These tips will help any new nursing graduate find a great job from the get-go! Even an experienced nurse may benefit from following these points. I thought that I would compile ten things that helped me and share them with all of you!
NursesCareer SupportArticle
Nurses, in spite all of the wonderful employment opportunities available for us, still face trouble when it comes to the hiring process - especially new grads. Below are ten awesome tips to get you started out as a nurse that will definitely improve your chances in landing that perfect job!
1. Volunteering
This is probably not what you want to hear, but this is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door! A lot of places looking for nurses are only looking for nurses who have experience. The best thing to do would be to volunteer in the field you're planning to make a career out of. For example, Getting a bunch of experience with ventilators, tubes, and other medically intensive areas will help you to get a position in a hospital! If you volunteer at a home for people with Alzheimer's and Dementia, you'll get some good credit towards applying for a memory care position. Try calling local places and asking if they accept volunteers - many of them like having people like you do stuff for free!
Just don't expect a top-notch job if the only experience you have is from clinicals and that three month period you spent in the hospital lobby handing out coloring books to children (yes, I did that!).
2. Make your Resume Look Nice
Okay, so you don't have a lot to put on this resume, but that doesn't mean you can't spend some time sprucing up what you do have! Don't include things that aren't related to the medical field. No one's going to consider your burger-flipping expertise a valuable skill for your potential job!
Look for someone to help you format your resume. You could even take a look at some examples to get a feel for how you want your resume to look.
3. Good References
Your grandmother is not a good reference! Your clinical teacher, or anyone you met along the way with a good attitude will fit best. Remember that a professional reference holds more ground than a friend.
4. In-Person is Best
A lot of places will make you apply on the internet- but that doesn't mean you can't show up and meet everyone anyway! I have done this many times and it has definitely helped me
land a couple of good jobs.
5. Be Physically Able
As a nurse, you may have to do some heavy lifting at least every now and then, assuming you don't work in an office all day long. If you're able, try to keep yourself in good
physical health.
6. Staffing Agencies
Staffing agencies are great resources to get started when looking for a job. They only get paid when you get employed, so they're going to be motivated to look for a job just for you.
7. Ask a Nurse
When in doubt, ask someone who has been a nurse for a while for some help. Not only can they give you tips on getting employed, they might even have a couple of leads on jobs. Not
to mention that they can recommend you for the position!
8. Turn in a Lot of Resumes and Applications
This is a great way to get noticed and to increase your potential for getting a job. There is probably someone or some place out there that really needs a nurse right at this very moment! This goes back to the law of averages- the more you do something (turning in applications and resumes), the more likely it is for you as a new nurse to get a job.
9. Improve your Social Skills
Like I mentioned earlier, the way I got most of my Nursing Jobs was to go in and talk to people. If you're as profoundly socially awkward as I was in my teenage years, you're going to need to change that! There are a lot of groups, probably some near you, that will help you learn how to socialize. A useful site that I utilize for this purpose is meetup.com. Don't worry, it doesn't cost a thing to join a meetup group.
10. Odds and Ends
Make sure you've got CPR training under your belt. A TB test, Hep B vaccine series, or drug screening may be a requirement. The more of this stuff you can get out of the way, the less your employer has to take care of for you.
