I graduated in May 2009 and have not been able to secure a job yet. I have an ADN degree with a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing and a Master's in Traditional Oriental Medicine. I have ten years of experience diagnosing and treating patients as a licensed acupuncturist and have worked in several clinical environments with doctors and therapists in addition to alternative medicine practitioners. I am in my late thirties and have seen all of my colleagues from nursing school who are under 25 being hired without any patient care or life experience.
Is anyone else noticing this trend? I thought my diverse experience and age would be an asset. In school, we are always taught that nurses should be assertive, culturally competent and be able to apply critical thinking. These are skills that improve with age and practice. I believed spending 20+ years in customer service and medicine would give me an edge, but it seems to be a liability.
The other older graduates from my program were equally surprised to find that the local hospital where we attended clinicals seemed to prefer younger graduates.
A lot of it is simple economics -- it is very expensive to train a new grad, and they may or may not even stick around; hospitals don't have the budgets to invest in new grads right now. I'm sure there are fewer nurses retiring, and even some experienced nurses returning to the bedside because their retirement accounts have taken a hit. It's ugly, but hopefully it will turn around in time for the new grads to not totally lose their shirts.
A thought for the OP -- your resume probably reads like someone who might want a higher starting salary. Economics, again ... you might consider eliminating (or at least downplaying) some of your non-nursing experience. From my experience, I can tell you that, by and large, if it wasn't nursing experience, it doesn't count for squat. I've been a degreed and nationally registered paramedic since 2003 and was an ED tech in the same ED where I'm now an RN for almost 4 years before I became an RN, and I still started off with the same new grad pay as everyone else.
I am 37 and am having the same problem. I graduated from an ADN program in 01/2009 and passed the NCLEX in 05/2009. I have not gone on one interview yet. I have applied numerous times to hospitals in my area and have not received any feedback even after making follow up calls. I am praying that it is the economy that is the culprit in our situation and not bias regarding our age. Most of my younger classmates have been hired already. I am getting very nervous. I have paid out of pocket for my ACLS certification with the hope that it makes me stand out a little as far as my resume is concernced.
Although I wasn't in healthcare, I used to work as an HR recruiter. Try taking the Master's in Oriental Medicine off your resume and see if you have better luck. Sometimes a masters degree will get your resume trashed for being "overqualified" and in nursing, it's possible that the hiring manager looks at "oriental medicine" and thinks that it's strange or too new-agey for the hospital.
I agree with the above comment. I am over 30, used to work in HR before going into nursing, and I have a masters degree. I took the masters degree off my resume, although it will go on the application. However, the reality is that some hiring managers are not as open-minded as we would like for them to be, and the goal is to open doors rather than close them. I also wouldn't focus too much on your experience that is more than 10 years old. It can be a line item where it is referenced or left off completely.
I graduated from an ADN program at the age of 43. None of the local hospitals would hire new grads. The hospital 30 miles away hired a handful, but there were several Community Colleges feeding into the area, and it was difficult for me to move away. I decided to look for any job, and was hired at our State Hospital as an RN in the Child and Adolescent Unit. It wasn't what I wanted, but any job was experience and a paycheck. It turned out to be a good experience, when I remarried and moved to California the following year, I had no problem being hired for Acute Care.
So look at all your options, you may find a job that isn't exactly what you wanted, but it will help to open other doors later. I had a lot to learn when I started Med/Surg, but I wasn't a new grad any more.
I am 24 and graduated w/my Bachelor's in Dec 2008, took me till Oct 2009 to secure a job, had total of 3 interviews over the 9 month period w/100's of applications. I don't think it has to do with age, I am working 80miles from where I live because the job was available as registry employee w/ Coalinga State Hospital, they hire new grads as registry, there are multiple registries to work for. Hiring freeze so unless you are a state employee somewhere else you can't get in. Hey I am definitely not complaining I make great money as registry and float which is cool, I think good experience.
I'm 34 and I always wanted to work in L&D with a goal of becoming a CNM eventually. I've only gotten one call back from an acute care setting and it was for ortho. The hospital decided to go with a more experienced applicant but they may call back after the first of the year.
I'm not sure if the lack of interest from hospitals has to do with my age but the year I was granted my B.A pretty much gives away the fact that this is a second career for me and that I'm not a fresh young thing.
I had to change my expectations and I am starting to realize that I may never become an L&D nurse or a CNM. I may never have the chance to work in a hospital at all. I feel sad about it because I had an idea in my head about what kind of nurse I want to be. It seems like it's a dream that is going to be seriously deferred or maybe lost.
I need an RN job. I can't keep working as an LPN forever because of the scope of practice issues and liability to my facility. If they wanted to they could give me the boot but so far they haven't come out and directly asked me to leave....yet.
I accepted a job working with the chemically dependent population and you know what? When I was going through the application process I did a lot of research and the more I learn the more excited I become about the future.
I'm going to be gainfully employed as an RN and I'm going to be helping people that's enough for me.
I'm 34 and I always wanted to work in L&D with a goal of becoming a CNM eventually.
I had to change my expectations and I am starting to realize that I may never become an L&D nurse or a CNM. I may never have the chance to work in a hospital at all. I feel sad about it because I had an idea in my head about what kind of nurse I want to be.
It seems like it's a dream that is going to be seriously deferred or maybe lost.
When I was going through the application process I did a lot of research and the more I learn the more excited I become about the future.
I'm going to be gainfully employed as an RN and I'm going to be helping people that's enough for me.
Don't give up yet! keep going-you will get there- it just may take longer then you first thought. Randy Paush had a good quote: "the brick wall is there for other people." I better you will enjoy and better in the area you want to be rather then a position you resgin yourself to.
Does it really make that much of a difference when applying for jobs if u apply over the internet vs. walking in person and dropping of ur resumes. I really would just like to know b/c i am internet kind of gal! and would really prefer applying over the internet b/c when i call and speak to someone( sometimes the nurse recruiter they tell me that they are not hiring right now) so i feel as though if i email them my resume at least then i may stand a chance of them taking a look, what do u think. Please give me ur feedback!!!!!!!
Does it really make that much of a difference when applying for jobs if u apply over the internet vs. walking in person and dropping of ur resumes. I really would just like to know b/c i am internet kind of gal! and would really prefer applying over the internet b/c when i call and speak to someone( sometimes the nurse recruiter they tell me that they are not hiring right now) so i feel as though if i email them my resume at least then i may stand a chance of them taking a look, what do u think. Please give me ur feedback!!!!!!!
If a facility has openings posted online and the capabililty of accepting online applications, it has been my experience that they prefer online applications, and some won't accept them any other way. I actually walked into one hospital HR deptartment once where they had me sit at a computer in the waiting area and fill out an application online that I could have done at home.
I agree. Like the previous poster, my experience with this comes from outside of nursing, however it is reasonable to assume that you appear less teachable than a young grad. I'm a chef who has been teaching in a community college degree program for just over 17 years. When we have a 30-40ish adult come to us from a totally unrelated field, they are usually stellar students who are highly motivated and take direction well. OTOH, when someone in that same age group has had 20 years working in kitchens "since they were 5 by their grandmother's side" and sees the piece of paper as their ticket to chefdom, they are usually arrogant and have a sense of entitlement....not teachable. They want me to view them as an expert. (I don't)
Now, I am generalizing, so take that with a grain of salt, but I'd estimate this has been true consistently in my experiences- which have included maybe about 100 +/- adult students mixed into maybe 1000+/- traditional students.
My advice, is to not assume you are the expert. Your acupuncture experience is irrelevant to the tasks you will do in nursing, and do understand that alternative medicine can be viewed as an obstacle in your ability to deliver traditional medical care. (sorry, it's true) Take a humble -ready to pay your dues- attitude and you'll do great!! Good luck!!
Thanks for your honest words. I hear "be humble" a lot on this site and am sad that so many people have assumed that I am not. I have never once pretended to be entitled to a position and have in fact only managed to obtain two interviews. My previous career never came up in either interview. I answered nursing related questions and spoke of why I wanted to be in my stated specialty area, and where I wanted to be in the future, etc.
It is also very frustrating that people do not seem to understand how translatable my skills as an acupuncturist are. We have to examine, diagnose, develop and implement a treatment plan and provide follow up care (sound like the nursing process?). Most of our hours of a 4-year program are in western medicine - clinical medicine, pathology, pharmacology, anatomy etc. We are allowed to send patients for lab tests and need to understand western medical conditions in order to know when to refer and to discuss how any potential eastern modalities may interact with medications or affect their condition.
Most nurses I meet are excited about me entering the nursing career, because they have some experience with acupuncture, maybe because I am in California. But to assume my skills are not translatable is a mistake. I only list my previous education out of honesty, not entitlement. If I do not list this, it will appear I have not been working for the past ten years. And weather you agree with alternative medicine or not, we do provide excellent patient care.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Ok Chi,
It is not that you aren't humble at all.
It is the fact that your long answer trying to explain your viewpoint that you just gave is the type of thing a manager does not want from a new grad and seeing your unmodified resume will clue them in that that is typical of your likely response.
They want someone who will say "yes ma'am" when told how it is done. They do not want to have to explain why, debate, get into a long discussion........ this is why they like new grads.
I am not debating whether you are right or not. Just trying to get you to see the reality of why all that stuff on your resume may well shut you out of many opportunities.
Lunah, MSN, RN
14 Articles; 13,773 Posts
A lot of it is simple economics -- it is very expensive to train a new grad, and they may or may not even stick around; hospitals don't have the budgets to invest in new grads right now. I'm sure there are fewer nurses retiring, and even some experienced nurses returning to the bedside because their retirement accounts have taken a hit. It's ugly, but hopefully it will turn around in time for the new grads to not totally lose their shirts.
A thought for the OP -- your resume probably reads like someone who might want a higher starting salary. Economics, again ... you might consider eliminating (or at least downplaying) some of your non-nursing experience. From my experience, I can tell you that, by and large, if it wasn't nursing experience, it doesn't count for squat. I've been a degreed and nationally registered paramedic since 2003 and was an ED tech in the same ED where I'm now an RN for almost 4 years before I became an RN, and I still started off with the same new grad pay as everyone else.
Hang in there, peeps. I wish you all the best.