Thoughts Please

Congrats on finishing school! I'm a new grad too. I just got my dream offer for a position in mental health the other day. :) That is what I feel most passionate about. I had zero experience in healthcare before graduation other than my schooling. I did my senior practicum (200 hours) in an ED too and LOVED it.

I too applied online at a fairly large system and did everything I could to stand out. I didn't hesitate to try to convey my passion in my cover letter and tailored my resume by highlighting specific mental health experiences I had in my clinical rotations including med/surg, ER, oncology, geriatrics, etc., after all, mental health is encountered in EVERY area of nursing. I included that observation in my cover letter. I posted it on another thread here a few weeks ago if you wanna check it out..

Cover letter for psychiatric nursing job - Nursing for Nurses

I called about 5 days later and spoke to the nurse recruiter to ask about the status and was told they were still reviewing. He asked a little about me and it was a good, casual conversation. I tried to express my passion in mental health to him and he told me they were going to be choosing people to interview in the next week or so.

I went to HR to drop off reference letters a couple days later and asked the receptionist if I could introduce myself personally to the nurse recruiter and was able to. After introductions, he told me the director was taking a closer look at my application and told me he tried to express my enthusiasm to her from our phone conversation. I told him I really appreciated that and thanked him.

I also sent an unsolicited letter with my resume and reference letters attached to the nurse that handles the new grad residency program. They were not officially accepting applications for the new grad residency at this time, but I figured I had nothing to lose. I inquired about the program and just tried to express my sincere desire to work for this organization and asked her advice on how to best go about it. I never got a reply back for the email but a week later I got an interview with the RN who handles the new grad residency program and the director of the acute mental health unit. :)

I never tried to personally contact the director of the department before the interview. I think the nurse recruiters are the best way to get your application seen by directors and managers. That is the role they serve as obviously the directors and managers would be over run with phone calls and requests for meetings without them as a go between. One place I applied refused to even give out the names of hiring managers for that very reason.

Your situation may be different, but I think HR is the best way to show initiative, enthusiasm, and passion for a position you want rather than going right to the department. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try to introduce yourself to the director or manager but I would just ask the nurse recruiter handling applications for that position first if it's ok, unless, of course, you know them personally in some capacity.

In any event, I'd suggest you certainly call the recruiter in HR to follow up, try to introduce yourself to whoever you can, and do anything you can to show them how bad you want it. Those small things make a HUGE difference.

Best of luck to you!! I hope you get it. :)

Here's the e mail I sent to the Nurse for the new grad residency in the education department. She actually does no hiring but she interviews new grads and gives her input to directors that consider hiring new grads and runs the education/orientation programs for them. This hospital has not been hiring external new grads for the most part for the last two years. I feel so lucky.

______________________________________________________________________

My Name

My address

My Phone #

My email

July 13, 2010

*** ***** RN, MS, CNS

Hospital name

Hospital address

Dear *****,

I am a May, 2010 graduate RN from (My School) and I received my license on June 7th after passing the NCLEX exam. I am writing to you as I was referred by **** ******, who was my clinical instructor during my mental health rotation at **** Hospital. I was a small business owner/operator for 11 years before returning to school to fulfill my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. I am very excited to begin my new career. I completed the majority of my clinical rotations at **** Hospital and I would love to be a part of your team of caring professionals.

I wanted to ask your advice and inquire about the Graduate Nurse Residency Program you offer. Do all new graduates hired at your organization go through the Residency Program? Would you advise me to complete an application for the program rather than to continue to apply to open positions posted on the website for the best opportunity to become part of your team? I called human resources and they informed me that they don’t have the application materials for the program at this time and to check back at an undetermined date.

I am highly motivated, mature, dedicated, enthusiastic, flexible, accountable, and reliable. I do have a special interest in mental health, medical/surgical and the ER, but I am willing to happily serve in any capacity wherever there is a need. I love new experiences and I love to learn. Any advice you could give me in getting started in my new career with your wonderful organization would be greatly appreciated.

I’ll attach my resume and reference letters to this e mail for you as well if you’d like to review them. I can be reached at (my phone #) or (my email)

Thank you so much for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

wezzie, RN

______________________________________________________________

Like I said, I got no reply to the email, but got a call from HR the following week to set up an interview with her and the director of the mental health unit that I applied to. I interviewed a week ago Thursday, and got a call with the job offer a week later last Thursday morning. Yay me!!

Pee test tomorrow.. lol.. paperwork next Monday, and I start August 30th.. So happy..

I really think this letter made a big difference in getting an opportunity to interview and lead to me being hired. They have an awesome new grad residency program and are so supportive for that transition.

I hope some of this helps you and gives you some ideas on what you could do to stand out. :)

Congrats on the job and thank you for the advice.

I am having a hard time even finding the HR office email or recruiter email, this is a very large system, the hospital that I am applying to was recently bought out by this larger system, I do have a friend who has worked at said hospital and I am waiting to hear back from her if the HR department was taken over already

I think your idea is excellent, but take it a step further. Find out the name of the ER manager, call her/him to schedule a brief meeting to introduce yourself and give your resume. Keep it simple while taking cues from the manager of when to leave. You'll be way ahead of the game. It's often hard to get resumes past HR to the manager. With a professional approach directly you'll probably ace the job. Congrats on beginning a new career and good luck! May all your patients be compliant and all your orders legible.

Congrats on the job and thank you for the advice.

I am having a hard time even finding the HR office email or recruiter email, this is a very large system, the hospital that I am applying to was recently bought out by this larger system, I do have a friend who has worked at said hospital and I am waiting to hear back from her if the HR department was taken over already

You should be able to call the hospital, ask them to connect you with HR, and then ask them the name of the person/nurse recruiter handling applications for the ED position. I tried to do this before even applying so I could address them personally in the cover letter. Then a few days later you could call back and ask to speak to them and either hopefully get them in person, or be transferred to their voice mail. I've found that they are really good about calling back either that day or the next.

Did you just address a cover letter to "whom it may concern"?

I did that very thing. I found out who was the nurse manager for the floor that I wanted to work on and dropped by one day with my resume. I just told her that I wanted to drop this off personally and would she keep me in mind if she had anything come open in the next few months. She asked me to stay for few minutes and talk to her. The next thing I knew, she called HR herself and told them that she wanted an interview for me with her and her manager. That really got the ball rolling and I will start the job in September. Be prepared to just drop it off and be very concious of the fact that you are dropping by unannounced. This was perfect for me since I had been trying to get on with this hospital since Aug. of last year, but had never actually gone in to talk to anyone. They told me that it showed initiative and that they get hundreds of resumes via the internet and it is very difficult to sort them without a face and personality to go with it. Once you show the initiative and they have a face to go with the resume, then it is easier for them to gauge whether you will be a good fit. As a new grad your resume will not stand out so you have to use other measures to do so. Good luck!!!

Little update,

After looking all through their website for an number to HR, I went to the hospital itself to see if I could speak with anyone.

They were unable to connect me with anyone in person, however they gave me the number to the HR office.

I called the HR office and spoke to someone who told me that my application shows that it is still active and under review, she then gave me the name of the nurse recruiter for this specific job, she transfered me to her, to which it went to voice mail.

I left a brief meseage, including that I am a new grad with ACLS, PALS and 3 years CNA in the ED, that I was eager and enthusatsic and passionate about nursing and the ED.

I think I will call again on Friday or next Monday if I don't hear from her