Rojo2030

that really sucks. i guess im going to try to do the commute bc i dont have a choice. its a little better than driving from san diego! then hopefully we can get a closer place when our new lease is up! I have a brother who lives 10 minutes from the hospital so maybe i will stay with him on days i have to work. I wanted to avoid that option bc my brother lives in a studio and it is very small and crowded but I will manage! Thanks everyone for your honest advice!

Really? I don't mind driving at max an hr to work but is the traffic really that bad. I really doNt have a choice I guess because the properties the company owns in downtown LA, marina del Rey and west La are high for a one bedroom. Like starting at 1700- 6000 for a 1 bed!! I don't want roomates bc I live with my fiancé and he does not want that at all, neither do I really. Lol. But they have alot of apartments in OC that we can afford. I guess is better than driving from San Diego to the hospital. It took me 2.5hrs and 4hrs to get back home due to traffic! I'm sooo lost on wat to do bc the only way to avoid $2000 fine for breaking lease and on top of that paying th monthly rent for every month no one rents our place out til august is outrageous. I will be in more debt than I already am!! Well I guess I will see how it goes and try to transfer after 6mos or so. I might be able to afford to break lease for an area closer to hospital!! Thanks 4 help!!

I am excited to start too in PEDs at SM but I havent heard anything back yet about the exact start date. Does anyone have any information? I tried to contact the unit director by email but no response yet. I know its sometime in beginning of March but it would be nice to know what date! SO super happy and nervous! On another note. I live in SD and cant break my lease until august or else I get charged ALOT! So the other option was to transfer with no cost to another apartment facility within the same company and the closest I could get was in Orange County around huntington beach/costa mesa area without paying a fortune compared to areas around the hospital. I mapquested the route and says it is about 45 miles from hospital. My question is, does anyone who lives in the area, think the traffic will cause me a headache to drive back and forth for work? Ive only been in Cali for 8 months and dont really know shortcuts and such but I do know the 405 is a nightmare! Thank for your help and good luck to everyone!

i received a call yesterday to schedule new hire paperwork and physical next week. So excited! Finally!! I still dont know when exactly the start date is, but I will ask when I go there!

I got a job offer at SM!!!! WOW I cant believe this is happening! Of course I accepted!! Finally, good things are starting to happen for me! It starts sometime in March! Good luck to everyone else! I really wish everyone could get hired! This is such a great hospital to work for! Happy holidays to everyone and I love ALLNURSES for all the support and inspiration!

i know that I just had my interview a couple days ago and have a while to wait before I hear a response, but I HATE THIS! I really really want and need this job! I dont know what I will do if I get rejected once again! This is the farthest I've ever gotten since being out of school in nov 09, I I hate to think that it will stop there! Just have to keep praying that I was impressive enough!

Yes they are hiring, but she said unfortunately they don't have many positions availabe. I'm def not 1st they interviewed. She said she interviewed last week and up until next week I should hear something by 1st week of Jan. She was a really nice woman. Actually my interview for peds was switched to today so I interviewed for Both units one after the other bc the NICU interviewer got me hooked up for today bc she felt bad I would have to drive back 2 1/2 hours tomorrow again. That was really awesome of them to do that for me! Really appreciated that! The pediatric interview went really good I think. Prob better than the NICU went. But now all I can do is wait! Oh the agony! I can only be hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed and praying!! I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks for the support! And sdnewgrad: I got a call 30 minutes after I sent an email to Sheri the recruiter on thurs the 16th and interviewed with them on Sat the 18th and finally the ones today. Hectic. But when I answered the call, she told me she was just getting to my app which I thought was really awesome!! So call, email whatevr bc they are still interviewing til at least next week! Good luck!

I had an interview for the NICU at Ronald Reagan and I really really really want to work there. They are still going to be interviewing for the next two weeks for that unit and will only be hiring 3 people! That's a bummer:( the unit is very nice and quiet! I hope I get a job offer. I have an interview tomorrow for the pediatric unit too at Santa Monica. Hope that goes well. Good luck to everyone!

I had an interview for the NICU at Ronald Reagan and I really really really want to work there. They are still going to be interviewing for the next two weeks for that unit and will only be hiring 3 people! That's a bummer:( the unit is very nice and quiet! I hope I get a job offer. I have an interview tomorrow for the pediatric unit too at Santa Monica. Hope that goes well. Good luck to everyone!

My fiance and I just really wanted to start off somewhere fresh after I was done with school, and we really wanted to move to CAlifornia after visiting and talking about it for awhile, so we did. Everything worked out well, except of course an RN position! The facility that hired me is privately owned by a woman and her husband and she understood my situation and loved that I really wanted to work. They have a per diem Rn staffed there, but I will working an unlicensed caregiving role, so there shouldn't be any conflict of interest and putting my license in jeopardy before I even started. If the situation did arise, I would not stay there because my hard work to get that license definitely means more to me!

Funny that you ask that. I just accepted an overnight caregiver job yesterday and I start tonight while I wait for my first RN position. I graduated last nov 2009 and have not had any bites. Im lucky that the employer even considered me for the caregiving job given my background (only two months of caregiving experience). Im excited because it is at a Alzheimer's/dementia home care place and I want to help the residents and WORK! I got my degree in NJ and received my RN license for CA in March this year, then moved to San Diego in June thinking I would get into a New Grad Program within months, but as you can tell, I haven't. (really losing hope). I think its a good idea to take a CNA/caregiving job in the meantime to use some of your skills. It may help your resume.( It didn't help mine so much for prospective employers) Honestly I don't know what nurse recruiters are looking for in applicants. We all are new grads with no experience! Good luck! Hope this helps.

Oh Im Praying to God that I receive a call for an interview. I've been rejected so many times, I lost track! Congratulations to those who have an interview...hopefully you get the job!

im still waiting too for a in-person interview. I would really love a chance to work in this hospital!

Hey Fellow nurses I also applied to UCLA on the 26th of Oct and got called this past thurs/fri to do the talentplus interview today actually. I just got off the phone and wow I feel weird. It was an annoying experience for me, and I think she might have picked that up with the last questions she asked me. I think I was fairly calm during the whole process and answered truthfully and to the best of my ability....but those "tell me about" or "give an example questions were getting under my skin because either I couldnt think of something good or I already answered the question from the previous question, yet I was asked it to give an example! ***! Anyway I really hope I get a real interview. I applied for the NICU, PEDS and STEP-DOWN units and would be happy in any. Ive been out of school for a year now and times are definitely getting worse. All the phone interviewer told me is that she will forward my response within 24 hours to UCLA and she doesnt know when they will contact me. Will keep my fingers crossed, because this is the only bite Ive gotten after applying to more than 400 jobs!

Thanks everyone for your replies and suggestions. I have done or tried a majority of what most of you suggest BUT I am still applying. I forgot to mention also that I did get a job working for the upcoming flu season and although its not really "experience" im hoping it will make my resume stand out a just a little. I'm excited to do something, anything in the meantime but even that isnt enough. I just hope I can work as much as possible and not just one day a week! I've been applying to every single hospital here and beyond and have looked into civilian nursing! ( thanks for the tip though!) I know that its not just the job market here in San Diego. I am just overwhelmed with the notion that new graduates are having a difficult time obtaining their first position. Im having such a hard time trying to explain to my mother and everybody else why I cant get an "RN" job. Its seems as if no one understands what the issue is besides nurses! I too regret not working while in school as a CNA or tech because its true, most of my class (back in NJ) did work and have gotten jobs right away after getting their license. Faculty definitely scared me out of juggling a job and being in an intense nursing program. Wish I could make them eat their words, because I could have definitely succeeded! Anyways, thanks again for the suggestions. Your replies have made me more determined than ever and I too hope that you all succeed in your nursing careers as well and hopefully things will be better soon!