I'm a recent BSN graduate, dual-licensed in both California and New York, currently based in Manhattan. I've been actively searching for my first RN job since receiving my NY license in April, and I'm feeling increasingly discouraged.
I've applied to over 50 positions, including several new grad programs, without landing a single interview. My primary interest and passion lie in Maternal-Newborn and NICU, but I've since broadened my search to include Emergency, Critical Care, and Med-Surg roles, still with no luck.
In addition to job applications, I've:
- Started attending networking events
- Reached out to recruiters on LinkedIn
- Sent direct follow-up emails
Despite all this effort, I haven't had a single callback.
If anyone has advice, guidance, or connections in the NYC area, especially in Manhattan hospitals, I'd be incredibly grateful. At this point, I'd love help with breaking into the field, securing an interview, or even just hearing what worked for you as a new grad in a similar position.
I just want to add to this as someone in a similar position. I just graduated with my ADN from a public community college in California. While that has some prestige, hospitals typically prefer graduates with BSNs nonetheless, and so more often, residency spots will go to the graduate of the for-profit school with otherwise equal qualifications (I presume...)
I had signed a service agreement with a scholarship at a hospital system if I were to get a job as a new grad that stipulated that I was required to take whatever position was available to me for 18 months after signing, or give back the money in full. In essence, all but an actual offer for a job, which I lost any hope for when I was phoned by their office and informed that my residency had been cancelled entirely.
I went back to the hospital I did my preceptorship at, who really liked me and wanted me to apply to their program (which I would have, absolutely, had I not been obligated otherwise), but they are also not going to move forward with any further new grad cohorts either.
I really don't mean to puff myself up by clarifying this, but aside from not yet having a BSN, I am pretty close to what I would consider an ideal candidate. I graduated with some of the highest grades in my cohort, was the class president, and have 5+ working in EMS besides. The hospital where I presently work closed their application before I received the news, and won't be hiring new grads until Winter. I'm also, in effect, being quietly laid off, as I currently work there per diem and have had difficulty picking up shifts.
I have applied to about four residency programs, and was instantly rejected by three of them. Everyone else's program seems to have closed their applications for the Summer, and I frankly do not see any listings for any sub-acute jobs outside of inpatient whatsoever--not even at the SNF which specifically came to our school to recruit us. I perhaps do not know where to look in this regard, however.
I'm currently enrolled in an RN-to-BSN program that is both public and paid for with my financial aid, which is honestly perfect, but also precludes my leaving the area to work or live out of state.
It seems as though the surest way to get into an RN position would be to establish myself as a CNA at a desirable hospital or system and apply as an internal applicant when I'm about to earn my BSN next Spring. If it's that bad for even BSN graduates, I'm not honestly sure what my next move should be. I'm currently waiting for TMU to send my test results to CDPH, so that I can begin applying for positions at hospitals where my friends and professors already work, and where I might already have my foot in the door.
Would anyone else disagree? I'm almost desperate and looking for any suggestions.
I should add--hospitals here, including the one I was originally going to work for, are laying off nurses in droves. This is what has me doubtful that things are going to get better any time soon, and that working sub-acute elsewhere might be less of an edge than being an internal hire working as a tech on a floor that knew me already.
This message is to the new grads. I feel sorry for you new grads who only try for hospital jobs. You are selling yourselves short by only trying for hospital jobs. 1000's of nurses make a good living working in clinics, nursing homes, and home healthcare. And these 3 areas will usually hire you right away. Try getting jobs in these areas and start making a good wage and getting experience while you are trying to find hospital work.
Specializes in ICU/ER/Med-Surg/Case Management/Manageme.
Dale Bohanon said:
This message is to the new grads. I feel sorry for you new grads who only try for hospital jobs. You are selling yourselves short by only trying for hospital jobs. 1000's of nurses make a good living working in clinics, nursing homes, and home healthcare. And these 3 areas will usually hire you right away. Try getting jobs in these areas and start making a good wage and getting experience while you are trying to find hospital work.
So true! The healthcare landscape has changed dramatically and hospital nursing is no exception. In my area, hospitals have started programs in which medically stable patients are discharged home with f/u care being provided by home health nurses. I'm not entirely familiar with these types of programs, but it seems patients requiring certain IV infusions, ongoing wound care, etc. (those long-term things that require nursing skill/knowledge but not hospitalization) are becoming more common. As a result, the need for hospital nurses is on the decline.
Working in clinics, skilled nursing facilities, and home health/hospice can allow a nurse to provide the type of patient (and family) care he/she entered into nursing for in the first place. I thrive on getting to know my patients, their families, their friends. I love being able to truly do an assessment and see the changes over time...some good, some bad. I put in years in some extremely high acuity ICU's and ER's and to this day, my body feels the pain of those non-stop, on-my-feet 12 hour shifts. Now, in my old age, I work (and I work hard!) as a PDN for a great agency and only wish I had discovered other areas of nursing years ago.
The landscape has changed. So must our own perceptions of nursing.
if you are a new grad RN, not having luck applying to residencies in larger cities, you need to look beyond the larger cities and go to more rural areas, or smaller-medium sized cities. Yes, I know a lot of you are young and want nightlife and clubs perhaps, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet to get a little ahead in your career. As you probably already know, get at least a year experience in these smaller towns, then you can start to apply to the larger cities and hopefully the doors may open up a little more for you.
For OP, if you're still looking at your post, you stated you have licensure in California. I'm only using California because I'm familiar with the state, unlike New York where I have never been to. Instead of looking at the larger cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego - branch out of those areas. For example there are smaller-medium-sized cities such as Redding, Red Bluff, and Shasta County in general, looking for nurses. Most of these cities are located about 2.5 - 4 hours north of Sacramento. So if you look north of Sacramento up to the Oregon/California border, there are smaller hospital systems up there who need nurses. I could imagine that there are also smaller to medium size cities in New York too, who have a need.
The whole point is, yes these are cities that probably people really don't want to go to, thus the reason why they are hiring nurses there. Again, just go out and get some experience under your belt and then you'll be able to flourish elsewhere. And you never know, some of these smaller towns might surprise you and you may end up liking it and staying for a lower cost of living and/or the fresh air.
This message is to the new grads. I feel sorry for you new grads who only try for hospital jobs. You are selling yourselves short by only trying for hospital jobs. 1000's of nurses make a good living working in clinics, nursing homes, and home healthcare. And these 3 areas will usually hire you right away. Try getting jobs in these areas and start making a good wage and getting experience while you are trying to find hospital work.
Thank you for your advice! While I'm aware you weren't only speaking to me, as someone who's been working acute care for years, I still wanted to offer this perspective on the issue:
I have, since posting, spoken with a former hiring manager at a major hospital in my area, and I asked whether I should seek out these sub-acute opportunities instead of trying to stay in acute care in a lower capacity where I presently work as an EMT. She actively discouraged me from pursuing sub-acute RN work, saying that the lack of acute care experience would be viewed as more of a liability later down the road when considered for new grad positions, and encouraged me to keep looking for patient tech positions within hospitals to put me in a better position to be hired within internally.
Just an FYI for new grads who are already working in the hospital or would like to at some point!
Specializes in ICU/ER/Med-Surg/Case Management/Manageme.
newgrad000003 said:
Thank you for your advice! While I'm aware you weren't only speaking to me, as someone who's been working acute care for years, I still wanted to offer this perspective on the issue:
I have, since posting, spoken with a former hiring manager at a major hospital in my area, and I asked whether I should seek out these sub-acute opportunities instead of trying to stay in acute care in a lower capacity where I presently work as an EMT. She actively discouraged me from pursuing sub-acute RN work, saying that the lack of acute care experience would be viewed as more of a liability later down the road when considered for new grad positions, and encouraged me to keep looking for patient tech positions within hospitals to put me in a better position to be hired within internally.
Just an FYI for new grads who are already working in the hospital or would like to at some point!
Interesting. I bet there are more than a few of us (with a few [or even many] years under our nursing belts who would disagree with that hiring manager. From my perspective, given the choice between hiring a patient care tech vs. a nurse with sub-acute experience, I'd choose the nurse almost any day. Nurses possess specific skills, including critical-thinking skills, as well as an almost indefinable patient/family-care-centered approach a tech doesn't possess. I make these comments as a former nurse manager. Early on, I hired a couple of nurses transitioning from CNA to nurse and it was a mistake. Frankly, in my experience, it takes time and experience to transition to those roles and become the type of nurse I'd want taking care of me or caring for patients on a unit I'm responsible for.
One other comment and then I'm done. Promise! You seem to snub your nose at what you're defining as "sub-acute". That is a disservice to the millions of nurses working in our SNF's, nursing homes, home health, and even med-surg. After an entire career of working as a super-duper ICU/ER nurse (translation: ain't I special) I went to work on a med-surg floor of a medium-sized hospital for 2 years. Those med-surg nurses kicked my fanny! The skills, knowledge base, and even ability to do your job on some of those types of units were unlike anything I had experienced in the preceding years. My respect for med-surg/SNF nurses increased dramatically. So, to you, I simply say good luck.
Interesting. I bet there are more than a few of us (with a few [or even many] years under our nursing belts who would disagree with that hiring manager. From my perspective, given the choice between hiring a patient care tech vs. a nurse with sub-acute experience, I'd choose the nurse almost any day. Nurses possess specific skills, including critical-thinking skills, as well as an almost indefinable patient/family-care-centered approach a tech doesn't possess. I make these comments as a former nurse manager. Early on, I hired a couple of nurses transitioning from CNA to nurse and it was a mistake. Frankly, in my experience, it takes time and experience to transition to those roles and become the type of nurse I'd want taking care of me or caring for patients on a unit I'm responsible for.
One other comment and then I'm done. Promise! You seem to snub your nose at what you're defining as "sub-acute". That is a disservice to the millions of nurses working in our SNF's, nursing homes, home health, and even med-surg. After an entire career of working as a super-duper ICU/ER nurse (translation: ain't I special) I went to work on a med-surg floor of a medium-sized hospital for 2 years. Those med-surg nurses kicked my fanny! The skills, knowledge base, and even ability to do your job on some of those types of units were unlike anything I had experienced in the preceding years. My respect for med-surg/SNF nurses increased dramatically. So, to you, I simply say good luck.
For clarity, what she meant specifically was that hospitals preferred to within from internal candidates in good standing for new grad positions over those applying externally with sub-acute experience. Given that internal candidates are very explicitly given priority by many hospitals, that would seem to track.
I made absolutely no comment about med-surg nursing whatsoever, I have no idea where you read that. I would kill for a new grad position on a med-surg unit at the moment.
Specializes in ICU/ER/Med-Surg/Case Management/Manageme.
newgrad000003 said:
For clarity, what she meant specifically was that hospitals preferred to within from internal candidates in good standing for new grad positions over those applying externally with sub-acute experience. Given that internal candidates are very explicitly given priority by many hospitals, that would seem to track.
I made absolutely no comment about med-surg nursing whatsoever, I have no idea where you read that. I would kill for a new grad position on a med-surg unit at the moment.
*Prefered to hire from within
I didn't say you made comments on med-surg nursing. Merely providing food for thought/my opinions. Again, best of luck.
newgrad000003
17 Posts
I just want to add to this as someone in a similar position. I just graduated with my ADN from a public community college in California. While that has some prestige, hospitals typically prefer graduates with BSNs nonetheless, and so more often, residency spots will go to the graduate of the for-profit school with otherwise equal qualifications (I presume...)
I had signed a service agreement with a scholarship at a hospital system if I were to get a job as a new grad that stipulated that I was required to take whatever position was available to me for 18 months after signing, or give back the money in full. In essence, all but an actual offer for a job, which I lost any hope for when I was phoned by their office and informed that my residency had been cancelled entirely.
I went back to the hospital I did my preceptorship at, who really liked me and wanted me to apply to their program (which I would have, absolutely, had I not been obligated otherwise), but they are also not going to move forward with any further new grad cohorts either.
I really don't mean to puff myself up by clarifying this, but aside from not yet having a BSN, I am pretty close to what I would consider an ideal candidate. I graduated with some of the highest grades in my cohort, was the class president, and have 5+ working in EMS besides. The hospital where I presently work closed their application before I received the news, and won't be hiring new grads until Winter. I'm also, in effect, being quietly laid off, as I currently work there per diem and have had difficulty picking up shifts.
I have applied to about four residency programs, and was instantly rejected by three of them. Everyone else's program seems to have closed their applications for the Summer, and I frankly do not see any listings for any sub-acute jobs outside of inpatient whatsoever--not even at the SNF which specifically came to our school to recruit us. I perhaps do not know where to look in this regard, however.
I'm currently enrolled in an RN-to-BSN program that is both public and paid for with my financial aid, which is honestly perfect, but also precludes my leaving the area to work or live out of state.
It seems as though the surest way to get into an RN position would be to establish myself as a CNA at a desirable hospital or system and apply as an internal applicant when I'm about to earn my BSN next Spring. If it's that bad for even BSN graduates, I'm not honestly sure what my next move should be. I'm currently waiting for TMU to send my test results to CDPH, so that I can begin applying for positions at hospitals where my friends and professors already work, and where I might already have my foot in the door.
Would anyone else disagree? I'm almost desperate and looking for any suggestions.