Philadelphia Jobs

nep1980 · Feb 11, 2011

I am in nursing school in the Philadelphia area, I am currently working in a hospital as an aid. Many students I go to school with are getting jobs after graduation. It might not be the floor/shift they want but its a job :) The market seems to be better than you would expect from reading these boards.

But I saw on your other post that your getting an AAS many of the Philly hospitals require a BSN

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 11, 2011

The Phila area nursing job market is fair to poor - fair for experienced RNs and poor for new grads.

The overwhelming majority of posted RN openings state that experience is required, with some hospitals asking for a minimum of one year and others requiring 2 to 3 years. There are some new grad opportunities out there but most tend to require BSNs (all of the Main Line hospitals are in this category). I've seen some openings for new grads at Temple & Hahneman that are open to all RNs but I would expect that the competition is pretty stiff - neither hospital responded to my application. The situation is much the same at LTCFs in the area where surprisingly (to me at least) most of their postings state "experience required" - usually a one-year minimum but occasionally more. I've sent applications and resumes to a few nursing homes in the area but none have called me back.

Most of the new grad AAS RNs that I know have had a very difficult time finding employment. I've heard that 90% of my graduating class (May 2010) and 50% of the 2009 class from my CC have not been able to find nursing jobs but this is anecdotal and unconfirmed. In one sense, that's actually good news since it seems to indicate that the nursing employment increases by 40% over 18 months. Of the few grads from my class that have gotten jobs, nearly all were already working as PCTs or CNAs at the hospitals that eventually hired them. Since you are an LPN, you may have a substantial leg up on your fellow students if you are already working at a facility. I've also heard that the situation is a bit better for new grad BSNs but again this is anecdotal. I have seen some literature that indicates that BSNs in other states (I think AZ and TN were the two that I saw articles on) were more successful in finding jobs than were AAS-N and ADN nurses which seems to support what I've heard. With that in mind, you may want to re-think the AAS and go directly for your BSN if at all possible.

As indicated above, I personally have not been successful in my job search and have had no response from any of the hospitals or LTCFs that I've applied to for RN positions - though I'm applying only for weekend or evening positions since I work full-time outside of nursing and do not intend to leave my present job. I recently applied for a PCT job at a local hospital to at least get my foot in the door. I did get a call back for that one but they seemed reluctant to hire an RN however and I was not offered the job. I'm thinking now that maybe I should shoot for a housekeeping slot . . .

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2011

I've seen some openings for new grads at Temple & Hahneman that are open to all RNs but I would expect that the competition is pretty stiff - neither hospital responded to my application.

For Hahnemann, did you call HR to follow up on your application? For them, the thing to do is to call and speak to the nurse recruiter a day or two after you submit the application. The nurse recruiter spoke to my class before graduation and really loves follow up calls and I have a feeling applications don't get looked at until you speak with her.

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Feb 13, 2011

For Hahnemann, did you call HR to follow up on your application?

If I recall the Hahnemann application procedure correctly, it is all web based with no contact information provided and no way to get in touch with the nurse recruiter after submitting things. So I was not really able to phone anyone there after applying.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2011

If I recall the Hahnemann application procedure correctly, it is all web based with no contact information provided and no way to get in touch with the nurse recruiter after submitting things. So I was not really able to phone anyone there after applying.

Well that might be why you're not hearing anything! Sending in the app online isn't enough and you have to do a little research to find contact information but it's not impossible to find. Did you call the main hospital number on their website and ask for HR?

MariaNicoleRN · Sep 23, 2011

Has anyone gotten a job at Temple as a new grad? If so, did you just apply and they called you back? Or did you call a recruiter? I've been applying and no one has returned my calls. Trying to get a nursing job in Philly as a new grad is RIDICULOUS

darkbeauty · Sep 24, 2011

It's almost impossible MariaNichole RN. To put your foot in, ttrl longterm care/nursing homes and rehab centers. Give it two years, in that time frame u might have been promoted to nurse supervisor or charge.

lmangano07 · Oct 2, 2011

i know there was recently an open house at temple for new grads, and they hired all there slots. so they do hire new grads, but they probaly just filled up all the slots, looks like we just missed :). but i do know a manager ther, and she said, "i will always tell you to go ahead and apply, regardless"

Irishlass79 · Oct 3, 2011

Has anyone gotten a job at Temple as a new grad? If so, did you just apply and they called you back? Or did you call a recruiter? I've been applying and no one has returned my calls. Trying to get a nursing job in Philly as a new grad is RIDICULOUS

I have applied to many jobs at Temple Hospital and spoke with a recruiter they are currently not hiring graduate nurses. I am willing to work any shift available to get some experience, I wish I could relocate but I can't...ugh.

SuburbanGypsy · Oct 29, 2011

The job market in Philly is a JOKE.

Did that come out right? If not, let me say it again so there are no misconceptions.

The job market in Philly is a...JOKE!

Ok. Now that that's out of the way, let me just get on my soapbox and go off for a sec about this whole Philly school/job market experience.

I almost feel as if school just flat out lied to me when preparing me, when they glorified it and made it seem like nursing jobs were a dime a dozen here.

Interesting how when i signed up to go to school for nursing, it was nursing this and that YIPEEEEE!!!, nursing shortage so everyone needs nurses, scholarships this (school), signing bonuses that, basically throwing boatloads of money at nursing from all angles.

Of course when i was in school, faculty definitely kept up the "Yippeeeee nursing!!!" attitude, but they took away the scholarships they lured us into school with (tuition reimbursement and contract with hospital), and signing bonuses went out the window, to the point where you are lucky to get a job at all, and you are lucky if HR treats you like a human being on the phone and aren't like..."Yawn...no, we're not hiring new grads, sorry...yawn"

Heck, some of the HR people you have to deal with, "Yawn... you have to go to the website and look for new grad positions, they will be posted on there" (basically never)

Ok. So I know there were major hiring freezes in a lot of the Philly area hospital systems. Fine. But PLEASE, don't blow me off on the phone like i am interrupting you watching American Idol.

I am a human being. I have feelings. And even though your organization might be treating new grads like social pariahs, you need to learn how to have some compassion when dealing with people that have questions, who are getting a little stressed out because they don't know which way to turn in a jobless market, which is the exact opposite of everything we were told.

If you don't like dealing with people as an HR representative, go find another job and give me yours cause i have 1000 times the compassion then some of these people, and believe me, if there is anyone who can empathize and show a little compassion with a grad nurse struggling after school on the phone, it's me.

I must have applied to absolutely everything in the past months, and have not gotten ONE single callback.

And it's not like i am some nursing dud either.

I am one smart cookie. Got the grades, went to a "great school" (school recruiting spiel), and all that apparently really doesn't matter when they see "graduate nurse/no experience" on your application and are basically looking at online documents instead of people, trying to assess someones personality FROM those documents. The whole system is backwards IMO.

Very frustrating when i think about how much money i blew to go to school, with the promises of a glorious nursing life after graduation.

It's totally depressing when you are going around and you see one of your classmates working in a local convenience store or waiting tables at a local restaurant, and you just look at each other and know you are both in the same boat, and shrug your shoulders.

If uprooting the family to move is not an option, life as a grad nurse in the Philly area just stinks.

It's just going to get worse too, cause you KNOW that the schools aren't telling their students that it's tough. Schools are pumping out as many nursing students as they possibly can, and that's just going to make it MORE difficult.

Believe me, it's a rude awakening when you graduate and don't have a job lined up and start to eventually think that this license and diploma i have on the wall, and the license i carry around in my wallet, are basically useless to a degree, because i have no experience.

Such a shame cause there are SO many grad nurses who are worthwhile investments, and lets face it, that's what it comes down to.

Why hire a new grad and blow $50-$70k training them and bringing them up to speed, when you can just coax a few retired nurses to come back to work, or hire people with experience, and save that training money instead. (while cutting down hours for the nurse externs who worked there during school, and never picking them up)

I know one thing. I am definitely a worthwhile investment. I have passion for everything i do and i don't sign up to do things half assed. If i am doing something, i am doing it WELL.

Otherwise, why bother doing it in the first place.

I didn't go to school to become some second rate lazy chump nurse. (believe me, some of my classmates did) That's just not my style. I want to learn, become exceptionally proficient in my skills, and become exemplary in my chosen profession.

If only this damn city would stop beating me up and finally give me a chance.

Off soapbox.

rpgoodwinLPN · Dec 7, 2011

The Philadelphia Nursing job market is not a joke, but a reality. The job market is highly competitive because of the high pay bringing nurses from New Jersey and Delaware to work in Philadelphia. Nurses having difficultly finding jobs in Philadelphia may want to seek Reciprocity in Delaware or New Jersey. When I graduated from Northampton Community College as an LPN in 1995, the job market was dismal. They preyed on new graduates like sharks. My starting wage was $13/hr DE, $15/hr Philadelphia. I worked in Delaware the first few years with a Nursing Agency to gain my experience in LTCF. I understand everybody wants to work in the Top Hospitals, but they have limited slots and lack the desperation of lesser known facilities.

My suggestion to new graduate LPNs and RNs is that you broaden you view of nursing jobs and seek employment with nursing agency who facilitate hospitals and nursing homes. Home care I would only recommend to experienced nurses simply because you are out there on your own. Obtain nursing license in Delaware and New Jersey where the competition is not as fierce. And understand that a Pennsylvania nursing license has one of the highest standards for nursing LPN/RN in the country and most states like Delaware and New Jersey do not require that you take their test to obtain license.