New Grads-how long for first job

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I have read several articles about the nursing shortage and comments about new grads not being able to land that first job because of a lack of experience. Last month I started a new job at a hospital that hired a total of 50 new grads in various departments. Many of them were May '14 grads.

My question for new grads is how long since graduation have you been looking for your first job? If you have landed your first job, how long after graduation did it take you?

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I landed a job less than a month after passing NCLEX

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Specializes in NICU.

3 months (2 months post NCLEX)- Graduated in August and offered a position last week

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Specializes in Med-Surg/urology.

Almost three months after passing the NCLEX.

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About three months.

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Just under two months

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Was offered a position two months prior to graduation, started right after I passed NCLEX.

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Specializes in ICU.

From Pacific Northwest. Senior practicum in ICU. Worked as a nurse tech in ICU for 18 months but hospital was in hiring freeze for new grads. Struggled to find a position locally.

Graduated June; NCLEX July; Offered ICU position at Mayo in October = ~4 months & ~80 applications.

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1 day after the NCLEX

But it ended up being chaos

I quit and I am now looking for another job.

DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID

I PANICKED SO MUCH THAT I JUMPED HEAD FIRST INTO THE WRONG JOB!

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Specializes in Med-Surg and Neuro.

2 months post-NCLEX. Got a job at a great hospital with no connections or clinicals there. I had a great resume though, thanks to going to a great university that gave me awesome clinical sites.

Everyone on this board bemoans how hard it is for new grads to get jobs. But it's all relative. In my last career it was normal to go 1-2 *years* in temp jobs before someone would hire you full-time. The economy is much worse in other lines of work than nursing!

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I graduate in a couple of weeks and have already been hired pending graduation and passing NCLEX. One application = one interview = one job offer in the unit I want. :yes: Out of 60ish in my graduating class, there are about 10 of us so far that have jobs already. Several more are waiting to hear back so I'm sure that number will rise in the next few weeks.

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Specializes in Rehab, pediatrics.

I landed a job the day after I passed NCLEX. Not in the specialty I wanted but I love my job, and I'm going to aim more towards the specialty I want within the next year or so... Most people I graduated with that were in my area don't have jobs yet and I graduated in May. I consider myself lucky.

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