New grad struggling to find jobs

Nurses Job Hunt

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Is anyone else getting denied new grad bsn jobs left and right? I graduated from a well known college (Beth-El UCCS) and have turned in several job applications. Almost all of them have denied me within several hours. I have sent my resume and cover letter to several of my instructors and the current nurses I know and all have said my application is exceptional. I don't understand what I am missing. My passion for nursing lies within pediatrics but I have made it known that I would be happy in medsurg as well to gain value or knowledge and experience. I truly feel like I am a qualified candidates for these new grad programs but keep getting denied without even an interview. Is anyone else experiencing this? Any advice or insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

This is so true. Every single interview I had so far was because I knew someone at the facility. It doesnt matter how smart you are. HR doesnt care, sadly.

Hi I am interested in this. Is there An opportunity for ICU?

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
@verene I do not have my license yet. My nclex is in June.

I've had my cover letters proof read as well. I've changed my cover letters for each job to tailor it toward the specific hospital.

I will keep sending in job apps!

It all depends on who is proofing your resume and cover letter. What really matters is how it appears to a nurse hiring manager (my background). There are so many little known ways to make your resume and cover letter stand out in a competitive market.

Once you land an interview, knowing what to say and what not to say are critical. These are skills that cn be learned.

The residency program in my hospital typically awards 25 positions per cohort. That means approximately 1 position for every 4-6 applicants. That 1 applicant knew how to stand out.

Applications can be rejected on the basis of lack of keywords or one grammatical error in the resume. Lack of white space and failure to capture attention (in about 5 seconds) can cost you the job. Wordiness and the inability to be succinct and impactful are very common.

Another resume killer is overuse of cliches (team oriented, motivated, and so on).I wrote my book below for new grads exactly like you and the passion I have for sharing what I know. I hope you'll check it out. Best wishes.

Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
@verene I do not have my license yet. My nclex is in June.

I've had my cover letters proof read as well. I've changed my cover letters for each job to tailor it toward the specific hospital.

I will keep sending in job apps!

It all depends on who is proofing your resume and cover letter. What really matters is how it appears to a nurse hiring manager (my background). There are so many little known ways to make your resume and cover letter stand out in a competitive market.

Once you land an interview, knowing what to say and what not to say are critical. These are skills that can be learned.

The residency program in my hospital typically awards 25 positions per cohort. That means approximately 1 position for every 4-6 applicants. That 1 applicant knew how to stand out.

Applications can be rejected on the basis of lack of keywords or one grammatical error in the resume. Lack of white space and failure to capture attention (in about 5 seconds) can cost you the job. Wordiness and the inability to be succinct and impactful are very common.

Another resume killer is overuse of cliches (team oriented, motivated, and so on).I wrote my book below for new grads exactly like you and the passion I have for sharing what I know. I hope you'll check it out. Best wishes.

It is tough for new grads. Dang, when I graduated in 1996 you could walk into any hospital and be hired but I have seen it over the last 10 years or so that new grads are not being hired as hospitals use travelers and Per Diems in lieu of new grads.

I left a FT job in '08 for traveling/PD and registry but they all all require experience for that. This is in California, we have the most people but we are also saturated with nurses and the 2nd most sought-after location for travelers.

I am grateful for having had the opportunity to get hired straight out of school. As for BSN I did not want to go into debt and don't recall any facilities having that be a requirement as they do now. If you are in a position/desirous there are rural areas in need and there is LTC (LTC is much more like acute care than it was 20 years ago so good for experience, I have not done LTC and hear it is tough.) I would look at professional resume' writers, I have used them a few years back and gotten call backs immediately including the corrections facility I'd worked as a traveler, I went with corrections and have never regretted it but it requires experience as we are the 1st responders and working with a lot more autonomy. I thought my resume' looked great but after it was re-done by resume' writers I could see the wisdom in utilizing folks who write resumes' as a profession. I really would have gone with resume' writing service if I were a new grad now; a good writing service made all the difference in my getting call-backs when I wanted to settle somewhere and branch out from hospital nursing. That and look into volunteering so you can get noticed but I think it may be the resume' if you are submitting to hospitals which are hiring new grads and getting turned down within hours.

It all depends on who is proofing your resume and cover letter. What really matters is how it appears to a nurse hiring manager (my background). There are so many little known ways to make your resume and cover letter stand out in a competitive market.

Once you land an interview, knowing what to say and what not to say are critical. These are skills that cn be learned.

The residency program in my hospital typically awards 25 positions per cohort. That means approximately 1 position for every 4-6 applicants. That 1 applicant knew how to stand out.

Applications can be rejected on the basis of lack of keywords or one grammatical error in the resume. Lack of white space and failure to capture attention (in about 5 seconds) can cost you the job. Wordiness and the inability to be succinct and impactful are very common.

Another resume killer is overuse of cliches (team oriented, motivated, and so on).I wrote my book below for new grads exactly like you and the passion I have for sharing what I know. I hope you'll check it out. Best wishes.

Too true! It was only after I had my resume' written by a professional resume' writer that I saw details I had missed and other areas where it dragged on like a book. It was whittled down from 10 to 3 pages...it was bad, I put in every skill (i.e. IV starts, NGs, Foleys et al.) Really redundant, it would be correctly assumed with the years of acute care I had the skills I was listing. Resume' writer was well worth what I paid!

Quite right, my current job was one in which I started as a traveler working with a small group of nurses who were/are very accepting of new nurses.

I knew the supervisors and, via travel, was able to show them my work ethic and get to know my colleagues. God willing I plan on staying in corrections for remainder of my career and am grateful for the opportunity but I don't think new grads are hired on in prison.

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