New Grad RN moving to Urbana IL

Misskala · Mar 7, 2011

HI! I live in Champaign-Urbana and might be able to help.:yelclap: Have you researched the hospitals here yet?

We have 2 major hospitals here, one being a Level 1 Trauma for the area. Both hospitals offer New Grad RN training programs. These programs will train you for 3 months on the floor and in the classroom. The jobs for New Grads are most plentiful at December and May (when people graduate from schools) but I have heard that some New Grads will get hired in between. It depends on the hospital, and whether they will create that position, because as you know, it costs money to train a New Grad.

The market is tight. There aren't tons of jobs. I graduated in Dec. and the students who got hired first were the ones who were already working in the hospital as Nursing Techs. Slowly, people are getting hired. We have 2 major nursing schools in town and then about 10 more in the outlying area, so New Grads are plentiful.

There are other hospitals in the area too, to consider. Some are 20 min. away and are more small and rural. Others, like in Bloomington-Normal, are bigger hospitals with ICU's and that is a 50 min. commute. I am not sure how hard it is to get on there. 1 girl from my class got hired but she was also working as a tech during school.

What else can I tell you?

LoloApple · Mar 7, 2011

Wow! Thank you so much for all that information! So far, I have only contacted Carle, since they were the only hospital that had postings online for a New Grad program that I could find. I have sent the human resources department an e-mail requesting contact information of a nurse recruiter that I could speak to, but have yet to hear a response. What are the names of other nearby hospitals within a 20 min. drive?

I will be visiting the Urbana-Champaign area within the following month with my fiance to explore the campus and look for potential housing. I would also like to visit the hospitals in the area and meet with nurse recruiters while he is busy at the university. So far, from what I have looked at online, Urbana seems to be a very nice neighborhood. Are there any areas that you think I should avoid?

Again, thank you so much for all the information and for taking the time to help me. It is so difficult trying to move to a new place without knowing anything about it other than what you can google online.

Misskala · Mar 7, 2011

Hi there! I am pretty bad about neighborhoods. He will probably want to live close to campus. There are alot of houses and apt. buildings on the side streets off the main quad. His dept. can probably help with general housing, but Craigslist is a good start too. Go for the newer apt. buildings...they have been building more condo style units lately.

Is there a way to send me a personal message (not instant message) and that way I can talk more about stuff. I don't want to give out personal info on a national website.

The best word of advice I can give....be PATIENT. Human Resources takes FOREVER to get back in touch with you. Also, the last I spoke with them (this week ) I was told no New Grad positions yet. But I understand you wanting to have a general interview or hospital tour.

BonnieSc · Mar 15, 2011

I endorsed my license from California to Illinois a couple of years ago (I couldn't find work in California either) and the process was very easy and quite fast. But I encourage you to go ahead and get it done now--there are multiple steps, and I'm sure you know that the CA BRN can be slow about things.

I had been out of work for two years, had never held a job in a hospital, and no one even blinked here--whereas in California, everyone looked down on applicants who had been out of school more than six months without working. Yes, the job market has tightened up some since I started here (I work in Springfield, same region but too far to commute), but I have found that many nurses take time off between graduating from school and starting work, usually to raise a family. It's a different atmosphere from how it is in California. Try not to stress about that too much! Just tell them honestly that the economy is worse in CA (true) and you haven't been able to find work.

I would call the HR department, rather than email. Everyone out here is so friendly, and also--though this is a generality and the people working in HR are probably pretty computer-savvy--I think this region is a few years behind California as far as the Internet goes. They're much more likely to use the telephone than people back home were.

Good luck! You're going to feel awesome when you can finally start working.

LoloApple · Mar 16, 2011

Thank you for the advice, Wendy79! I'm just worried about going there and finding out the situation is the same as CA. I just hope a hospital gives me a chance. From what I've read on here, even the local new grads are having a difficult time. My school loans are haunting me!

BonnieSc · Mar 16, 2011

Yeah, I wouldn't have moved out here if I hadn't already been hired for a job. On the other hand, you can't really be worse off. Almost all of the posts you see here from people who can't find jobs are in the Chicago area, and that is ENTIRELY different--might as well be in a different state, on multiple levels. I'm not saying the jobs are here for the picking, but new grads in central IL really are finding jobs.