...of finding a job in New York City as a new nurse assistant with no prior experience.
Please, someone give me a little advice. I'm close to crying from the frustration this has caused me for the past few months.
Ramble Warning:
In April I passed my State Boards and transferred my certification over to New York State. I moved here in May and have been obsessively searching for any sort of CNA position in this city. I don't care if it's in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, etc. I'd even be willing to travel to Jersey City or Hoboken if I was offered a position there.
I took initiative and started volunteering at an HIV pediatric clinic in Brooklyn. The staff is amazing and they're really happy to have my help. However, I'm un-employed and my funds are slowly but surely draining. Soon I'm going to have to stop volunteering for a while because I just cannot afford to take two trains to get to Brooklyn once or twice a week when I have no source of income.
Everyone wants 6 months to a year of experience! Even the staffing agencies and nursing homes want experienced CNAs. I don't want to settle for a food service position or something, I worked hard to get certified and will start school next spring to pursue my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. Besides that, it's even difficult to find ANY sort of job, let alone one I am certified to actually do!
I'm sorry for the long winded post, but I honestly don't know what to do.
What are some tips? Are there any good sites to go to? Does anyone know of any places that do hire new CNAs or know someone who knows someone?
I feel so incompetent and stupid for choosing to be a CNA right now.
I've applied to so many places, I'll just have to reapply and write down to keep track. Also, that's really good advice about calling the HR department and contacting nursing homes that don't have any online sites.
Thanks so much. :)
Again, all of the tips and encouragement are wonderful.
A deposit? I have already contacted a few agencies that don't require experience and will train you to do home health for free. So, no thank you in regards to having to pay money just to work.
It's really disappointing that I went through all of the trouble to obtain my CNA when I will most likely end up working as a HHA just because I have zero experience. I really can't say I'm too surprised, but I wish I had made a different decision. All of that money and worry and effort.
P.S. I don't have $140 to spare in any case.
At least in January I will be starting school to become a nurse.
Thanks for all who offered advice.
HHA agencies also offer 'sitting' assignments in LTC and hospitals. HHA experience counts as experience. You help w/adl's and need to report changes in condition. The important thing is to highlight the skills you have experience in providing. My resume lists the main skills I have experience for each job listed. Make a list of all the skills, tasks you currently provide on your volunteer job. I bet you do a lot that counts as relatable experience.
Well, the home health aide didn't work out. Most places will not hire a CNA to be a home health aide here...for some reason. They offer free training, but that take so long and I'm most likely going to settle for retail or something like that while I continue searching out nursing homes and such.
This has been so hard. I took my class so that I wouldn't have such a terribly difficult time finding work, but it really didn't make much difference.
My resume lists my volunteer experiences and I've been volunteering since June, so hopefully this gets me somewhere soon.
As always, thanks for the advice.
I'm honestly starting to feel very discouraged. Fortunately I start school for nursing in January and wont really have to worry as much about work because I'm going to be a full time student and live mostly off of my loans.
I finally got a call back for a position in Brooklyn as a Rehabilitation Aide! Now I guess I'm looking for a little advice on how to go about the interview process. I have no idea what kind of questions will be asked and I don't have much relevant experience (It is not really required for the position though) so I feel like I'm going in with only a vague idea of what to expect!
Even though this is just one call, it really gives me hope.
Thanks again for all of your kind and encouraging words, they really have kept me going in my search to work as a CNA. My interview isn't until the 19th of this month, so I at least have plenty of time to prepare.
I got the job! My commute will be long, but I will only be working per diem and this will look great on my resume. I found a job at a rehab/skilled nursing facility. I'm still looking into getting a job that is closer and I'm also going to start volunteering at a hospital I'd like to work at very soon.
Thanks again for all of your advice and encouragement.
I am sorry things are hard for you, I had the same problem for awhile before fate blessedme....I became certified in July 2011 and for 3 months I applied to 15 nursing homes with not a single call back, I was really depressed and had wondered what was wrong with me since most of my fellow CNA graduates had found jobs while I was still working at Wal-mart. While I was working at Wal-mart, I talked to people and let them know what I wanted to do, and the struggles I was going through and I ended up meeting a CNA named Autumn who told me she had the same problem when she first became certified and her friends helped her out by suggesting places she could work. The first one she told me about was a home health care angency, which is the place I ended up applying to and getting the job at. I realized before that I was so focused on the obvious choice of nursing homes that I didn't realize there were more options out there. Sometimes, you have to think a little out-of-the-box to find an option that works for you. I also think that the job I found ended up working out better for me than a nursing home ever could. Also, I have great news for you, the company I work for is in your area and they hire CNAs fresh out of school, here's the link to visiting angels:http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=ie7&q=visiting+angels+new+york&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7ACAW_enUS377.
It's an amazing company to work for and they really value the people who work for them, I hope you consider them! Good luck with your search and I hope you find a job soon!
Fortunately I start school for nursing in January and wont really have to worry as much about work because I'm going to be a full time student and live mostly off of my loans. 
The-Wren
15 Posts
I've applied to so many places, I'll just have to reapply and write down to keep track. Also, that's really good advice about calling the HR department and contacting nursing homes that don't have any online sites.
Thanks so much. :)
Again, all of the tips and encouragement are wonderful.