New Grad in Toronto Cannot find job

[Depressed_RN]

Hello All,

I am a new grad RN that cannot find a job. I graduated in April and passed the NCLEX shortly after. I applied to the Nursing guarantee initiative and unfortunately did not find a job, now I am stuck feeling so depressed. I have applied ALL OVER Ontario, also Nunavut, I have sent so far OVER 240 resumes with only one response. I went to the interview, stayed over night since it was 8 hours away from where I lived and bombed it because I was so nervous, not only that I was not prepared for medication type of questions (

I have had my resume looked over by TWO employment agency services. I change my cover letter for each job postings.

I have contacted the RNAO for help but they are useless, I have emailed the lady that reviews resumes 3 times and I doubt she even read my email since she has not even responded.

I have contacted health force ontario which claims to be committed to supporting nurses and they are also useless, I was told just to keep applying for jobs from the HFO and RNAO sites.

I have applied for a job in the U.S and they called me within a week. However, I was not aware of the LONG and EXPENSIVE process to become licensed in the U.S. So as of right now I want to focus on getting a job here in Ontario. Of course if I am still out of luck I will have no choice but to apply to the U.S.

I have become very depressed and I cry all the time, I am so frustrated that most jobs require at least 1 year experience, I am also frustrated when I see nurses complain about their shifts when theres nurses that cannot find work that would die for that chance.

As bad as it sounds I would work for less, I love nursing I would take a big pay cut just for the opportunity to work as a nurse, unfortunately with unions I know that is not possible but if it was I would do it.

I need help, places that would give a new grad a chance.

I'm a single mother, I'm so desperate right now.

[Depressed_RN]

Hey, RNAO just tweeted this yesterday. Maybe it's time to tell them your stories!

"Are you a new grad? Did you find a job straight away? Are you still struggling? We want to hear from you. Email [email protected]"

Thank you for the information,

I will definitely let them know!

[Depressed_RN]

They'll work without staff, or a revolving door of temporaries, rather than ease in a new grad every couple of months (which they could easily do). When I worked there we were around half new grads, and the place functioned fine. There is a ward and a clinic, and the new grads can easily handle the ward, especially since the more experienced nurses can (and do) take call for emergencies, and can come in to help.

In Nunavut, in the communities, I would guess that only around 1/4 of the jobs have full-time indeterminates in them, the rest are filled with casuals and agency nurses. That's the nursing stations, but I know that the Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay centres (which are more like little hospitals) are also usually short-staffed, and if they are not open to new grads, they should be. Not that every nurse could be a new grad, no, but they could be eased in.

They're pickier than when I started about who they hire, which in theory is good, but in practice, you do need to hire someone! These days they'll just not hire anyone if they can't get their ideal candidates, it seems, and the whole system is starting to fall apart (in Nunavut, anyway.)

They posted a bunch of casual positions on the Department of Health for more than 10 communities. There are no specific requirements listed, the closing date is Feb 8/16, I applied so I have my fingers crossed!

However I did not specify that I am willing to commit to the 6 weeks to 4 months contract in the email which has me a little bummed. I feel I might get looked over, So now I am working up a new cover letter to resend!

[Technicalglitch]

They posted a bunch of casual positions on the Department of Health for more than 10 communities. There are no specific requirements listed, the closing date is Feb 8/16, I applied so I have my fingers crossed!

However I did not specify that I am willing to commit to the 6 weeks to 4 months contract in the email which has me a little bummed. I feel I might get looked over, So now I am working up a new cover letter to resend!

Nunavut won't hire you for those casual positions without experience. The positions you should be applying for are permanent (indeterminate is their word) or term, and for Nunavut, the only places you could work as a new grad (if at all, they sound like they've got the drawbridge raised, even though their positions are unfilled) would be Qikiqtani hospital (the main hospital, in Iqaluit), Rankin Inlet health centre or Cambridge Bay health centre, as those all have inpatient wards. All the other communities would be the nursing station setting, where you would need experience. There are a couple of long-term care centres now too, but they hire mostly RPN's except for the managers.

In the Northwest Territories, you could try Stanton Hospital (Yellowknife), Inuvik, Fort Smith and Hay River. The rest of the communities are nursing stations.

In northern Ontario, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake are hospitals, along with the ones at Weeneebayko.

It's too bad the north is so impermeable right now to new grads. They hire very few young nurses at all these days, really. I've noticed they're hiring mostly people who want to put in some high-earning years just prior to retirement, and they mostly hire critical-care nurses. Critical care nurses tend to see things through a critical care lens though, and they over-pathologize the community care work that makes up the bulk of the work of the health centre.

These places would function best with a balance of nurses at different phases of their career and from different backgrounds, but currently they seem allergic to hiring just about anyone, even though their perfect candidates either don't exist, or don't want to stay more than a few weeks when they do.

What I notice too is when they won't hire new grads, they tend to miss out on nurses in the first halves of their careers all together, because new grads will often tend to settle in wherever they eventually do get hired, and not come back to the northern options once they do have the experience, because then they have lots of options. It compounds the employer's problems ... and yours since you are having trouble getting hired at all.

The other thing, if you are pursuing northern work, don't mention you have a child. It will be an issue eventually when they are discussing housing, if you are lucky enough to be offered a position, but they will weed you out if they know you have a child, as it's a complicating factor and they seem not to be super keen on new grads to start with. You must keep that quiet.

[Technicalglitch]

BTW, I can pretty much guarantee that all those northern hospitals I listed would have positions open, or many that are currently filled on only a temporary basis, even though they don't have postings. So if you do decide you want to go north, focus on those hospitals and don't wait for postings.

Decide too if going north is something you really want, because if it is you can likely make it happen, if you can make it clear to them that it's the place you really want to be.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

@depressedRN, have you been sending resumes to individual hospitals for each job posting? If so, stop doing this, as most human resources keep resumes on file for six months and discard any additional resumes that they receive from the same applicant within the six month time period (some HR staf get annoyed when applicants persistently send multiple resumes).

[Depressed_RN]

Nunavut won't hire you for those casual positions without experience. The positions you should be applying for are permanent (indeterminate is their word) or term, and for Nunavut, the only places you could work as a new grad (if at all, they sound like they've got the drawbridge raised, even though their positions are unfilled) would be Qikiqtani hospital (the main hospital, in Iqaluit), Rankin Inlet health centre or Cambridge Bay health centre, as those all have inpatient wards. All the other communities would be the nursing station setting, where you would need experience. There are a couple of long-term care centres now too, but they hire mostly RPN's except for the managers.

In the Northwest Territories, you could try Stanton Hospital (Yellowknife), Inuvik, Fort Smith and Hay River. The rest of the communities are nursing stations.

In northern Ontario, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake are hospitals, along with the ones at Weeneebayko.

It's too bad the north is so impermeable right now to new grads. They hire very few young nurses at all these days, really. I've noticed they're hiring mostly people who want to put in some high-earning years just prior to retirement, and they mostly hire critical-care nurses. Critical care nurses tend to see things through a critical care lens though, and they over-pathologize the community care work that makes up the bulk of the work of the health centre.

These places would function best with a balance of nurses at different phases of their career and from different backgrounds, but currently they seem allergic to hiring just about anyone, even though their perfect candidates either don't exist, or don't want to stay more than a few weeks when they do.

What I notice too is when they won't hire new grads, they tend to miss out on nurses in the first halves of their careers all together, because new grads will often tend to settle in wherever they eventually do get hired, and not come back to the northern options once they do have the experience, because then they have lots of options. It compounds the employer's problems ... and yours since you are having trouble getting hired at all.

The other thing, if you are pursuing northern work, don't mention you have a child. It will be an issue eventually when they are discussing housing, if you are lucky enough to be offered a position, but they will weed you out if they know you have a child, as it's a complicating factor and they seem not to be super keen on new grads to start with. You must keep that quiet.

lol Yes, as bad as it may sound, I never mention the fact that I have a child to anyone. Not even the place I currently work even though I have been here for years, I always feel like I'm being judged. I would also think it would work against me.

I really do not want to work up north but I would for at least a year if I had to.

I am reapplying to jobs that even say "reposted" in the heading. I guess jobs would rather wait for someone with the required years experience then give new grads a chance.

[Depressed_RN]

To update, I took a job in a clinic for a day shift (4hrs) ....I also got a job working as a receptionist on weekends. I spoke to the recruiter from North Dakota, since I submitted my application and passed the NCLEX, I shouldn't be that far off from getting licensed. I just need to have an FBI fingerprint scan and It was recommended to get my VisaScreen now and I am good for an interview. So now I will work and save up money for that.

[Depressed_RN]

@depressedRN, have you been sending resumes to individual hospitals for each job posting? If so, stop doing this, as most human resources keep resumes on file for six months and discard any additional resumes that they receive from the same applicant within the six month time period (some HR staf get annoyed when applicants persistently send multiple resumes).

Yes I did submit my resume to each job posting, I assumed I needed to since it usually asks for it to be attached.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Were the postings internal or external job postings? If they were internal, your application/resume was probably not even looked at by human eyes.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

congrats on the clinic job!

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Try not to take it personally. It's not you, or new grads as a whole.

The job market is dismal for experienced nurses, and has been for years. Despite all the hype about the "nursing shortage", there isn't one. Provinces have been laying off nurses and not replacing nurses in an effort to balance their budgets.

Many of those re-posted positions will likely sit unfilled for as long as possible.

Employers would rather work short to save money, sacrificing patient care. So yes, employers would rather wait around than hire a new grad. Orientation costs money and many of the less desirable locations are a revolving door.

[anxiouspn]

OP, congratulations on finding a job!! It's not 100% what you wanted, but at least you have your foot in the door now.

@depressedRN, have you been sending resumes to individual hospitals for each job posting? If so, stop doing this, as most human resources keep resumes on file for six months and discard any additional resumes that they receive from the same applicant within the six month time period (some HR staf get annoyed when applicants persistently send multiple resumes).

I don't want to hijack her thread but I just wanted to quickly ask here. Since you seem to be in the know. Let's say a facility posted two separate ads for an RPN one in a stroke rehab unit and one on a medical floor, for example. What if you wanted to work at either one of those places. How would you go about applying? Should we only be applying to one job per facility?