hellosmile

I started as a new grad at a NY hospital, and there were several "new grads" in my orientation class that had about a year of experience in nursing homes and home health. However, about 90% of us had a referral from a current hospital employee or had already been volunteering at the hospital. Yes, your experience will be beneficial, but it appears that in this competitive job market, connections matter a lot! (especially for new grads). Because HR gets hundreds (thousands maybe?) of applications, they are more likely to look at your application if you were already referred by a current employee. I definitely agree that volunteering is worth it if you want a job. You get to meet and connect with so many people (staff and management) that can help you secure a job!

I volunteered for 6 months before being hired. Another girl I know only volunteered for 3 months, but she was hired 2 months in. It depends on what units are hiring. Interview was good, and the interviewer is very nice- why do you want to volunteer here? Tell me about your health care experience. DO NOT say that you are volunteering because you hope to get a job there. You must be volunteering because you really want to and because NYM is a good hospital! (Although they say they require 6 month commitment, if you get a job there, they will release you from that commitment early)

No problem. Let me know how it goes for you :) feel free to ask questions

I volunteered through the volunteer department. When you do so, make sure you get placed on a unit with patients and a nurse manager!! The nurse manager is the one who makes the hiring decisions (and who can push your resume through to HR) so you get hired. I would recommend volunteering consistently on the same unit so that you can become friendly with the nurse manager and staff. At first, the volunteer department had me placed in a non-patient area of the hospital, but I made sure to get in a unit where I could meet the nurse manager. And yes, they knew I was a new grad BSN/RN, and don't mind. They are hiring! Just get your foot in the door, impress them, and hopefully good things will happen! You know you're a great nurse, they just have to see it! Good luck! (Feel free to ask me any questions. I've been looking for a job for so long, and I totally get how it feels!)

Volunteer! I just got hired at NY Methodist, and I volunteered there for only a few months. I had no prior experience except nursing school as well. Once you start volunteering, get to know the nurse manager of the unit, and she will hire you. That's what worked for me. It's all about the connections you make...

qriousRN: Thank you so much for all your awesome advice!! you are so nice and helpful :) I'll make sure to stress patient focused care and safety. Hope orientation is going great for you!

O i saw someone earlier in the thread say they were asked clinical questions. i'm so bad at those and was wondering if anyone had some examples?

btw, did you get a calculator on your medication calculation exam?

qriousRN: Thank you so much for answering!!!! I'll make sure to include clinical examples in my interview answers :) Really appreciate you taking all this time to help us out! NYU is lucky to have you!

The person above me put it pretty well! Kaplan questions are good only if you already have a good nursing foundation. Because you failed at 75 q's, you need to reevaluate how much nursing information you know and what you need to learn more of. It sounds like you might need to review what you learned in school, and not just do practice q's like some people have said. I would suggest the Saunders review book. It has lessons and chapters that cover all pertinent material. Gooood luck!!!

You're last 3 scores are pretty good! Looks like you're definitely improving. I scored 60s on my Kaplans and passed the NCLEX with 90ish q's to give you an idea..

Are you enrolled in Kaplan? They have the best (and hardest) SATA that are the most like the q's I had on my NCLEX. I did some Saunders and Lippincott also, but thought they were too easy compared to Kaplan and the NCLEX.

Hey, at least it's over now! I had about 90 q's on mine and didn't feel too good about it coming out of the testing room, but then I passed. Did you have a lot of SATA q's? Usually that's a good sign that you're scoring above passing level. I think 25% of my test was SATA I know it's hard to not think about it, but try to relax! You worked so hard and deserve a break :)

Hi! What kind of interview questions (especially clinical ones) did you have? I have an interview soon, and I'm way too nervous!!!!!

Wow, congrats qriousRN! When do you start orientation? and THANK YOU SO MUCH for the post about your experience!!! I have an interview with NYU soon, and was wondering if you could shed some light on the clinical questions they ask. I can answer the behavioral ones, but I'm a little shaky on the clinical q's. Can you provide some examples from your interview? Ah I'm so nervous!

Whoa, you are a supermom! Which one did you end up picking? I would pick NYU because I don't have kids.. but the Winthrop one is 8 hr day shifts and a shorter commute, which I think is worth it since you have 2 kids! I've been applying to NYU like crazy, but getting no responses Do you mind sharing how you were able to get through to them?

Aw what the heck.. they could have at least contacted you with a simple email or something! I've been applying to NYM too, but they haven't even contacted me. I would imagine it's the Thanksgiving holiday, so maybe things are going really slow. Don't give up hope and Keep on trucking! Are you a new grad?

congrats congrats! now enjoy your thanksgiving because you totally ended it

What book are you using to study? I took the Kaplan course, but the only book I used was the Saunders Comprehensive Review for the NCLEX-RN. You really don't need to know the tiny details of everything in there, but it lays out a great fundamentals of nursing that you need to review before you can get into all the rough and tough disease info.

Congrats!! Your hard work so paid off in the end! and what a great Thanksgiving break you'll have now

When's your NCLEX? Sleep, sleep, sleep!! If you're feeling tired, you won't absorb the knowledge as well. Energy drinks just make me feel jittery lol.

Nono, I just meant that many of the accepted NEW GRAD applicants had some sort of OR/ER exposure whether it be from volunteering or an externship.. or they had experience working as PCAs/nursing aides in school. But if if you already work a nursing job, you will also be considered.. since you seem to have some good experience already, you will definitely have a shot! Good luckkkk!! I'm a fresh new grad.. and was rejected from LIJ in October. I've applied to some HHC hospitals but haven't heard anything yet.. would love some advice about getting into the city hospitals

Good luck everyone!! My friend is in the October program for this, and she said that almost everyone in it had externed or at least volunteered in some sort of OR/ER setting.

Okay, so my best friend's sister was hired there as a new grad 2 years ago, and she told me about 80% of all new grads hired graduated from NYU and had connections/prior employment there!!! So she basically told me to look elsewhere

Thanks! That makes sense that it wouldn't always be posted.