Seeking first job since graduating from nursing school

[jade381]

I graduated from nursing school in May, 2008. I am preparing to search for a job in psych/LTC. I am not sure about what approach to take in seeking employment. I am from the "old school" (51 years old) and have worked as a psych aide from 1991-2004. It seems rather impersonal to post my resume online. I'm not sure if I should walk into the HR Dept. of a possible employer with my resume and request an interview. I am planning to apply to several psych and LTC facilities in my area. Can someone please tell me what the most effective approach would be? The longer I put it off, the more nervous I become! Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

I passed the NCLEX-RN on August 20, 2008.

[CHATSDALE]

type out a resume, include your previous health care experience even if you have no nursing experience per se

check back with your former employers if you liked that particular facility

decide how far you can drive and what shifts you would like and check want ads in paper, call hr for an appointment, even if they would like a person with experience call them up and see if they would consider you for the position esp the psych facilities because a lot of nurses really don't like to work with these types of patients which makes an opening for more flexible nurses

check and see if any of the people you worked with know of any openings in their facility

[HM2VikingRN, RN]

Apply to your local VA....(psych and gero are an awesome combination for potential employment in the VA system.)

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

I got all my interviews by applying online and then calling the recruiter or having someone I know that knows a recruiter or manager name drop and let the recruiter/mgr know my application is online...and I still called!