I am New Grad from January 2012 (I dont know if it counts a new grad still though). I been applying to hospitals since March 2012 after I took NCLEX and received my license. I have been on 4 interviews since April, 3 for hospital and 1 for a clinic (where I currently work at).
I have 4 years experience (Im a second degree BSN graduate, my previous degree was in Health Sciences) working as a child development associate at an organization for children with disabilities, certifications in BLS, NRP, ACLS, IV, PALS. Bilingual in English and a major foreign language, Volunteer experiences at clinic and at hospital, Great customer service skills, and great references from previous employers and preceptor for my senior internship, and 6 months of working at RN at a pediatric clinic.
I'm looking for a hospital position as working in the clinic the skills used are very basic and physical assessment and very little of everything else we learned in nursing school so I want to learn more and in the clinic there is no chance for advancement. I feel like I'm not using nursing skills like one would be able to in a hospital. And I been told that in a hospital is, not in nursing school, is were new grads really learn everthing.
Anyways, I went on those 3 hospital interviews and HR and the nurse managers all said how impressed they are with my qualifications and experience and constantly hint they would hire me. They all say they will call me in a week or two. So time passes and then I contact the HR department about the position and they all inform me they are "still in process of interviewing". More time passes, one month, two months and nothing. I heard of new grads in the city where I live with zero experience that are interview and hired within a week of interview. I feel so rejected especially since the managers acted like they really like me and thought me a "good fit" for their unit.
So New Grads that were so fortunate to be hired? How did you do it? I sent thank you cards to the interviewers but I'm thinking may be I should have sent a cake. LOL.
Would you like to try being a travel nurse? If there are no vacancies in hospitals or other medical health care facilities near your area, maybe you can check out other places.
Specializes in MedSurg, PACU, Maternal/Child Health.
Thank you SNB1014. The 2 connections I had did not help. Though they took my resume to the HR and called HR to check on the status, nothing resulted from it. I do sent thank you cards after each interview and call/email to check in every 2 to 3 weeks.
As for using connections from my current job at the clinic, I dont think its polite to do so to say that I'm trying to leave. However should I be hired and give at least 2 week notice they can provide a good reference.
Specializes in MedSurg, PACU, Maternal/Child Health.
Hi amygarside, Travel Nursing requires 2 years of experience, all job posts I have seen for Travel RNs state "No new GRads, must have 2 years hospital experience" so that is a no go. However, past 3 weeks I started applying out of state to jobs that allow new grads with a little experience (I live in NYC) to CA, FL, VA, MD, NJ, CT, WA, NC, TX. The only thing is that I only have NY RN license as it would be crazy to apply for RN licenses (each endorsement cost over $200) to all theses states with no guarantee of getting an interview or a job. I do state on the comments/coveletter section that should I be hired I will endorse my license that state asap.
Specializes in MedSurg, PACU, Maternal/Child Health.
HI Music in my heart (sorry I cant fit in the music notes on my keyboard lol). I started app to other states since 3 weeks ago. Hopefully they dont mind I only have RN license in NY (im from NYC) as I can only endorse if I know I have a chance of being hired otherwise to apply for RN licenses endorsement in all those states will cost me thousands of dollars, with no guarantee of interview or job. Though I may miss NYC, I am ready to move should a great opportunity open elsewhere.
Being in NYC were there are many new immigrants you would think being bilingual (specifically in Spanish) is a major asset, me and my coworker at the clinic were told this all the time through nursing school. However at clinicals we observed very few RNs were bilingual and they still dont hire bilingual RN or if they do is a mismatched language...for example someone I know who is a new grad and speaks Russian was hired at a hospital where patient population is heavily Chinese or SPanish speaking and she said she always needs to call the language line on the phone. However she was not called for interview at another hospital where patient population is mainly Russian.
Are you a native-speaker? If so, look for work as a medical interpreter - perhaps at a low-income clinic where they'd probably even take you on as a volunteer. Also, try volunteering in the local EDs. While you can't be a formal interpreter, I'd bet that your language skills will be pressed into service as soon as the staff know you have them.
What worked for me was FAXING! Good old-fashioned FAXING. I had heard some of my fellow grads got positions at surgi-centers, so I googled the state ASC association, and sent out faxes w CV & cover letter. Probably sent out 40, but got 6 interviews and three job offers! All Per Diem, but it was SOMETHING.
Best of luck to you!
PS- CA & NJ are not very new grad-friendly - unfortunately, I speak from experience.
HI Music in my heart (sorry I cant fit in the music notes on my keyboard lol). I started app to other states since 3 weeks ago.
My advice after a month would of been to look outside city you reside in. My advice after 2 months would have been look outside of the state you are in to where you have family or friends. At 3 months you need to look at places with high needs and apply.
So Since March you have only been applying in NYC and not even Northern NJ?? That is where you went wrong. NYC is a wonderful city, however not for a new grad who does not have a solid connection to get in the hospital. I moved states away for a job. I considered a state and city where I have some family. I love that I have a job in a field I never thought I would break into right away. The same can happen to you but, you will probably need to leave the Northeast. The Northeast is a bully of a market.Try TN, AR, TX, OK and AZ.
Agreed. At this point, if you truly want to leave your current job, then you need to look outside New York State. You definitely have great skills, but you're in a highly populated area, so it's very competitive. I moved to a small town 2000 miles away from my big city home, because I wanted to start working immediately. Many of my friends did the same. Sometimes that first job comes with a price. And yes, travel nursing requires experience.
Besides all the previous great advice..have you tried walking back in to those hospitals to follow up in person? It can seem bold and may not work, but it may show your tenacity and score you the bonus point that gets you the job. Don't just let good interviews get lost in the stacks of resumes. Sounds like you are slipping through the cracks. I would say, try face to face follow ups. What do you have to lose?
Specializes in MedSurg, PACU, Maternal/Child Health.
HI vwgirl 22. Thank you for the advice. However, NYC hospitals does not welcome walk-ins. I tried dropping of resume in April and was met by receptionist stating that the recruiters do not see candidates without appointments and that they can take the resume for me (of course I never hear back and calling recruiters I never met with just takes me to their voicemail and I never get call back). As for the nurse managers, security does not let you go up unless you have appointment even if you already met them.
Everyone states how I am a great good candidate yet it is grads with resume that only has school clinicals on it and no job experience at all that get hired. I asked those classmates what they did: they said they had no connections and did nothing besides apply, get interviewed and hired. They did not go to follow up face to face or send more than 1 thank you card as they got hired within a week of interview. I already sent my thank you card in the 1st week, a follow up email at 2nd week, a call at the 3rd week and a follow up email at the 4th week. One recruiter said they are still interviewing and another manager said that they have not forgotten about me and to not worry. For this job, as per what the Managers told me at interview, Orientation starts 1st week of January and asked me how much advance notice I need and I said I would need 2 week notice for my current job. Now being that there is less than 2 weeks left I assume I did not get the job. Maybe I contacted them too much and they got annoyed. One of my coworkers is in the same situation and has similar qualifications to mine. She went to another school and her classmates with minimum (just school clinicals, BSN, and RN license) qualifications had easiest time getting hired. Of course, they also told her they did not do anything special to get hired just apply and interview. Either they do not want to share or it really was all luck.
At least if recruiters/managers do not want to hire me they should not praise me at the interview. Then they have me expecting a call that never comes. I applied to places out of state and have been getting rejection emails :/ Everyone in my class thought I would be the first of all of us to get hired (for hospital) in NY but instead I will be the one that likely has to move the farthest away or remain with very basic skills doing case management/clinic job.
Keep applying, but like someone said above, it's who you know, job market is so rough, especially for nurses. try to get a job at the clinic where you work because they know you and you have a higher percentage of getting hired there.
As a new grad, there is certainly an element of luck.
In my former profession, I had the opportunity to hire and I recall getting upwards of 150 resumes - many more than were needed to find a number of suitable candidates. I did a quick 15-20 sec glance at each resume and then either tossed or kept based on 'feel' and the presence of any errors, odd styling, text density, etc. That narrowed it down to about 100 from which I started at the top and looked through them in more detail. Once I had a pile of 15, I started scheduling interviews - a total of 8 over two days - from which I found 3 good candidates... and simply hired the one with whom I best clicked.
amygarside
1,026 Posts
Would you like to try being a travel nurse? If there are no vacancies in hospitals or other medical health care facilities near your area, maybe you can check out other places.