relocation prior to getting a job?

sweetgurly25 · Jun 1, 2012

i wouldnt relocate without finding a job first.

NevadaFighter, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2012

Maybe you could find a travel assignment in the area that you want to work? Or contact an agency about finding work in the area that you would like to move?

RNewbie · Jun 1, 2012

I permanently relocated without a job and I would not recommend it. At least sign up with a few agencies so you can work per diem until you find a job. Have about 6 mo of income saved if you are moving without a job. Taking a contract would be the best thing, maybe a short one (8-13 wks) to go and see what the job market is like. Things worked out for me but I had lots of money saved and took the first job that I could get (a low paying local contract at a clinic). Also not being that familiar w the area I ended up traveling an hr to work in the morning and it took 2 hrs to get home in the evening. I spent a large portion of my little check on gas. I felt the same way about the difficulty of finding a job when you are not in the area. Turns out I could not find one once I moved to the area either. So I went the agency route. Moving without a job is the craziest thing I've done, but God had my back. Good luck with your decision.

mg2312 · Jun 1, 2012

I have been in contact with a couple of agencies but they're saying to start the interview process I need to already have my RN license in that state(which is OK) but then also I need to be around the area prior to starting the interview process. I'm not sure if that's a normal response or not.

Also, I thought about trying to get with a travel agency and get a contract to get started, but my problem with that is I only have 7mos experience working as an RN and from what I've read on this forum you need a year or 2. And unfortunately my 7mos is in home care because that was the only job I could find as a new RN without experience - this doesn't seem to leave me with many options for travel nursing.

dreamworx07 · Jun 2, 2012

Hiii,
Ok, so this isn't about actual travel nursing, but it seems like the best place to post this question:/... I'm trying to relocate but finding it extremely difficult to land a job without living in the area. Has anyone relocated (permanently, not for a travel assignment) prior to having a job offer?
I know moving without having a job is extremely risky(I don't know how long I could live off of my savings act) however, it seems like taking a risk might be my only option?
I would love to hear any tips/advice that you have?! thanks:)

I was able to get a job out of state as a new unlicensed grad. find a hospital, best bet is a small rural hospital-that is really short staffed. I went in for an interview, offered the job on the spot and returned 4 weeks later. Worked as a tech (was really orienting) until I passed my boards. Stayed at that job 8 mos, then applied to my "dream dept" In another rural town-in another state and packed up again. Both hospitals weren't afraid of new grads... Look to your small community hospitals, you may have better luck.

NedRN · Jun 2, 2012

You need to be employing strategies that you should have used out of school. Apply at teaching hospitals nationwide until one offers you a job. Then relocate. Forget about traveling or per diem, you have no acute care experience.

I graduated in 1992 in the middle of a depression in California. No jobs for new grads, and I mean none! Perhaps nursing homes but I never considered that. I took my act on the road calling hospitals across the country (before cell phones) and interviewing on a road trip. Not a lot of jobs for new grads nationwide for that matter. Finally landed a job in Baltimore where I stayed for 3 years until my skills were at the point where I felt comfortable traveling. Successfully traveled since then.

Teaching hospitals are by far the best experience. From them, you can go to any hospital in the country. Not so true from rural hospitals. They have several other benefits over looking at rural hospitals: they have a teaching mission, so they will have a defined orientation/intern period with preceptors, rotating units, and didactic; tertiary care centers so you get to work on the most critical patients - which will make other hospital patients seem easy; and they tend to have higher turn over as trained nurses post orientation go to the locations they really wanted (more openings).