kimmy20

As of today I have counted that I applied to 83 job positions since mid January. I applied to 23 different hospitals/facilities to any unit available and hiring so I wasn't picky at all. I got rejected from 35 of those positions through email (the dreaded "thank you for your interest in XXX, unfortunately we decided to pursue other candidates blah blah"). I had 3 interview and 2 of them were in-person with the nursing manager/unit director and one was through phone with a nurse recruiter. Interview #1: I was able to interview in-person a L&D unit.. my dream job at my dream hospital (I felt so lucky!!) and it was about a month after I started applying. The interview went ok - not as well as I hoped but this was also my first interview ever as a new grad nurse. I mentioned this experience in another thread. Long story short...I was the first person to be interviewed out of 10. The unit director was sick and it didn't seem like he was all there and my interview was very short...maybe 10-15 minutes? He said I would need to wait about a month for a response. Two weeks later I was told that the hospital was at a hiring freeze for all new grads (internal issues) and he apologized for the inconvenience and if they post the job again they would let me know. It was disappointing but better than a rejection right? It means I might get a second chance if I happen to still be unemployed by the time they can hire again. Interview #2: This second was through the phone with a nurse recruiter. This is more general and not to a specific unit. I thought I prepared myself well enough because I spent a lot of time researching questions for my first interview but I felt completely off-guard during the phone interview. The nurse recruiter was asking difficult scenario questions that I was not prepared for. I thought it was odd for her to ask me why I took so long to start applying for jobs. Anyway....I just knew I bombed it and I wasn't expecting a second interview. I get an email a week later saying that they don't think I am a good fit for that hospital. Not surprised...but still disappointed. Interview #3: Got an invitation to come in for an interview at another L&D unit that is really close to where I live. Not my dream hospital but still my dream job and I was lucky enough to get struck by lightening twice for an L&D interview. This is a month after my first interview. This time I researched more questions and prepared myself even more! I think I literally looked at every thread related post about L&D interviews for new grads. The nursing manager only asked for a copy of my resume, license, and CPR card. I decided to add more like a cover letter, other certifications, recommendations letters, etc. This interview went much better than my previous ones. It lasted about an hour long and I got a tour of the unit and she also introduced me to the staff. She told me she was impressed with my clinical experience. She also mentioned that I was first among maybe 6-8 candidates to be interviewed. Can't believe I was first to be interviewed AGAIN. Originally, I thought being the first to be interviewed was a disadvantage because I felt like I would be forgotten easily. The NM straight out told me that personally for her, she always remembers the first and last candidates and joked that I was lucky. I don't know if this is a good sign but she even said that after the first interview she tends to be forgetful of the rest and she said said she hasn't even looked through the rest of the applications yet and decide who to give an interview for. It was definitely a good confidence booster that she offered to interview me first but I'm also prepared to be rejected because this is a highly competitive position. Honestly, I am just glad I even got an interview and I think I'm getting better with practice. I'm really hoping this is the last interview I go through. I am still currently applying to other hospitals and facilities and I am still waiting for a response on that 3rd interview. I find it odd that of all the units/specialties I applied I manage to land not one but two L&D interviews. I was so convinced that after graduating that it would be impossible to even get a L&D job as a new grad nurse. Even if I don't end up in L&D it was truly a great learning experience for interviewing. It just sucks that it felt so close! So my question for the rest of you is how many interviews did you go through before you finally landed a job? And did any of you interview for your dream job but not get it?

I was actually wondering about the whole pony tail look as well. For my interview I wore a pony tail because I tend to play with my hair if I get nervous and I didn't want to subconsciously do that and look unprofessional. But I also read from another post that one nurse manager thinks a pony tail makes you look messy and rushed.

I feel like I'm in the same position. I had my license since November. I lost count of how many postings I have applied but I did get two interviews but haven't heard back. I got a couple of rejections saying I don't have enough experience despite the job positing saying new grads are welcome to apply. There are a few hospitals that I applied to that only allow up to 5 applications. I live in a big city with scarce opportunities for new grads because it seems like almost every 2-3 months there are a huge group of new grads coming out of school. Everyday seems to go by so slowly and I wake up every morning hoping to get an email or I'm waiting anxiously by my phone. In the meantime I'm doing some volunteering because I literally have nothing else to do so might as well put that time into something meaningful and I can add it to my resume. Hope everything works out for you. California is a brutal job hunting ground

I decided to do a hand-written note and personally delivered it (I live really close to the hospital I interviewed at). I also feel that emails sometimes get lost on top of all the other hundreds of emails they get everyday. I read somewhere on this forum that someone said if you have a hand-written one or a card they might leave it on their desk and that'll help remind them of you as a candidate :)

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Makes me feel a little better...and yeah I'm pretty sure I was reading too much into it as others have told me. I just can't help it! I looked it up on google and there's mixed reviews but majority articles I read generally say the first and last are the ones they remember. First helps set the bar and last is the most fresh in their mind. How long did you wait to get an offer? I thought one month was pretty long but after reading more on the forum it seems typical especially for a residency program. Now it's just a waiting game. Thanks again!

I recently had my first interview as a new grad for a great residency position. I was nervous but I felt pretty confident with my answers then I noticed things during my interview that made me feel like I probably won't get it. First of all, I found out that I was the first of 10 applicants that he's interviewing. He told me it will take him about a month to interview everyone so I won't be hearing back anytime soon. Second, the nurse manager was obviously sick because he was coughing and sneezing the entire time and I felt like he was not all there. He had to excuse himself to leave the room once. He didn't take any notes either and it felt like he was kind of breezing through questions like he wanted to get it over with. I just felt like he wasn't completely paying attention and being the first applicant to be interviewed I'm sure he's going to forget about me. I'm just really bummed right now because it really felt like I was being rushed but more for the fact that I was the first to interview and I feel it's a disadvantage. I had an interview with a recruiter before and that went really great. I'm wondering...do nurse recruiters and nurse managers compare notes or is the decision solely made by the nurse manager? Anyone else have experience with this and willing to share how they dealt with it? Of course I plan on sending him a thank you note maybe a week or two later so he can remember me but I'm not sure what else to do at this point. I really wish I had a redo.

It's perfectly normal to feel like that! I started nursing school thinking it would be manageable but I found myself struggling hard! I was stressing out like crazy and feeling like a complete idiot. If I wasn't in class I was studying and I basically lived at the library. Other than my classmates, my friends and family don't know what it's like to be a nursing student and how hard it is. My mental and physical well being was not in a good state and I had to do something about it if I wanted to make it through. After asking one of my instructors for advice she referred me to a mental health advisor (free resource provided by the university) and she definitely helped. She was basically a therapist and we worked on de-stressing exercises. She suggested I should start doing a hobby I use to do and with no excuse, do it no matter what. I use to love running and I stopped because of school and being busy but I started to make time for running again and found myself to be a lot more relaxed and focused again. When I'm feeling stressed I take a break and head to the gym to run a couple of laps and then resume studying again. Hope this helps and good luck!

No actually. They wouldn't tell me anything. While I was waiting the first four weeks I called probably once a week to get a update on the process but they would tell me I had to wait 4 weeks. When 4 weeks passed they sent me a letter saying they were missing my fingerprints and background check. I just wish they told me earlier so I could've fixed and got my license earlier. I had my TCN number from the receipt I had for background and fingerprint from my vendor so I tried to get them to look for it (because it was freakin $50) but they were telling me they can't just look it up and had to request to look it up and this process took about 2 weeks and I had to keep calling them to check on it. When I got upset they would transfer to me someone else who pretty much say the same thing to me. This most likely won't happen to you because I'm literally the only person who had this incident happen lol. All my classmates had their fingerprints done at the same vendor and they had no problem receiving theirs. I'm just unlucky

I really think it's random. I know a lot of classmates who had their license number on the IDFPR website in 2 weeks after sending in their license application. I was not so lucky...took them about 2 months to finally have it up online and mail my official license. There were problems with them not being able to find my background check and fingerprints so they had to send in a request to look for it. The annoying part was it took them 4 weeks to tell me they were missing it. It took another 2 weeks for them to request and try to look for it. They kept telling me they would call me back but I always had to call back to get a status. It was incredibly frustrating and some of the reps I called were not helpful and I got that generic response of "please wait up to 4 weeks" or they would constantly transfer me to someone else and so on. Hopefully you will have better luck than me. Most people I know got it very fast but I also know a few that got it a month later.

Thanks for the good advice! I already contacted them to ask if it's alright to list them as a reference :) Two of my references are from previous jobs so even though it may not be nursing related they can comment about my performance and work ethic

As the title said, Can we use our nursing instructors as a professional reference? Technically they are academic references but I feel like they are still our supervisors when we have clinical. I'm suppose to list 5 professional references when I go in for an interview with a nurse recruiter and I don't want them to think I'm "cheating" by using instructors.

Thanks LadyFree28! Hopefully I will get an interview

Thanks for all the advice everyone! So far I still haven't heard anything but I did have one of my applications change to "Under Consideration" do you guys know what that means? like is that a sign of hope or is that just standard with every application they get?

Hi and sorry to hear that. I also didn't pass on my first try but passed on my second attempt so there is definitely a chance that you can also. What materials/resources did you use to study for your first attempt? Look at your CPR and see what areas you need to focus on. As for the process for retaking in IL, you have to reapply on the continental testing site again and I believe that is about $50-75? I don't remember the cost for that and you also have to reapply on the NCSBN pearson vue site which is $200. You should hear in about 2-4 weeks with an ATT and then you can schedule to retake it. Good luck! I'll leave you with this quote that actually helped motivate me during my time, "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall"

I'm not sure which area in IL you're from but in Chicago I would not buy quick results because you get your results from continental testing site in the mail in 2 days after you take your exam. If you pass you get an application for licensure and you can mail that to IDFPR along with a $50 check. Buying quick results wouldn't be worth it because you still have to wait for the application in mail anyway. IDFPR is notorious for being extremely slow. I passed in November and didn't even get my license number online and in hand until mid January. Previous poster is right about how most places (especially the big hospitals) will not even consider you unless you have your license on hand. You could be a lucky one and get it with no problem in 2-4 weeks after sending in your application for licensure with the fee. Good luck!