So many new grads post on this forum, "wooo me it's been two months since I've graduated and I still can't find a job".
While I sympathize with the graduates, no one wants to be faced with the fear of long term unemployment after acquiring so much nursing school debt.
But, I would advise all of you: take a good look at your resumes, grammar, objectives, goals, values...etc. What does your email address say about you? Are you using blue colonial font on your resume?
Jobs, regardless of the experience, do not appear within 1 month of searching. Be patient & proactive. As long as you're having fun at the pity party, you won't see the rewards at the triumph party.
I believe nursing school needs to require a business course for new grads. Everyone, including myself, can benefit from courses on how to make him/herself more marketable. Thankfully, youtube has tons of business courses & leaders who are willing to share advice.
In the mean time, look at mock interviews, reheorifice patient scenarios etc.
It really isn't a stupid question, it is to see if you are setting goals for yourself. If you are an ADN, will you have your BSN in 5 years? If you are working a specialized unit, will you have your certification in 5 years? Answers like this tell me you are serious about your job.
And I agree about the resumes. Some are truly atrocious and hit the circular file quickly!
All great suggestions. My suggestion is follow up. Apply online talk to the recruiter, speak with the manager....kiss hands and shake babies....*COUGH*......I mean kiss babies and shake hands. Let them know you are interested, and let them know several times if you have to. If you get an interview, thank them and then send a thank you card or email.[/quote']
This. This is how I got my job a month from finishing school, in a hospital on a specialized unit. Emailing the manager, going in to personally drop of my resume to her and following up several times.
Every Freshman student should start a professional portfolio the first week of college. You should keep a record of every APA paper, research project, poster project, professional organizations, Sigma Theta tau, scholarships, clinical experience and community service/public health project and internship. Include letters of reference, evaluations, contacts, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, transcripts, diplomas, degrees, employment history, licenses and certifications, social security card, passport, birth certificate. Some day this will be your resume and/or CV. You will need factual data to compose a truthful resume. Include a health file with titers and vaccines.
Employers are always impressed by this level of organization.
New grads should have a job lined up BEFORE graduation. I had a job a month before I graduated, along with half of my class. Start looking early people.
New grads should have a job lined up BEFORE graduation. I had a job a month before I graduated along with half of my class. Start looking early people.[/quote']
Around here you aren't even considered as an applicant until you're licensed so that isn't possible in all markets.
Me again it sounds like you are in an area of the country that isn't over saturated with nurses. In some places HR departments won't even look at your resume until you have a license.
No. I wasn't working as a nurse before graduation. I had the job pending passing boards. It isn't about the market. It is about starting the search early. I graduated with an ASN and got hired into a BSN position. The hospital I am at has very few job openings and it takes persistence.
No. I wasn't working as a nurse before graduation. I had the job pending passing boards. It isn't about the market. It is about starting the search early. I graduated with an ASN and got hired into a BSN position. The hospital I am at has very few job openings and it takes persistence.
It's completely about the market. If hr says "your app goes in the trash until you have a license number" then that's the end of the game.
I agree. Whenever someone posts something stating what people "should do" I cringe. This is about what has worked for others and what MAY work in certain situations. To say someone who doesn't have a job "lined up" after graduation is wrong in some way is so stupid I can't even make sense of it. I did not have a job lined up when I graduated in '06, but I quickly found one through hard work and persistence. It worked for me, but I don't claim to know what others "should do".
Another thing to think about is your location. Some locales are simply saturated with nurses - even if you do everything right there is so much competition that you may not get looked at. Some new grads have success applying/ working in rural locations for 1-2 years and then they are able to transfer into more desire able location/ position.
The follow up responses "it's about location" is why most new graduates will not have positions for months. You're pessimistic attitude shows when you interview.
I am not one to be oblivious to reality, but I refused to allow a recession to dictate my pay.
That's relative to this post, because you are what you think you are. If you think there are too many graduates I'll never be looked at until after graduation, you'll get just that. Conversely, these are the same graduates who walk into an interview with desperation and not determination, there is a vast difference between the two.
I'll tell you a quote I live by, "I refuse to lower my standards because you fail to raise yours." Maybe what someone else did isn't completely applicable to your life. But, if you live in a city where there is a infiltration of new graduates, why not start early? Why not think ahead of the competition? Why not find traits that set you apart from the others? Too many of you are focused on the person in the lobby rather than the person who is interviewing you!
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NicuGal, MSN, RN
2,743 Posts
It really isn't a stupid question, it is to see if you are setting goals for yourself. If you are an ADN, will you have your BSN in 5 years? If you are working a specialized unit, will you have your certification in 5 years? Answers like this tell me you are serious about your job.
And I agree about the resumes. Some are truly atrocious and hit the circular file quickly!