FilledWLove

My advice to everyone taking the NCLEX and using Kaplan.. Make sure you complete EVERYTHING before you take the test (Question trainer, Qbank, etc.) and know the rationale of the questions you got wrong and you'll do great! I averaged a 57% when I completed it all and I still passed! I just made sure I knew the subjects that Kaplan focused on and understood why I got questions wrong. Good luck everyone! And I hope that helps!

Does anyone know how many nurses they interviewed for the position? Thanks everyone!

Hi Miss_TT, How long did it take you exactly? I had a phone interview with them and I wanted to know how long I should wait because I really want to work at CHOA but another hospital is interested in me. Thanks!

BbaileyRN, are there any details on the person from Facebook that got called back? Like if she had experience, preceptorship there, etc. (I don't have a Facebook) thanks!

Thanks Joanna73! I sent her an email today(I didn't want to last week since I had already left her two voice mails) and within a minute,(I kid you not!) she emailed me back stating: "I have received your voicemails and was going to call this afternoon to set up a time for a phone interview. Would you be available to speak tomorrow, October 23, 2012 at either 1pm or 2pm?" YES! FINALLY GOT A HOLD OF HER! I suppose she prefers email??? I mean I guess its less disruptive and since there's a time difference between us (Pacific Standard Time vs. Eastern Standard Time), I'm sure she didn't want to waste her time calling me again. You're right lockheart678, its not always a blow off! Thanks everyone for helping me! I probably would have lost this opportunity without you and your great input!!:)

Thanks Citynights89! Me too.. I called again today but didn't leave a message. It's only been ringing twice when I've been calling. Maybe she's on vacay?? Hope so! Well the weekend is coming up so gotta wait till Monday! Thanks again for all the support guys!

Yes!!! Such good points!! Thanks RNRAC and Meriwhen! :)

Thank you for all the responses!!! and to tnbutterfly for moving it to the correct area haha woops! I feel so much better and optimistic! Thank you allnurses family for all the support you've given me!! I will definitely take your advice! I've been trying to search online for her email but haven't found any luck. I called the hospital but they've told me that they can't give her email over the phone. I've found other employees emails though so I think I will try and guess what it is using the same format (it has worked in the past!). Thank you RN12PTL! Great idea! I will definitely try calling HR and then ask to be connected to her! Thank you to Meriwhen also! You've responded to so many of my posts! I really appreciate it!! I appreciate you all!!:)

Sorry.. I definitely posted this in the wrong area . I'm so anxious I can't even focus!

I finally got my big break as a new grad and got my first wonderful call from a recruiter. I was volunteering at the time that she called so I could not pick up the phone. I called her back 2 hours later and I got her message system so I left a message. A day passed and no call back. I decided to call her again this morning, but got her message system once again.. I'm freaking out!! This is my first big break after over 200 applications and I don't want this to slip away! What would the best thing for me to do????? Please help!

Not-done-yet, thank you so much for telling me about Medical City! I applied! Hopefully they will like me:) Meriwhen, yes, I wish I didn't spend the last couple of month ONLY looking for jobs because it ended up just wasting my time! I'm fixing that now though.. I will definitely keep in mind not to look so desperate and truly showcase what I have to offer. Even if they are planning to hire anybody or not, I am just gonna give them my all and do my best simply because I love being a nurse :), regardless if I'm going to get hired, paid, etc. Dbassi, great point! I will get great practice for interviewing for new graduate positions! Goodluck on your job search! We can do this! WanderingSagehen, thank you so much for your comment. You bring up a great point. I admire your compassion. It's not that I am discriminatory towards taking a job in a SNF or LTC, but my resume targets more towards pediatrics. I sort of feel like they'll read my resume and laugh thinking I'm in the wrong place haha (of course they won't REALLY laugh though). I am truly debating staying in California and taking a SNF/LTC job or going out of state and taking a Peds/NICU job in a hospital. Believe me though, I love the elderly and they definitely hold a place in my heart. Lullaby also brought up a good point of landing a hospital job in the future after working at an LTC. In this economy as a new grad, I would just want to ideally keep all my options for the future open, in case anything were to happen. I know my family wants me to stay here in California, so your comment really has me thinking... Thank you! Mrs.NICUNurse, YAY! Thank you so much for your insight! I will definitely look into those hospitals! So exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll definitely look into those hospitals. Thank you so much for all your help!! :)

Thank you guys for your advice! Cowgirl2nurse, I've been applying to practically every hospital I can find in CA. I've been using Indeed, SimplyHired, and the actual websites of the hospitals. That's so great that you've been making great connections! There were RN I/II positions open at the hospital that I did my senior preceptorship and clinical rotations and I made some pretty strong connectsions, but they ended up choosing those with experience (even though the job post stated "less than 6 months experience"!!) which is pretty frustrating.. I'm still going to keep trying and thank you so much for the advice and sharing! Commonsense, yes! I applied to Parkland hospital just today and I'm hoping there's is some luck there! Do you know of any hospitals specifically that are looking for new grads? I'm not too familiar with Texas so I'm trying to research some hospitals. Thank you for your suggestion!

Hi everyone, So its the usual story on here.. I can't find a job. Only about a handful of my graduating class have a job. I'm in Northern California where jobs are so scarce. My dream is to get a Peds position on any unit at all, (I have a minor in Child and Youth Studies, Senior Preceptorship in a Level IIID NICU, volunteer work at crisis nurseries), but at this point I'm willing to settle for almost anything. Any advice? I'm planning to meet with a pre-natal clinic to be a VOLUNTEER RN next week, but that's about it. I need a job of some sort just to have a little money and I was thinking about applying to a gym to work as a childcare worker.. Is that stupid? I felt like it was kind of like babysitting but for a company at least and I needed something that would add to my resume. Anybody else have any other suggestions for a job that will look good on a resume? I can't work a CNA job since I have my RN and I'm considered "over qualified". Volunteer work suggestions? Other suggestions? Any advice would be greatly appreciated :). I'm so lost at this point in my life and it's been really rough in my personal life as well but I'm still trying to stay strong and never lose hope!