New Grads and getting hired

Nursing Students General Students

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I graduate in May and have begun the process of looking for limited new grad positions in the local hospitals.

Any advice for a new grad as far as setting myself apart from the rest to get hired?

With the limited positions open for new grads, what in the interview and on my resume with help my efforts?

On the cover page and resume...Who do I put it attention to: Nursing Recruiters names or the nursing manager of the unit?

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I don't have an answer for you... just wanted to chime in that I am in the same boat. People keep asking me what specialty I want to work in... at this point I would be happy just to have a job. My friend graduated 2 years ago and got a job offer in the mail months before graduation just because she was enrolled in nursing school.

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Must be nice when you don't even have to go out looking for a job...now we have to beg them to give us one!

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Specializes in NICU.

-Be articulate and bring questions to ask them.

-Research the hospital/company you are interviewing for and discuss how you will fit into it/work to achieve their goals (I talked about the customer satisfaction surveys and highlighted my customer service background and reviews I had gotten from there)

-Don't badmouth other candidates (Someone seriously did this)

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Specializes in Med-Surg; ER; ICU/CCU/SHU; PAR.

Hi, and first off, congratulations on being as far down the road to "RN" as you are!

The hiring of new grads being slow right now isn't a brand new phenomenon. Nursing has been going in cycles such as this one for decades...just so you know. It gets better. It gets worse. It gets better again. Take heart, you'll find a job! I always advise new grads to take the long view of things, and to realize that your first job is just that...it's your first job. It's not your last one! Kind of like buying your first house...you don't buy the dream home right out of college. You have to work your way up to it. Get your foot in the door, get that first year of experience that they're all clamoring for. Once it's done, wherever it's done, you'll be the experienced RN that gets hired on the spot!

As for whom to send the resume to, typically your initial contact at the hospital is the nurse recruiter, so you would address all written communications to him/her. Be sure to include in your cover letter that in case you haven't heard back from them within one week (or two, your choice), you will, as a courtesy, call to follow up on your resume submission/interview. Again, this is with HR and/or the Nurse Recruiter at this stage.

Once you've been invited to interview on a specific unit, you will then meet and interview with the Unit Manager/Head Nurse, and from that point on it will be up to him/her to hire you or not, so any follow-up from that point on would be with him/her. Same procedure, you send a follow-up letter, and state that in case you haven't heard back from them within a week or two, you'll place a courtesy follow-up call. This encourages them to get back to you with their decision, one way or the other. There is nothing worse than being kept hanging! So you have to keep the ball in your court here.

I hope this helps, and I wish you all the best of luck! Stay with it...it'll happen!

Lori, RN

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Thanks for the advice! My only concern with my "first job," is that it's one that is not in a hospital. I really want to be in a hospital right away for the mere fact that they provide a residency program with education, orientation, continuous training and room to grow. Not to mention paying off student loans.

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Specializes in ED.
Hi, and first off, congratulations on being as far down the road to "RN" as you are!

The hiring of new grads being slow right now isn't a brand new phenomenon. Nursing has been going in cycles such as this one for decades...just so you know. It gets better. It gets worse. It gets better again. Take heart, you'll find a job! I always advise new grads to take the long view of things, and to realize that your first job is just that...it's your first job. It's not your last one! Kind of like buying your first house...you don't buy the dream home right out of college. You have to work your way up to it. Get your foot in the door, get that first year of experience that they're all clamoring for. Once it's done, wherever it's done, you'll be the experienced RN that gets hired on the spot!

As for whom to send the resume to, typically your initial contact at the hospital is the nurse recruiter, so you would address all written communications to him/her. Be sure to include in your cover letter that in case you haven't heard back from them within one week (or two, your choice), you will, as a courtesy, call to follow up on your resume submission/interview. Again, this is with HR and/or the Nurse Recruiter at this stage.

Once you've been invited to interview on a specific unit, you will then meet and interview with the Unit Manager/Head Nurse, and from that point on it will be up to him/her to hire you or not, so any follow-up from that point on would be with him/her. Same procedure, you send a follow-up letter, and state that in case you haven't heard back from them within a week or two, you'll place a courtesy follow-up call. This encourages them to get back to you with their decision, one way or the other. There is nothing worse than being kept hanging! So you have to keep the ball in your court here.

I hope this helps, and I wish you all the best of luck! Stay with it...it'll happen!

Lori, RN

Thanks this helps me alot. I was feeling doom and gloom, but I think I'll just enjoy this summer the best I can

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