Seriously guys, relocate.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I just have to share this - I am astounded by how easy it was for me to get a hit where I live now.

I moved to south Georgia for my first RN job. I'd never even heard of the town I live in now until I applied for a job there - no idea where it was, no family there, no nothing. It was one of a few places I got offered as a new grad, but it was the only one that offered in the specialty I wanted, so I took it. Pay here is awful, and I have been getting called off a lot, so I started looking for a second job. I put an application in on Saturday, I got an email to add more info to my application and set up a phone interview yesterday, I did my phone interview today, and I got called back this afternoon to set up my in-person interview for this job, which is scheduled for Thursday. The speed at which this has all been happening tells me that the place I applied really needs people. I can't believe this has gone from application to phone interview in three days, and I will have an in-person interview five days after applying.

The kicker with all of this is I just graduated in May, and I will have been at my first RN job for four months in three days. The PRN job I applied for that I got a hit on so fast has absolutely nothing to do with my current job, and is in a specialty I only got to visit for one day in nursing school. Obviously, some places care nothing about experience - they just want warm bodies to fill the gaps. I'm not trying to put myself down, but I absolutely died of shock that these people were even remotely interested in me.

Seriously guys, the job market is NOT horrible everywhere. If you are living in a desirable state or city, you are going to have trouble. However, find a town in the middle of nowhere in the rural South, find a hospital there, and look at their career webpage. You will have an easier time finding a job (maybe even in your preferred specialty!) than you would believe possible. :)

I will let you all know if I get the second job, but I just had to share how simple, quick, and easy landing interviews is in out of the way areas.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

One issue is that people do not know where the hot spots are. Another is that a lot of people want to become nurses to help support their family while providing meaningful work. They may not be able to move with their family.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I didn't know where the hot spots were either. Wikipedia was my friend - they usually have lists of every hospital in a state, which includes all of the rural community hospitals. You can just go down the list, check out the website for every hospital listed, and look at the career page.

I really do feel sorry for the people who can't relocate, and wish them the best of luck. I do think that if people's spouses are making less than $20/hr, it would still probably be worth it to uproot their families unless there was some other pressing reason for not relocating. The economy is so bad that I imagine that in many families, the nurse would make a lot more money than the non-nursing spouse, even in a low paying area. It seems logical to move to where the money is if the family is having a hard time with money.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Agreed. Relocating isn't always possible or ideal, but it beats sitting around for a year with no job and no nursing experience.

I had a few offers in my city, but I wanted a permanent position and a change, so I also relocated for my first job. Best decision I could have made.

Rural areas and small towns are always hiring. The major cities are saturated. Sometimes you need to choose. I wanted to start working immediately, so relocating was an easy decision.

[KimberlyRN89, BSN, RN]

I like your post. I too am a new grad and the market in my area is awful. I accepted a job in a small town in Pennsylvania and the pay is pretty okay (almost comparable to the starting pay in my area). But before I accepted this job, I had a lot of interest from hospitals in rural towns located in West Virginia. The pay was too low for my liking though

[DeepBreath]

Thank you for this post! I will keep this in mind. Looks like you are in ICU, awesome.