holinurse

Thanks for the reply! All the while, I have had consistent independent work outside of nursing, specifically in the music entertainment industry. While this may "take up space" on an otherwise nursing resume, I feel that it is worthwhile because it shows consistency in an otherwise apparent inconsistent resume. Perhaps, it is time to start using a second page?!

Not entirely. 1) I think they use self scheduling like most places 2) You pay back a prorated rate if you leave early Dont know anything about the pay rate. I didnt end up taking the position. Best of luck!

Why, I actually never took the exam, but got hired by another hospital. I therefore cannot tell you anything about it other than that the woman (Jennifer, I think) from Harlem Hospital was not helpful in guiding me on how to prep for it. I DO have a previous classmate who is on orientation right now in Harlem so I could ask her if it is still worthwhile for you. G

while on the topic....I just began working at Mt. Sinai in NYC and feel confused about the obligation (is it really an obligation?) to join NYSNA. Do you know....? Is joining NYSNA obligatory if I am working amongst -what is considered- a unionized work force? While I will (putting aside my feelings about unions) join if it clearly secures me greater security in my job, I want (perhaps it is wishful thinking) to make an informed decision and not be coerced. A union rep who came in to speak to the group of nurses recently joining Mt. Sinai told me (I am not convinced that he actually knows what he is talking about) that it is compulsory that I join. Really???

What are you talking about or responding to? Did the previous post state anything about NNOC?!?

Hey! How was the exam? I am slated to take one after I get back to the recruiter with my preference of date. Can you please let me know? I would be grateful for your help! Thanks!

Hello All! I am currently one year out since my NYS licensure and I have not yet obtained the employment that I have been looking for. For about 8 months I worked in a group home with the DD population and for another 3 months I worked at an urgent care center. Currently I just joined up with a home care agency to begin doing home assessments and maybe some private duty nursing just to "pay the bills". The purpose of this post is to obtain feedback regarding my career aspirations and guidance/shared experience from those who have the experience in the fields that I desire to join. I desire to be in a RN position where I am on my toes and feel like I am performing an critical role in patient care. Consequently, there are two areas in which I think I would thrive and accomplish the aforementioned desires: transplant coordination and emergency care. Transplant coordination, beside for it having personal relevance in my life, as I had a close family member who was a transplant recipient, requires a lot of what I see as my strong points (critical thinking, constant contact/coordination) and has the excitement of being in a pivotal role. Emergency nursing, while maybe not requiring the broad range of skills that transplant coordination requires, seems appealing because a lot of the care is time relevant (as it requires quick thinking and acting) and you don't need to develop a LT relationship with patients. While living in NYC has severely limited my employment options (no nursing shortage here that warrants new grads having an easy time time getting hired), I am willing to relocate to get the job I want, or at the very least, get on the career path towards the job I want. So here are some direct points that I am looking to get addressed from all of my RN brothers and sisters: How can I find personnel in the above fields who would allow me to shadow them so I can see just what it is that gets done?...get a feel for these positions? How can I find out in which states or locations would I have increased odds in obtaining the job I want? Is there one place to get this info? I figured I could try to reach out to recruiters who do recruitment nationally (is there such a thing?) I look forward to hearing your responses and I am grateful that you have taken the time to read this! Gershon

Sour, Thanks for the feedback! I am certainly learning almost everyday over here and I have been here since the beginning of Feb. However, I was hired at a lower-than-competitive wage with the understanding that within 3 months (as long as I am doing a satisfactory job) I would get an increase. I thought that getting an urgent care position (despite being underpaid and not considered a FT employee) would open doors for me in the long run, as far as getting into hospitals, and therefore chose this position over moving down South to a hospital that required a 3 year commitment. If this experience will not get me an closer to earning a hospital position, I will begin looking for something else ASAP. The tough part is that I live in NYC, where the hospital market is saturated with nurses, resulting in 2/300 or so responses to my applications at local hospitals. If I have to get back on looking sooner than I thought, I will focus on Jersey hospitals. Gershon

I am currently in my first clinically focused position out of school (I got my license about a year ago), working at an urgent care center. I took this position in the hopes that it would open more doors for me in obtaining a hospital position because I'll have had (what I thought is) acute care experience. While I am not dead set on what type of RN degreed nursing I want to do, I do have interests in ER and transplant care and my long term goal is to become an NP. However, I was recently told that urgent care nursing is not considered acute care, but rather medical-practice/doctor's office type nursing. As you can imagine, this surprised me, considering that in the work that I do I can see a range of injuries and illnesses. Ultimately, if the nature of this current clinical experience will not open any more doors for me, than -say- a doctor's office, I need to know because I will work on moving out of this position even sooner than I intended. A few questions: What value will a nurse recruiter/future employer place on urgent care experience? Is it considered acute care? Has anyone out there had their first clinical experience in an urgent care center? If yes, what was your subsequent position? I look forward to your response!

I am currently in my first clinically focused position out of school (I got my license about a year ago), working at an urgent care center. I took this position in the hopes that it would open more doors for me in obtaining a hospital position because I'll have had (what I thought is) acute care experience. While I am not dead set on what type of RN degreed nursing I want to do, I do have interests in ER and transplant care and my long term goal is to become an NP. However, I was recently told that urgent care nursing is not considered acute care, but rather medical-practice/doctor's office type nursing. As you can imagine, this surprised me, considering that in the work that I do I can see a range of injuries and illnesses. Ultimately, if the nature of this current clinical experience will not open any more doors for me, than -say- a doctor's office, I need to know because I will work on moving out of this position even sooner than I intended. A few questions: What value will a nurse recruiter/future employer place on urgent care experience? Is it considered acute care? Has anyone out there had their first clinical experience in an urgent care center? If yes, what was your subsequent position? I look forward to your response! Grateful for your time and feedback, Gershon

Hi! I was offered a new grad position at Delray Medical Center in FL. I would be grateful to hear from anyone who works/worked there. Some questions: What kind of scheduling system do they use? For how long do I earn the new grad rate? What happens if you decide to leave the position before 2-3 years? Please respond asap! I have to get back to them. Gershon

I never made it to a clinical interview. I had the meet-the-recruiter interview with pharm/math assessment etc. How do you even know you'll be getting clinical questions?

Elk, Incredibly thorough post! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience!

Hi! I am a new grad and I just applied for a position at Good Samartian Hospital in Suffern, NY. Applying is done through the Bon Secours Employment portal, which is where I completed my application. However, after completing the application, I was prompted to complete a questionnaire that is estimated to take 45 minutes to complete and has questions on topics that only experienced nurses would answer correctly. This is concerning to me because I am applying as a new nurse, and I don't want to be filtered out of the applicant pool because of doing poorly on the questionnaire. I tried to reach HR, but I had no such luck. Calling the hospital HR dept automatically gets you forwarded to the 3rd party, Bon Secours, benefits administration support, which (mind you) has nothing to do with hiring (oy!). I went back and forth, but got nowhere. Is there anybody who works there who can help me? Does anybody have experience with the hiring team there? How about experience with Bon Secours? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!

I went for an interview about 1.5 months ago, but didn't get the job. The day I went was specifically for new grads. Why do you ask?

Hi! How can I get that I am currently licensed in 3 states on my resume while it taking up the least amount of space? Up until today, all I had was the NY license & number on it, which was listed under my BSN education experience. I want to add NJ and FL and keep it on one resume for ease of use. How about writing "Licensed in NY, NJ & FL" under my education experience? By writing that, should I not be concerned about the absence of the actual license numbers? I saw your post above and I value your opinion. This is how it looks now: EDUCATION University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 2013 BS in Nursing, Graduated cum laude Licensed in NY, NJ & FL Touro College, Brooklyn, NY .......... Thanks!

When referring to the job that I am interested in applying for, do I capitalize it's title? So if I am replying to the posting for "Emergency Department Nurse" position, should I write, "I am contacting you regarding the Emergency Department nursing position? I know that I could write "ED", but I feel that it is more formal and respectable to write the words out.

What do you mean by "DON" and "ADON"? Dept of Nursing??? Recall the nature of the clinical questions? I have the same interview tomorrow.

HI! I recently applied for a few positions at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in NYC. Two days later I received an email that stated my application was 'received' with a request to take the nursing career battery exam. Has anyone else ever had this with Columbia-Presbyterian? What I really want to know is if this email is an automated response that every nurse who applies receives or have I already gotten past some (abstract) point in the pre-screening at which they have deemed me worthy (lol) of taking this battery, er exam? Gershon

I just started making separate folders for each institution that I apply to, and then save each position's resume into their respective institution folder. What gets me a little is the file naming process. What format do you choose to name your cover letters? I often combine a cover letter with a resume on one document to ensure that my cover letter gets read. Have you done the same? Do you make it point that the name of such a (combined) document reflects this info in it?

Can you relate? It's been a handful of hours just clicking and editing. Hmm, let's change a word there, another there and walla!...this cover letter is ready for launch:up: Hours and hours of button clicking and tweaking cover letters. And to think that I may never get a call back......sheesh! No, Silly mind!!! Don't think like that lol When is enough, enough??? When has it reached that time when you sign off/get off the computer/application websites and tell yourself, "Yes! I put in my effort for today" and then go and do something else i.e. watch a movie, look in the mirror and admire yourself? I think I've reached it.

Can you relate? It's been a handful of hours just clicking and editing. Hmm, let's change a word there, another there and walla!...this cover letter is ready for launch:up: Hours and hours of button clicking and tweaking cover letters. And to think that I may never get a call back......sheesh! No, Silly mind!!! Don't think like that lol When is enough, enough??? When has it reached that time when you sign off/get off the computer/application websites and tell yourself, "Yes! I put in my effort for today" and then go and do something else i.e. watch a movie, look in the mirror and admire yourself? I think I've reached it.

I have just applied for a few positions at Mount Sinai in NYC. The employment application portal reads that at any given time you should not have more than 3 employment applications with them. So, they are in essence telling you not to apply to more than 3 jobs at a time. I was wondering if this 3 limit 'rule'/recommendation can be ignored? What I wonder is if applying for more than 3 jobs will adversely affect my candidacy? Does anybody know? Is the limitation just so HR gives others a 'fair chance' or will more than 3 applications just not be processed because of a technical limitation? Please DO share your thoughts and experience! Gershon

I hear ya. That's what I am starting to see in the posts that I have been researching since posting mine lol. (go tell that to my "leadership" professor!)

HI!, I finally passed my NCLEX and I am working on my job search. While going over my resume, I was not exactly impressed with my objective, "to obtain a position as a new graduate nurse". I feel like it leaves too much unspoken, or perhaps is just too generic. I would appreciate some feedback and suggestions regarding what to write. I am assuming, that at the very least I should tailor the objective to the particular floor/position (if stated and clear in the job description) that I am applying for IE "to obtain a position in an Intensive Care Unit", but perhaps add something like "where I can further develop my clinical skills and utilize my analytical skills"? Please do send feedback!! Thanks, Gershon