Surgical Tech Newly Grad Needs HELP!!!!

suzanne4, RN · Jun 28, 2004

i finished school on april of this year and i have been applying to several hospitals here in the los angeles county. i am now starting to apply to surgery centers and have applied to hospitals for different positions such as central supply, orderly, to food service. i am that desperate to get a job. i have gotten respond from we have no opening in the position you are applying for, to we are looking for someone with 1 year experience. how can i get a 1 year experience when i just got out of school? i want to get a job so i can provide for my kids (6 yrs. and 2 yrs). i did my externship and now i'm on my way to studying for the certification exam. are there techniques on getting a job as a surgical tech without a 1 year experience? please someone help..... i am feeling sad and a bit depress but not giving up... this is how i feel right now
thanks all,
olga

first,stop and take a deep breath................if you just graduated as a surgical tech why are you applying for food sevice positions? how long was your externship? was it the one year program? where did you do your externship at? that is usually a good place to start, or some of their associated facilities since you have already been trained in the way that they do things. you can also try some plastic surgeons offices, as well as cosmetic dermatologists as many of them use use sts in their practices.

remember that when you are applying for a job you are also marketing yourself. have you gone thru the la times on sundays? they usually have a number of ads................

good luck, hope that this gives you some ideas............ :balloons:

olgazoid · Jun 28, 2004

The Surgical Tech program was suppose to be for 13 months at the school I went to, it didn't go that way. They had a lot of people who are out ready to go do the externship, but they didn't have enough hospital to send us too. We had to be put in a waiting list, some of us had to wait at least 3 months or more for a hospital or a surgery center. The externship was for 3 months for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. We didn't have an instructor with us everyday. They had 1 instructor from school who had to travel to all of the sites. I did my externship at White Memorial Hospital. I also did 2 months of Central Supply at Valley Presbyterian Hospital. I applied to White M. H., what I got from them is that they want someone with 1 year of working experience. I spoke to the supervisor in L & D she too told me the same thing and what she's got is a lot of per diem. Two of the regular OB Tech are both on Medical leave (a very long one). I keep going to her but she kept telling me the same thing. I am on the computer sending my resume.

Thanks for all of the responds and ideas. I really appreciate the help. :saint:

Olga

nnoriel · Jun 13, 2006

Hi Olga,

I am having a very similar experience with the school I am attending. I am very anxious to get to the operating room and do my externship. I am also nervous for when we do actually graduate what it will be like to find a job, wether it will be difficult or not. Alot of places say they would like 1 year experience but how do you get the experience if no one will hire you? Any advice? Any little bit helps! Thanks!

hand2cut · Jun 21, 2006

Hey!

I'm a surgical tech, too! I graduated on the 9th of June in L.A. County, and I HAVE medical background (I was a Paramedic for 11 years), and it's SCARY out there. Maybe even scarier for me because I'm 49!

I keep hearing that there are teaching hospitals that will take new grads, but I've yet to find them...

Meanwhile, I opted for an EMT license in order to (pay attention here) GET IN THE FACILITY!!! After you do that, be a major pest to the O/R personnel. Always ask if you can observe. If you're a transporter, tell 'em over and over that you want in!

But I've got ANOTHER problem which I'm going to post now, so watch the board...