MajanRN

Thanks TLS11. And believe me, your time will come. Just be persistent and patient. A sincere good luck to you. :)

Katie33- Yeah, less than one month left is surreal! I'm so excited though. I actually am from SoCal (maybe 15 miles away from UCIMC), BUT have been in another state for the past 5 months.....LOOOOOONG story. Excited to move back close to family and super excited to work for UCIMC. Fullerton is close by and has good apartments, so does anaheim and Orange....really depends on your price range. Orange will be a little expensive but you can find some reasonable apts in Anaheim. Let me know when that link shows up on HR website to accept the position. I just looked and it's not there yet, but of course it's 8:30 AM my time and 6:30 AM in CA so I don't expect anyone working in HR just yet. Anyway, congrats again and good luck with the move.

Hey everyone, I just got a call and I accepted too! Sooo excited! Congrats Katie33! Btw, were u able to accept online yet? I tried but the link is not there yet, so I'm thinking HR is closed and we'll see the link in the morning! Good luck to everyone else!

The interviews are super easy! Anyone that has gone to and passed nursing school will be fine. And to answer your question, yes you might have to wait a Loooooooong time. It's been over 4 months and I'm still waiting for them to tell me to come in for a physical and start. Back in November I was offered a position which I accepted, and I filled out paperwork for background check and did my fingerprints. Then the wait began. So I would definitely bring that concern up in the interview. It's no fun waiting and the HR department doesn't seem to know anything about when the county would approve newly hired folks to start, I mean isn't that what HR is supposed to know? I guess not with LA county! I wouldn't hold my breath for them. I've been looking other places and found a job at another state! CA is horrible when it comes to new grads and hospitals giving us a chance!

Thanks ThirdWatch. I haven't gotten a call so far. Can you tell me which hospital just called you back after almost a year?

It may be realistic but I've heard they are pretty saturated with nurses already so unless you have a reliable job in hand I wouldn't make the jump.

My recommendation is to go to a state where you will have the job in hand guaranteed. California is pretty tough right now especially for us new grads! Good luck to us all!

It is indeed competative! Good luck to all!

Good luck to all!

Sorry to say but CA job market is horrible for everyone right now! Almost all hospitals are looking for experience because of cost/resources needed to train a newbee! Sucks but that's how it is!

Congatulations and good luck!

I did a 16 month absn program with 5 semesters! It was non-stop but well worth it and kept me busy! NCLEX passin was not an issue and school had a 98 percent passing rate. One year might not be bad either but I recommend not working during that time.

Totally agree with caliotter3. As unfortunate as it is for the overall work environment, it is true!

Thank you for your response. It always helps to know that I'm not the only one whose hiring process is taking soooo long. May I ask which LA county hospital your friend got hired into and how long ago? I know they've changed some of the procedures in the past few years too so I'm just wondering. Also with our new governor making newer cuts to balance the budget....I'm not sure how it will effect me. I just don't want to get a letter in the end saying that they've decided not to hire any more nurses at this time. That would be devastating! Anyway, thank you again and please let me know if you have any other info. I'd really appreciate it.

I did. Interview is not a big deal. Should be a piece of cake for almost any nursing student who paid attention in classes. Once you pass, you will get a letter in the mail stating you are on an "eligible roster." At that time you can call or go to various county hospitals to check out the positions. Now, once hired is when the real "torture" starts. And I call it torture not because of the job because I haven't even started yet, but because of the wait time. I started the process earlier last year. Had civil service interview in October. Had interview with unit manager end of October I believe. Was hired first week of November, filled out background check form and did live scan finger printing. It's been over two months now and no contact from the county. I called a few times and every time their response is that they do not know how long it's going to take. They have to wait on information from CEO office in LA and that's when they can schedule me for physical and orientation and so forth, but according to them, there's no way of knowing how long it is going to take. Sooooo Frustrating! If you are willing to wait for an "unspecified" amount of time to hear back from them, go for it but in the mean time I wouldn't hold my breath for the County! If anyone else has something to add or any advice for all of us in these "county" scenarios, I'd appreciate it. Good luck to us all!