giannag

I wish I would have had a part time tech job even though I was in an accelerated program. I had zero medical experience and it would have really helped getting my foot in the door when I graduated.

For Philly, I don't think you'll have as hard of a time as you would if you were a new grad but it may still be hard. Here are some to look into if I were you: University of Penn health system, Thomas Jefferson, Main Line Health. Christiana in Delaware is also a great hospital.

I applied for almost 4 months in the philly area (where I'm from) before really branching out to literally every part of the country because I was hardly getting any bites. I'm single and no baggage, so I didn't really care if I had to move. I ended up getting a job two hours away in Baltimore, where a decent amount of my philly nursing classmates are also at the same hospital so it makes it a lot easier. I mean why not move if you have nothing holding you back. You'll get professional and life experience from it so I say go for it. You may end up at an awesome hospital in an awesome place and love it. Good luck!

You guys def passed. I felt the same way. 110 questions and the feeling I def failed. Did the trick, it worked. I felt it could be wrong too but it wasn't and I passed. I've never heard of anyone getting the good pop up and failing.

Why do people chose schools that aren't accredited ? Not being rude, just curious.

Yea just try google and linked in. Kind of like stalking them out haha. Once you find their name you can sometimes guess their email address if you know what the typical email addresses for the hospital are like. Also- for one hospital I couldn't find the nurse managers name at all so I called the hospital and acted like I was a previous patient and wanted to send the nurse manager a thank you card but forgot her name, the unit secretary told me it and I was good to go. Lol kind of ridiculous but got her name and then googled her and found more info. If you can contact them before it's already a step ahead of other applicants. I did this and had 3 interviews setup within a week, and this was after 5 months of hearing nothing.

I would and did call recruiters and email them after applying. I know in philly itself it's a lot harder for ADNs but I think if you email the recruiter as well as the nurse manager for that position and show your passion for wanting that hospital/unit it def will get you noticed. That's what I did and I have my dream job now.

I would just make sure it's properly accredited and it'll be fine. However, I went to Drexel's accelerated program which is really well known and it definitely helped get me my first job just because of the reputation.

Yea I applied to sooo many jobs at the same hospitals. I just made sure the nurse manager I would interview with knew I was interested in her floor specifically, because they want to hire someone who is interested in the floor more so than just someone who needs a job (even though you really just need a job and don't care what you do lol) just make it seem like you want that floor.

I graduated this past fall. I would recommend it. It's totally doable like the person above me said. Drexel is very well known for this program and other hospitals like people that went through it, which helps in your job search.

What I did was email nurse managers of the floor I was applying to. I basically said I was the best there was and that their floor was my passion and why I was passionate about it. This gets their attention and it got me my job at my top hospital and I had zero experience and live in a really saturated city.

most philly hospitals start new grads at $27-30/hr

So I felt I needed to write this because of all the advice and tips I received from this site during my job search. I FINALLY got a job offer yesterday after exactly 6 months after graduating. It was a very discouraging and frustrating time filled with tears and rejection. I truly thought my nursing license was going to expire before I ever got to use it. Here's my story: I applied to HUNDREDS of jobs with tons of rejection emails. I had 2 interviews but didn't get the job because they gave it to someone else with more experience. I have ZERO experience. I was sending out somewhat generic cover letters until my friend told me I need to be different and bold to stand out in a pool of hundreds of new grads. I live in a really over saturated area so there's tons of competition and I have ZERO medical experience. I decided to give it a try to write a cover letter that literally says I'm the best candidate for this position and reasons why I want this job. I quoted compliments from professors and staff at my clinicals. The cover letter was telling them how amazing I am without sounding cocky. THEN I would research and find the nurse managers and/or recruiters emails and email them this cover letter. The first day I sent it out 2 hours later I had a recruiter email me back and say although she couldn't help me at her hospital this cover letter will make me stand out and good things will come from it and she said don't ever be average or generic. I also had another recruiter say the same thing and called me to give me other tips. After a week I had 3 interviews set up, including one at one of the top hospitals in the country and in the area I wanted. I went to the interview at my top choice and was offered the job on the spot. I was completely blown away. I've waited weeks from other interviews only to be rejected. When I asked the nurse manager what she was looking for in a candidate, she said someone with energy which I already knew you had based on your email. My advice is: 1. tailor each cover letter to the job and reallly reallly tell them how great you are. It may be hard and time consuming but you will see results. 2. find out the nurse managers name and email and email them your cover letter. 3. in the interview, make sure to ask really thought out questions, it shows your really interested. 4. after the interview, write a hand written thank you note to the manager and recruiter and go back up to the unit and hand deliver it to the secretary. 5. Whatever you do, don't be average. Take a chance on doing something different that not many other grads do. Sometimes it may not work, but it definitely will for some. What the email and cover letter does is automatically put you ahead of other candidates interviewing. It gives you an advantage because they recruiter/manager already have it in their head they are going to be interviewing an excellent candidate. DONT GIVE UP, SOMETHING WILL COME ALONG!!!

I was just offered at job in the OR as a new graduate. It is something I would love to do, plus the fact that jobs are hard to come for new grads right now, I am taking it. I am wondering say in a few years I wanted to switch to floor nursing. Is it difficult to get hired if I only have experience in the operating room? If anyone has done this I'd love to hear your stories.

Has anyone applied to any of the 4 nurse residencies that are starting in Feb/March of 2014? Just curious who has heard or been interviewed.