classmate who got a job by randomly applying for jobs. After a few months of applying without any responses, I finally sat down and listed every connection I could think of - pretty much anybody who worked in a hospital or was friends with an experienced nurse. I was finally able to get some interviews and eventually found a great job that way.

Rejection is no fun. Hang in there and good luck!

[Lizzie21]

I know that Exempla (St. Joe's, Lutheran and Good Sam) are having a new grad class starting in June! There will be 16 slots available. So keep an eye out for that. I work at St. Joe's and we just got the email about it sent out. So keep looking. Plus the new grad program at St. Joe's is awesome. I did it a few years back. Let me know if you need anything.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

16 spots for all 3 hospitals or in each facility? I bet they get hundreds of applicants.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

Ill bet there's 1500+ new grads in the front range market if you include out of state and returning grads. 16 spots for 3 hospitals? Yikes... from what I hear most will go to former exempla student nurse interns.

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

Not to mention underemployed recent RN graduates from the past couple years

[Lizzie21]

You never know. I don't know if it's for all three hospitals or not, but its worth a try!

[SE_BSN_RN, BSN]

I know that Exempla (St. Joe's, Lutheran and Good Sam) are having a new grad class starting in June! There will be 16 slots available. So keep an eye out for that. I work at St. Joe's and we just got the email about it sent out. So keep looking. Plus the new grad program at St. Joe's is awesome. I did it a few years back. Let me know if you need anything.

I know this is an old post, but do you know when the next one is starting? There is no info on their website, and I can't get thru to HR.....no one bothers to return calls or emails!