Unable to find a new grad job

[jessayala]

Hi. So, I am writing this for people who find themselves unable to find a new grad job.

I graduated in May 2017. Long story short, life happened and I was not able to take my NCLEX until January 2018. I passed on my first try and have been applying to places ever since.

I have interviewed for a lot of places, including UCLA, but was never given a job offer. I always got that dreaded email saying "you're a great candidate but unfortunately..."

At this point it has been a year since I graduated, so I honestly felt like giving up. I had no job experience, so I could not even apply to any nurse position.

I even began applying to nursing homes because I was desperate.

However, I decided to reach out to my former nursing preceptor from a previous clinical rotation. She was able to get me interview, but that was it. The rest was up to me. In L.A. or Los Angeles, the new grad programs are super competitive. Honestly, it is not always about who is the most qualified, but also who you know. Places like Kaiser and UCLA give priority to students who are CNAs or have a parent or sibling that works there and its honestly sad because so many other candidates get over looked.

I did not get the new grad job because of my instructor, but it did give me an advantage because some people do not even get called for an interview.

I had a total of 3 interviews for this hospital and it was all on me to impress them. I literally reviewed common disorders and nursing interventions, priority interventions, and simple nursing procedure (ADPIE). I also finally relaxed and was myself. I smiled and laughed and really tried to show my personality. In the end I got the job.

My advice is don't give up. Network and reach out to people you know. Honestly, new grad programs in or around L.A. are so overwhelmed so you kind of have to know someone, but that doesn't mean you'll get the job. It does give you priority in a sense, but in the end it comes down to how you interview. Reach out to instructors that you worked with and see if they have any advice or can help. Don't be afraid to network. I regret not having reached out my instructor sooner.

If I would have known it was going to be this difficult to find a job I would've been a CNA during nursing school or even volunteered.

DO NOT GIVE UP if you find yourself in a position like I was. Keep applying even to places that are far. I live in Los Angeles and i was even applying to places in Pomona or the San Fernando Valley. (I was about to apply to san diego!!!) Get a temporary job in a health care related setting because a lot of people that interviewed me wanted to know what I had done to keep up my skills. Luckily, I was working on my stroke certification and still reading on nursing research. I am currently working in retail until I start the new grad program.

Hopefully, this helps one of you. I know it can be hard, but we have gotten this far in our nursing careers, so we just need to keep on moving forward.

If you need more advice or just want to ask me something I did not include here feel free to message me on my IG: radgaljess