i live in south florida and am having an extremely hard time finding a job. i graduated in may 2009 and passed my nclex in august. i have been applying at almost EVERY hospital/medical center in my area and still keep getting the brush off! "you need experience" or "we're not hiring any new grads". and the worst part is that after they turn me down, i hear they hired a new graduate right after. i apply online and then call the nurse recruiters leaving voice messages almost every time, and of course no call back. ive heard to go in personally to speak with them but i am unsure of what to say. any advice???
i REALLY dont want to relocate but im getting very close to doing so.
is anyone else having this same problem? or am i really that bad of a candidate to be hired?
I'm so disappointed with myself and feel like such a burden on my mom and dad 'cause I can't even buy groceries for myself. Although, at this point I feel like I don't deserve to eat because I'm such a failure at life. I, too, am ready to give up on nursing altogether, maybe go get a scrub tech degree or phlebotomy and do that instead. I feel like I'm stuck in purgatory and there's no way out...
(Best of luck to everyone in the job hunt!)
Youre not alone in these hard times. Maintain your hopes high, and really persist. Youre not a failure at life, you didnt go through hell in nursing school and getting your RN license just to stop now.
i live in south florida and am having an extremely hard time finding a job. i graduated in may 2009 and passed my nclex in august. i have been applying at almost EVERY hospital/medical center in my area and still keep getting the brush off! "you need experience" or "we're not hiring any new grads". and the worst part is that after they turn me down, i hear they hired a new graduate right after. i apply online and then call the nurse recruiters leaving voice messages almost every time, and of course no call back. ive heard to go in personally to speak with them but i am unsure of what to say. any advice???
i REALLY dont want to relocate but im getting very close to doing so.
is anyone else having this same problem? or am i really that bad of a candidate to be hired?
PLEASE comment :)
I know exactly how you feel. I also graduated in May and passed the NCLEX in Aug. and have been looking for a job since. I've talked to my classmates and most of them have jobs now I go through the same thing when I call the nursing recruiter if they answer my phone call, that is. It's gotten to a point where I feel hopeless about nursing myself. I even asked my friend yesterday if they were hiring at her office job *sigh* I was also thinking about going to their offices directly and talking to them...
Relocating could be an option. Other than that you have to work your resources, have instructors, managers, & HR people look at your resume. Use your instructors, especially clinical instructors they know folks they have contacts.
BKC, I'm so sorry you're having such a hard time... my boyfriend is also in med school and I've been trying so, so hard to find a job up there...but about 80 applications later, I'm basically giving up and looking other places. I'm so unbelievably frustrated and disappointed. I hate to be one of those people that offers a suggestion that they think you haven't heard before (but actually have), but just in case you haven't considered it... you might try looking in Mississippi. There are some very small towns in MS not too far from New Orleans, and it seems like the more rural you get, the less the economy has hit (because I guess all of us rural people were already poor to begin with, lol). Like I said you might have already thought of that... I just know how disappointing it is to have to be in a long distance relationship when we all thought this was a career that would allow us flexibility in location. Good luck.
I too graduated spring of '09 and I juuuuuust got hired on a tele floor. I got licensed in July so it took me about 8 MONTHS to land something. Believe me, something will come up. I was almost about to board a plane to San Antonio TX for Army Nurse Corps training, and then a week before I receive a phone call from the institution. Not to mention, the hospital had my application since September. So keep doing what you're doing, but sometimes relocation may be the best thing.
I think part of it has to do with the where the economy is at. I graduated May 09, passed my boards June 6...worked as a camp nurse then took a little time off, then spent from December through February applying for jobs...getting told that "positions had been filled"....You can't help but have the thought "they don't like me...I'm not good enough for them"...etc...Well finally I just landed a per diem job, so I'm glad, even though it's rough on 12 hour shifts. I do know the camp wants me back so I am about 75% sure I'll be going back to that since this job currently is per diem, so I can fit it in I think.
I go through the same thing when I call the nursing recruiter if they answer my phone call, that is. It's gotten to a point where I feel hopeless about nursing myself. I even asked my friend yesterday if they were hiring at her office job *sigh* I was also thinking about going to their offices directly and talking to them...
Ace587RN, RN
602 Posts
Youre not alone in these hard times. Maintain your hopes high, and really persist. Youre not a failure at life, you didnt go through hell in nursing school and getting your RN license just to stop now.