The-Wren

Update: I got the job! My commute will be long, but I will only be working per diem and this will look great on my resume. I found a job at a rehab/skilled nursing facility. I'm still looking into getting a job that is closer and I'm also going to start volunteering at a hospital I'd like to work at very soon. Thanks again for all of your advice and encouragement.

The easiest way to request reciprocity is to print and fill out this form: http://prometric.com/NR/rdonlyres/evgblzqxapvse7guwbo6q6mx6hszug57ijvx6oz3mtzg3xrxspizuccah3vq5oqszerzidkiwmcgdtwfzkoqjdzh2mc/NYNARegistryApp20110131.pdf You must also send a $50.00 money order for the application fee. There is an address at the bottom of the page that tells you where to mail your paperwork and money order. This is what I had to do when I moved from Kentucky to New York in May of this year. It only took them about three weeks to put my name on the New York State Nurse Aide Registry. Hope that helps!

I finally got a call back for a position in Brooklyn as a Rehabilitation Aide! Now I guess I'm looking for a little advice on how to go about the interview process. I have no idea what kind of questions will be asked and I don't have much relevant experience (It is not really required for the position though) so I feel like I'm going in with only a vague idea of what to expect! Even though this is just one call, it really gives me hope. Thanks again for all of your kind and encouraging words, they really have kept me going in my search to work as a CNA. My interview isn't until the 19th of this month, so I at least have plenty of time to prepare. SO EXCITED!

Well, the home health aide didn't work out. Most places will not hire a CNA to be a home health aide here...for some reason. They offer free training, but that take so long and I'm most likely going to settle for retail or something like that while I continue searching out nursing homes and such. This has been so hard. I took my class so that I wouldn't have such a terribly difficult time finding work, but it really didn't make much difference. My resume lists my volunteer experiences and I've been volunteering since June, so hopefully this gets me somewhere soon. As always, thanks for the advice. I'm honestly starting to feel very discouraged. Fortunately I start school for nursing in January and wont really have to worry as much about work because I'm going to be a full time student and live mostly off of my loans.

I've applied to so many places, I'll just have to reapply and write down to keep track. Also, that's really good advice about calling the HR department and contacting nursing homes that don't have any online sites. Thanks so much. :) Again, all of the tips and encouragement are wonderful.

Do you have any specific tips? What did you do besides apply to the hospital? I've been applying to places that even say they need a year of experience and still haven't heard back from anyone. I'd rather not go into home health, because I became a CNA so that I could get a CNA job. :) Congrats, by the way! I'm always happy to see people get what they want when it comes to jobs. I hope it turns out well for you and that it's everything you ever dreamed!

Oh! You know, when I apply for actual CNA positions I do wait for a call and don't usually call them. So it is a good idea to call? Who would I call exactly? I'm guessing I would just call HR to inquire about my application status. A friend of mine just recently said that it might be a good idea to do that, especially because it puts my name in their head which can possibly lead to an interview. I do have a couple interviews this week (not CNA interviews, unfortunately) an I'm still applying to various places. I'll start calling some of the places I applied to last week. Thank you! :)

A deposit? I have already contacted a few agencies that don't require experience and will train you to do home health for free. So, no thank you in regards to having to pay money just to work. It's really disappointing that I went through all of the trouble to obtain my CNA when I will most likely end up working as a HHA just because I have zero experience. I really can't say I'm too surprised, but I wish I had made a different decision. All of that money and worry and effort. P.S. I don't have $140 to spare in any case. At least in January I will be starting school to become a nurse. Thanks for all who offered advice.

Yes, I have been applying to places that ask for six months to a year of experience anyway. I have yet to get any call-backs for interviews from them though. I'll go ahead and look a little harder to see who is hiring in the area. There have been times when I have passed up applications because of the lack in experience. It's worth a shot though, I guess. :)

Well, it's a bit disorganized because it is part of a non-profit program. I've talked to the nurse and one of the doctors I work with and they are going to do what they can. The nurse is going to write me a letter of recommendation and I volunteer every week, so that counts as experience. My concern is that I do not have the funds to just volunteer in multiple places when I have no source of income. I'm looking into home health agencies for the time being and will also consider doing some volunteer work in a hospital. I'm starting school next spring, so I'm really just trying to get everything in order. Thanks for the responses. If anyone else has any words of encouragement or tips, please feel free to post.

...of finding a job in New York City as a new nurse assistant with no prior experience. Please, someone give me a little advice. I'm close to crying from the frustration this has caused me for the past few months. Ramble Warning: In April I passed my State Boards and transferred my certification over to New York State. I moved here in May and have been obsessively searching for any sort of CNA position in this city. I don't care if it's in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, etc. I'd even be willing to travel to Jersey City or Hoboken if I was offered a position there. I took initiative and started volunteering at an HIV pediatric clinic in Brooklyn. The staff is amazing and they're really happy to have my help. However, I'm un-employed and my funds are slowly but surely draining. Soon I'm going to have to stop volunteering for a while because I just cannot afford to take two trains to get to Brooklyn once or twice a week when I have no source of income. Everyone wants 6 months to a year of experience! Even the staffing agencies and nursing homes want experienced CNAs. I don't want to settle for a food service position or something, I worked hard to get certified and will start school next spring to pursue my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. Besides that, it's even difficult to find ANY sort of job, let alone one I am certified to actually do! I'm sorry for the long winded post, but I honestly don't know what to do. What are some tips? Are there any good sites to go to? Does anyone know of any places that do hire new CNAs or know someone who knows someone? I feel so incompetent and stupid for choosing to be a CNA right now.

This thread hasn't been updated in a while, but I suppose it doesn't hurt to poke around and ask some things anyhow. I just recently moved to NYC from another state and I'm in the process of requesting reciprocity for my CNA. Basically, I took classes, passed the state boards and moved back to NYC, so of course I am just starting out as a CNA. I suppose I'm just looking for a bit of advice. I'm going to go to facilities and fill out applications in person, since I think that might increase my chances of getting hired. Hopefully. I've been applying to different places for a few weeks now with no word back from anyone and I'm starting to feel a bit frustrated. It seems I might have to look for work elsewhere. Does anyone know of any places hiring at the moment or have any tips? I'm pretty new to New York and my certification hasn't transferred yet, so I'm wondering if that would be an issue. I'm also willing to look for work in New Jersey (In the Jersey City/Hoboken area preferably). Please PM me or respond here if you live in the city and can offer any advice or help. Thank you so much.

Hello everyone. :) I am currently in a CNA class, a week away from clinicals! I'm pretty excited but also have a few worries that I can't seem to get rid of and I wanted to hear from some of the seasoned CNAs; though I'd love to just hear from any of you. Of course I'm worried about not passing my State Board exam, mostly because I'm going to be nervous for the skills portion. I'm hoping that I'll be able to breeze through it though. I've been reading through all the threads on here (very happy I found this site) and it really has me thinking about things. Why did you become a CNA? What drives you to do this kind of work? From what I've seen it is a very hard job that really doesn't pay well for all that you have to do. I'm a little apprehensive about becoming a CNA, truthfully. It feels like a lot of people look down on CNAs and think that they are not important. Still, I am proud that I will soon be doing work that actually helps people. What I really want to hear about are the good things. I've read so many negative threads. So, can anyone help me? I'm a little worried and I would like to hear some positive things (positive experiences, etc). Thank you so much.

Thank you for the suggestions, I'm definitely looking into all of them. :)

Hello all! I have a bit of a loaded question, but please bear with me. I would really appreciate any advice that you guys have to give. :) I was living in NYC, but I saw that CNA training at The Red Cross was a lot cheaper in Kentucky (where I am originally from) so I decided that it would be easier to just stay in Kentucky with family for a bit while I went to class. This leads me to my main question: How would I go about looking for jobs via the Internet. I've read through a lot of the posts on this board before asking any questions. I would not mind working at a nursing home, but I would like to have as many options as possible. So, what are the best ways to job search from afar? I know places like Monster and CareerBuilder are of little help if you're looking for something in healthcare. I know that I'll have to request reciprocity and possibly re-take my exam to work in New York, though I'm still unsure of the specifics. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment. At this point I'm not very picky about where I start working as a CNA, but I would like some tips from anyone about how to prepare for the job hunt! I want to get out of here as soon as possible and back to New York. Thank you so very much. :heartbeat