Not taking a summer job... am I killing my new grad chances?

[Unesdala]

Hello!

So, I'm a second career nursing student in my second semester of nursing school. I will have this entire summer off and have chosen not to get a clinical job for a number of reasons. 1. I'm not sure I want to work in acute care... I much prefer public health. 2. This is the last time for a long, long time that I'll be able to do what I want for the summer, and frankly, I just want a break from school. and 3. I'm using the opportunity to go overseas to sharpen my Spanish skills.

I'm hoping that being able to speak Spanish well will be just as much of an advantage as 10 extra weeks of clinical experience. I'm heavily involved in leadership in my school, and I also have a long-term research project that I'm working on. I'm also getting straight-A's. So, it's not as if I'm a lazy student.

Am I killing my chances of getting an RN position as a new grad if I don't work as a CNA first? Will it look horrible if I don't have a shiny externship on my resume? I'm getting so much conflicting info, I was hoping to get some opinions here.

[B52-H]

Hmm first you have to realize a couple of things:

1. There are thousands and thousands of new grad RNs looking for work

2. A few years ago your straight A's and active school participation might have helped, but now it largely gets drowned out by other job seekers with the same credentials. You would be kidding yourself if you thought you were the only new grad applicant with straight A's, school participation and knew Spanish.

Everything you can do to differentiate yourself from them will increase your chance of getting hired; there will be less and less people with your same credentials the more you can distinguish yourself.

3. New grads are not getting hired by order of school reputation or grades or languages known. There are just too few positions for the amount of people who want them.

4. Hospitals want people with prior experience. They do not require a lengthy expensive orientation and can start working immediately. Having prior experience even as a CNA is a huge boost not only for the experience but also the networking you can do with managers at the hospital.

5. Depending on your state, getting a CNA position after graduation may be impossible. Few hospitals are willing to accept the liability.

You may think you are the exception to all of this. You may have friends at hospitals who can pull some strings, you are going to work twice as hard as everyone else to find work etc etc.

I thought the same thing before I graduated and I am still looking for work 8 months later. My point is even if you do everything right and put 110% effort into this, you may not get anything. There are just too many new grads out in the market now.

With this in mind be prepared for the future, good or bad, and have a backup plan just in case. I would take the CNA job in a heartbeat just for the great contacts you will gain there.