want clinic job- how to get it?

[italianrn07]

I have five years of overall experience as an RN and really want to get into a clinic. I have tried hospital, LTC, and surgery and didn't like any of those because of weird hours and weekends/holidays. I have been applying but never get a phone call or further than the interview because they had someone with more experience. ugh! how do I get the job without having any direct clinic experience?

[agrayRN, MSN, APRN, NP]

I work at an Internal Medicine office. When I applied, I didn't have any experience in a clinic, either. I had come from LTC and LTAC. I finally got an interview, and after that, I never heard from the person who had interviewed me. I didn't get the position for which I had applied. About a month or two later, the person who had interviewed me called me out of the blue, asking if I wanted to interview for a position in Internal Medicine. She had remembered me from the previous interview and thought I would be perfect for it. Turns out she was right for not hiring me for the previous job, which was triage - NOT my favorite.

So don't give up - keep applying and you're bound to find something like I did. :) It's a really great environment to work in - with great hours, too! I won't say there's no stress, it's just a different kind of stress. You shouldn't give up on something that you think will make you happy. Life is too short!

[dinah77, ADN]

Volunteer! Find a clinic in your area that is non-profit that serves low income patients....that's what I did.

I had 14 months experience in a TCU and wanted a clinic job. I volunteered as an RN at a clinic in my area that serves the uninsured/under insured for 3 months and got a clinic job.

After all, experience is experience, regardless if you are getting paid for it or not.

[italianrn07]

that's a really good idea, thanks!

[dinah77, ADN]

should add that only volunteered once a week for three months and it was sufficient, at least for employers around here ( Minneapolis) .... Don't think you have to quit your job and work for free full time :)

[HippyDippyLPN]

I put my resume in ro a large network of doctor's offices online. I had worked in a office before though so this helped me. I only had 1.5 years experience in an office setting though. I found applying for a large network of doctor's offices is more easier to get into, it seems private clinics are more word of mouth hiring.

[italianrn07]

what kind of network did you apply to?

[HippyDippyLPN]

it's just a large network of physician owned clinics under the same company name but we are not hospital owned. Check out the hospital websites in your area, many a times they will have their clinic jobs posted on the same site. And I would google md offices in your area and find out if they are apart of a larger network and apply directly at the network's website. When I sent my resume into the network of offices I work in now it went out to every office and whenever they needed to hire they just jump on and sort through the resumes. That way you just arent applying to one place.