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 know it's frustrating finding that first job after nursing school. I've been there. It took me moving out of the province from a large city to a small, rural town to do it, but I did it. Got my year of experience and landed a job in the city. I know that you said relocation isn't an option for you, so apply everywhere that is a commute distance for you.
It is not wrong for you to want a better paying job after going to nursing school. But, the job market for nurses have not been great in Canada for the past several years now. I have yet to see the nursing shortage that my professors told my class about when I graduated in 2011. So far, from what I can see, there isn't really a shortage of nurses (except maybe if you count specialized area of nursing) and the we're probably a long way from the "boom" bit of the "bust and boom" nursing cycle.
It is rough for new grads. You are competing with experienced nurses, nurses with seniority on the totem pole, internal candidates...most of the grads that have gotten hired into my unit either are internal candidates, or made a good impression with my manager. Maybe try applying to where you did your preceptorship?
As far the hiring process, you need to know that managers (and hospitals) are bound by union contracts on whom they can hire into a position. Union contracts dictate that interval applicants must take precedence over external candidates; a manager can not hire an external candidate if an internal candidate meets the criteria. They are allowed to hire externally only if the internal candidates are not suited for the job, or there will be grievances. Union also dictate that the nurse with the most seniority that is suited for the job gets the job. Again, grievances will be filed if the manager does not follow that.
Budget dictates if the job opening will even be filled. Per union contracts, empty positions must be posted. And so they are. But if the hospital/unit does not have the budget to support that position, it just does not get filled. Hospitals look out for their budget, and with budget cuts everywhere, many positions aren't being filled.
Also, some job openings are created with a certain candidate in mind. For example, my manager opened up a part time line to move one of our full time LPN into it. I've seen it happen on my unit, and on other units too. So that's another difficulty that you're contending with.
Jobs are not plentiful in the cities(or as plentiful as schools, government, unions and associations want you to believe). Where there are jobs, it is not where most would want to go. It's the reality now.
My advice would be to keep trying everywhere and anywhere and apply to every and all job that you are remotely qualify for. Make sure your resume and cover letter has the keywords in the job ad, and prepare yourself for interviews by going over common interview questions, basic nursing Interventions for the scenario questions, brush up on your knowledge of common diseases and medications, and know what is included in the role of being a nurse.
In the meantime, it doesn't hurt to go back to your cashier job while you're looking for a nursing job.
Taking medication and IV workshops from private colleges is throwing money away. Your nursing education already covered the basics of medication administration and the basics of IV therapy. If you are hired in acute care, the hospital's clinical educator will review IV information and technique and your initial IV starts will be monitored by staff. Throwing good money away on sketchy private schools, doesn't boost resumes, it highlights naivety and gulliblity.
I really do not mind relocating, my biggest problem is I do not have a drivers license. Most of the time these jobs require a car. I received another call from a hospital in the U.S but I applied at the time not knowing about the process of getting a nursing license in the U.S, just listened to others that told me "just apply". It appears to be the U.S has more opportunities for those with a BscN? because the 2 hospitals I applied to, both called me back. I do not understand why not even the facility I applied for in Nunavut called, I don't mean to sound disrespectful but I thought that for sure was a place that not many would go. Even some facilities in those areas require 1 year experience.
My preceptors are my references, but I have never given them my resume. Based on the comments at the 2 facilities I was placed, the nurses I shadowed do not particularly like their managers (I have only seen the managers in passing, they mostly stayed in their offices). I ASSUME they would be uncomfortable asking the manager to take a look at my resume, plus when I told them I am still looking for work they just tell me that it is going to be tough and they've been there, but keep applying. Because of that response I do not want to ask them to hand in my resume :/
Some new grads who do not have vehicles, work for agencies as private nurses. Private nurses are often assigned to one client at a time and spend their shift with the client who is either in hospital, LTC or at home. Since the nurse does not have multiple clients, they do not need to worry about travelling between clients in a timely manner. Another area that some new grads work in, is walk-in medical clinics, most are located in locations close to public transportation.
Private duty agencies and walk-in clinics do not necessarily advertise vacancies, suggest you check their websites to see how to best submit your resume. Both are non-union jobs and the pay is low, but at least they are nursing jobs.
But private duty nursing would still require some means of transportation to get to the client and home again. You would still need to be able to get there on time.
Not all clients are close to public transit. There really isn't any private duty nursing out there. I work casually for a so- called private duty agency. It's basically just home care and very few clients are reachable without a car.
Of course they are. For all the jobs I've been applying to I see it as a requirement everywhere. Personally I think its always good to update your skills and to offer something extra on your resume to help you be more competitive
Thats the problem, I really want to become an ER nurse but it seems impossible. Nobody seems to willing on giving new grads a chance and even obtaining a certificate in a particular specialty requires acute setting experience.
Long term care, agencies, hospitals all have requirements that I do not have as a new grad. EVEN casual positions require 1-2 years experience?!?! I went to hand out my resume to some clinics and they do not hire RNs, only RPNS. This is so frustrating.
It is true that most job postings say experience required, but some employers, such as Canadian blood services have hired new grads who had related volunteer experience.
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MPKH, BSN, RN
449 Posts
I know it's frustrating finding that first job after nursing school. I've been there. It took me moving out of the province from a large city to a small, rural town to do it, but I did it. Got my year of experience and landed a job in the city. I know that you said relocation isn't an option for you, so apply everywhere that is a commute distance for you.
It is not wrong for you to want a better paying job after going to nursing school. But, the job market for nurses have not been great in Canada for the past several years now. I have yet to see the nursing shortage that my professors told my class about when I graduated in 2011. So far, from what I can see, there isn't really a shortage of nurses (except maybe if you count specialized area of nursing) and the we're probably a long way from the "boom" bit of the "bust and boom" nursing cycle.
It is rough for new grads. You are competing with experienced nurses, nurses with seniority on the totem pole, internal candidates...most of the grads that have gotten hired into my unit either are internal candidates, or made a good impression with my manager. Maybe try applying to where you did your preceptorship?
As far the hiring process, you need to know that managers (and hospitals) are bound by union contracts on whom they can hire into a position. Union contracts dictate that interval applicants must take precedence over external candidates; a manager can not hire an external candidate if an internal candidate meets the criteria. They are allowed to hire externally only if the internal candidates are not suited for the job, or there will be grievances. Union also dictate that the nurse with the most seniority that is suited for the job gets the job. Again, grievances will be filed if the manager does not follow that.
Budget dictates if the job opening will even be filled. Per union contracts, empty positions must be posted. And so they are. But if the hospital/unit does not have the budget to support that position, it just does not get filled. Hospitals look out for their budget, and with budget cuts everywhere, many positions aren't being filled.
Also, some job openings are created with a certain candidate in mind. For example, my manager opened up a part time line to move one of our full time LPN into it. I've seen it happen on my unit, and on other units too. So that's another difficulty that you're contending with.
Jobs are not plentiful in the cities(or as plentiful as schools, government, unions and associations want you to believe). Where there are jobs, it is not where most would want to go. It's the reality now.
My advice would be to keep trying everywhere and anywhere and apply to every and all job that you are remotely qualify for. Make sure your resume and cover letter has the keywords in the job ad, and prepare yourself for interviews by going over common interview questions, basic nursing Interventions for the scenario questions, brush up on your knowledge of common diseases and medications, and know what is included in the role of being a nurse.
In the meantime, it doesn't hurt to go back to your cashier job while you're looking for a nursing job.