from San Antonio to Houston...

[leighTX]

Hey y'all, I'm a BSN student in San Antonio, all set to graduate May 2014. I've lived in SA my entire life (with the exception of 3 college semesters in St Louis), and I like the city, but I just don't want to be one of those people who spent their entire life in SA. I have a job in one of the local hospital systems here, but I'm nervous that by getting my first RN job in SA, I'll just end up staying here until the end of time.

I'm wondering, how easy is it for a new grad/fairly new grad to get a job in Houston if they have had no clinical experience in any of the hospitals there? I might just "start out" and get my golden one year of experience here in San Antonio before moving, or maybe do the one year in Houston to see if I'd like to stay there for come back to SA for good... just trying to see what challenges I might have ahead of me!

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

I moved to Texas to a much smaller city than Houston....but I had no clinical experience at any of the surrounding hospitals. I was able to find a job quickly, but I may have just been lucky.

I know the job market is tough for new grads now, especially in larger cities with more than one school frequently putting out new grads. My advice would be to stay in San Antonio and get some experience under your belt before you decide on moving....especially since you already have a job!

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I understand the need to spread your wings a bit. PP is correct, the new grad market in Houston is pretty tight right now. If you don't have any luck here, have you considered Corpus Christi? It's just down the road from SA. I believe the CHRISTUS Spohn system hires new grads and has multiple residency opportunities.

[leighTX]

My advice would be to stay in San Antonio and get some experience under your belt before you decide on moving

This will probably be the route I end up taking!

If you don't have any luck here, have you considered Corpus Christi?

Just curious, why Corpus? The only other place I've lived has been St Louis (for three semesters). I like living in big cities with things to do, haha, so the smaller towns don't appeal to me too much. I don't want to move too far outside SA, but at the same time, I do want to gain more experiences by living somewhere else, not just going somewhere for travel. But maybe I'll just settle for travelling the world over living all over the place.