New RN grad can't find work

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I finished school Feb 19 and took the NCLEX and PASSED. While I was in school all I worried about was passing each test and then passing the NCLEX, little did I know that passing was the easy part. I have applied for so many positions and I get a rejection letter within minutes. This is very frustrating!!! I did very well in class and cinicals and now no job offers. I can't even get to an interview.:banghead: I just wonder if my application is even getting to the nurse managers.

Are there any nurse managers out there in the greenville/spartanburg/pickens area that could give me some insight on what I could do?

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Are you applying in person or online? If online, perhaps you might try the in person route. Body language can show enthusiasm for the job much better than an email.

Are you willing to relocate? Perhaps a day trip or an overnight trip to the Midlands or the coast?

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I have applied on-line because I was told that was the chain. I have called a couple of the NM on the floors just to let them know who I am and that I applied. I guess I just get impatient when they don't call me back in a couple of days and I don't want to bug them because then they would for sure toss my app. I guess I should just try and be patient but also be persistent.

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Be patient.. I know, easier said than done. I would try and network with people in the medical field. Maybe when you are at a doctors appoinment, try to start a conversation about nursing.

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You may want to try some of the staffing agencies. I saw an ad in the Spartanburg herald journal for new nursing grads.

Good Luck!!!

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I was wondering if you ever had luck finding a job in the greenville area. I also finished school in Feburary and have passed NCLEX. I recently got married and moved to greenville and I am having the same trouble landing a job as a new grad. I have been applying online and also get rejected almost immediately with the reason "new grad not eligible"...my applications never make it to the NM's. I have talked to the nurse recruiter at Greenville Memorial and they just tell me that its very competitive. Any advice?

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

StacieH I see you found a job. You kept trying. Best wishes in your career.

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Specializes in med-surg, teaching, cardiac, priv. duty.

Hi! We moved to Greenville from out of state back in 1997. Although the general nursing situation and economy was different then, some things stay the same. It can be really hard to break through the bureaucracy of a huge hospital! You almost have to know someone, especially if you lack experience. My husband (who was a new grad back then), applied and kept contacting GHS from our out of state location. He was basically ignored and got the run-a-round. The nurse recruiter was, well, a complete idiot and not in the least bit helpful. It was VERY frustrating. It was like a bureaucratic wall that could not be penetrated!! We thought there must be no nursing openings, and thought about trying to move somewhere else. But we decided to drive down and showed up in person at the hospital. Harder to ignore someone in the flesh! We also visited a family we knew in Greenville (the only local people we knew), and went to church with them. At this church, there was a GHS nurse. She gave us some nurse manager phone numbers, and also said she would make some personal phone calls for my husband to some nurse mangers too. Well, turns out there were actually PLENTY of nurse openings even for new grads, but for whatever reasons by husband's application was NOT making it to them!! After the calls to nurse mangers, my husband had several interviews and was hired!! No thanks to the so called nurse recruiter!!!!! I don't even know why they called her a nurse recruiter because she sure wasn't recruiting nurses!!

Even when there were more plentiful openings for new grads, it was hard to "break through". I think today there are few openings and more of a glut of nurses locally, but.....Be persistent. Often the polite but squeaky wheel gets the grease! Show up in person. Try and make some inside connections! If you know any nurses at the hospital, see if they will put in a word for you with their nurse managers. Find out some nurse manager phone numbers. Etc. A nurse manager might be willing to accept the "right" new grad if the application would only get to them and the bureaucratic wall broken through....

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