jessRN6896

I'm from the chicagoland suburbs and work on an L&D unit here. New grads on our unit start at $27.50 and hour with a weekend diff of 5.00 an hour and a night diff of $6.50 an hour :)

I graduated from ECC's nursing program this past May. I absolutely loved the program, although it was VERY hard. They really do a great job at preparing you for the NCLEX. If you have any specific questions I'd love to answer them...just send me a pm :)

Hey all! So after over 3 months of job searching, I finally got an interview!! I'm interviewing for a new grad RN position in the Obstetrics Department of a major hospital in the Chicago area....I'm so nervous, this is literally my DREAM job!! I know they are interviewing several other new grads for this position and I need to do all I can to stick out! When the RN recruiter called to set up the interview, she explained that I need to bring a "portfolio" to the interview and I will be interviewed by a panel of about 6-9 people including the employment manager, Unit manager and charge RN of obstetrics unit, & 2 HR recruiters. My portfolio needs to include a 500 word essay about why I want to work there, 4 letters of recommendation, 2 additional references, official transcripts from college, and a copy of my RN license, CPR card, ect. Has anyone else had to do all of this before an interview?? Any tips of making my portfolio stand out?? Thank you all so much! I am FREAKING OUT.....I only have 3 weeks until the interview!

Hi all, I'm feeling pretty discouraged with the whole job searching process It feels like the only people from my class that have gotten jobs are those that have really great connections with recruiters/managers/directors in the hospital. I'm wondering if those of you that got a job w/out connections could share your story or any advice? I think I'm going to start going hospital to hospital and just heading straight to the recruiters office to personally drop off my resume...as nervous as I am to do so! Has anyone had success doing this? I am sick of just submitting application after application online only to receive the classic "rejection" email. I just feel like I am so behind. I graduated this past May (2011) and passed the Nclex on Aug. 4th....I feel like I've already missed all the hiring opportunities and no one is even looking anymore....Ugh, ok I'm going to stop being so negative, just needed to vent a little! Any encouragement or advice would be greatly appreciated....Thank you so much!

Thank you! That's a great idea! Are most hospitals open and willing to allow someone to shadow one of their RN's? Or do you think they would look at that as a strange request...?

Wow, thank you so much...and congratulations!! Do you have any tips pertaining to making my resume stand out? Did you include you nursing school clinicals on your resume because of the lack of employment in the healthcare field?

Hi everyone...just thought I'd post here because I absolutely love these forums and all of the encouragement and advice that come from them!! I graduated with my ADN this past May 2011. I just took the Nclex-RN on Aug. 4th and 2 days ago found out I passed....I'm OFFICIALLY an RN! Even though I am so excited and I feel so relieved....I already see myself starting to stress about finding a job. I DON'T have experience as a CNA/PCT/UAP OR LPN, which I know will only make getting a job THAT much harder. I live in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and there are plenty of job openings around me posted on sites such as monster, career builder, and the websites of specific hospitals & nursing homes. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me as I am beginning my search.....I don't want to just be "another online applicant" to all of these hospitals. Is there anything I can do to REALLY increase my chances of getting an interview? Also, how do I go about answering questions confidently despite my lack of experience in the healthcare field? I would really appreciate ANY help, advice, or ideas for getting noticed, getting an interview, and eventually getting a job. Thank you all SO MUCH!

Hi everyone...just thought I'd post here because I absolutely love these forums and all of the encouragement and advice that come from them!! I graduated with my ADN this past May 2011. I just took the Nclex-RN on Aug. 4th and 2 days ago found out I passed....I'm OFFICIALLY an RN! Even though I am so excited and I feel so relieved....I already see myself starting to stress about finding a job. I DON'T have experience as a CNA/PCT/UAP OR LPN, which I know will only make getting a job THAT much harder. I live in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and there are plenty of job openings around me posted on sites such as monster, career builder, and the websites of specific hospitals & nursing homes. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for me as I am beginning my search.....I don't want to just be "another online applicant" to all of these hospitals. Is there anything I can do to REALLY increase my chances of getting an interview? Also, how do I go about answering questions confidently despite my lack of experience in the healthcare field? I would really appreciate ANY help, advice, or ideas for getting noticed, getting an interview, and eventually getting a job. Thank you all SO MUCH!

Sounds like a great plan.....You can do it! I'll be praying for you...keep us updated!

How did it go, mjhay? Did you do the PVT?

I took the exam this past Thursday....I had 20-25 SATA's and a total of 75 questions.....got the "good pop up" about 4 hours after my exam and got my official results today...I PASSED!

Update!! Just checked the PVT and got the "good-pop up"!!!!!!!!!!! I feel a lot better because from all the posts I've been reading, the PVT is pretty much 100% accurate. I can't wait to know officially though! @Rach10388: Honestly, when deciding between two answers, I just said a quick prayer and went with my gut. I honestly don't believe I would have passed had I not listened to my gut on a lot of the questions. There were so many questions that I literally had NO IDEA which was the right answer and just flat out guessed. Prayer is seriously what got me through....I without a doubt attribute any success to God, He's so faithful.

Thank you all so much for the thoughts and prayers!! I got home from taking my Nclex about an hour and a half ago. I havn't been able to check PVT yet because my status still says "Ready for Delivery" and from what I've read on here the trick does not work until my status days "Delivery Successful." I'm so anxious right now. I thought the test was a lot harder than I was expecting it to be. I had about 20-25 SATA's, 15-20 medications (many of them I had never even heard of), no math, a good amount of pediatrics and OB. LOTS OF PRIORTY ("what should the nurse do FIRST," "which patient requires the most immediate assessment," etc.). The computer shut off after 75 questions. I feel 99% sure that I didn't pass. I felt like I guessed on SO many questions....I studied so hard but the questions that were asked seemed to be exactly the content that I didn't spend as much time studying because the disease/condition was very rare. On most of the questions I was able to narrow down to 2 possible answer choices, but I felt as thought I could easily rationalize why either choice would be the best option. I've read posts where people have similar (almost identical) situations as mine and they DO end up passing....plus, the school I graduated from has a 98.2% pass rate for first time Nclex-RN test takers (and I graduated with honors this past May)......so, for now I'm just going to trust God, hang tight, and wait to see what happens with the PVT. I will keep you all posted on what happens as soon as I find out! You are all in my prayers, thank you so much for all of the support!

I am taking the Nclex-RN tomorrow at 2pm.....I feel prepared and confident in my knowledge, but I'm still very nervous :/ Any prayers would be greatly appreciated!! I'll update tomorrow after I check the PVT!