What do you do to stand out in residencies/new grad positions?

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So I'm graduating with my BSN in May of next year. I attend college out-of-state, but I'm a Texas resident still and am moving back to Austin.

I'm getting anxious about the prospect of finding a job mostly because I didn't get an externship and I don't have any "ins" with Seton or St. David's. Since I'm attending college out-of-state, I couldn't really land any nursing assistant/patient care jobs because I'm not around all year. I do work experience, it's just not health care related.

BUT on the other hand... My GPA is a 3.76 and a I have a biology minor. I'm president of the nursing organization at my college (So I've done things like organize blood drives, successfully raise money for specific causes, etc) and apart of a volunteer organization as well. I'm the class representative for the senior level of my major. I'm a member of the NSNA and I'm expected to inducted into Sigma Theta Tau. And I've received a couple scholarships this year.

I still feel like even though I'm really involved with my major and my school, I'm still screwed because I lack the externship/previous experience kick that so many people have. Is that really what matters to employers, or is it still appealing that I've done other things instead? :/

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Unfortunately it matters pretty heavily. All the things you posted about are great and may help you get noticed, but Austin is notoriously political and also notoriously hard to break into. I graduate in December and as I am interviewing in the last couple of weeks I am finding my GPA kind of matters to some and not really to others, my leadership positions kind of get noticed but not really that much, my scholarships don't interest them at all. But they all love that I worked a telemetry externship for the last year and four months.

Something else you need to consider/weigh out is that the internships for your graduating class will begin the application and interviewing process somewhere around February/March timeframe. Are you going to be near enough to go to Austin to interview if you do get your foot in the door?

You may wish to explore Scott and White, which is reasonably near - enough so that you could go to Austin pretty easily on days off and they are known to have fantastic residencies and to hire from out of state for those who are able to make it to an interview. You have nothing to lose in applying in Austin, but unless the market changes you may have an uphill battle ahead of you. Austin has their own nursing school churning out new grads who get to do clinicals in the area and build those relationships through externships and the like and every young person (and some not so young) wants to live there. If you get experience in a residency elsewhere you will be more likely to be able to get hired there in a couple of years.

Good luck whatever you decide.

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Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.

My hospital has a nurse residency for new grads going into speciality units. One of the things we look for is strong ties to the local community. We get many applications from nurses who want to move into advanced practice ASAP, usually CRNA. Those get rejected immediately. Our management wants to maximize their (very expensive) investment in these new nurses and tries to hire people who they think will stick around for a long time.

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I go to school currently in Pennsylvania because when I graduated high school, I was interested in building my life on the east coast. Now, five years later, I don't want that anymore and I want to go home to Texas where all my family is. I wish I had thought about it sooner, but we aren't exactly rational when we're younger.

I do go home on all breaks, so I'll be home for pretty much all of January, and then for another week in March. I'm hoping they'll be interested in scheduling me when I can be home, otherwise... I just don't know. I suppose I might have to push back to the next cohort and try to gain experience in the area in other ways (Can you get hired as a care tech to get your foot in the door if you have a BSN or are they going to say no because it's over qualified?)

At any rate, I am going to go ahead and try to get clinical experience via volunteering at a local hospital here. I do have ER volunteer experience with St. David's, but that was back when I was a senior in high school, so it's kind of a moot point.

I'll look into Scott & White. Thanks!

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Apply to all the hopsitals! Don't be discouraged or worried about a job, stay positive, it'll shines through. When you are home on your breaks make a point to go to the hospitals, introduce yourself to managers, go to the Seton open house FOR SURE! Networking is really the way to go to obtain a position. I would figure out where you want to work and start making some calls (maybe after the holidays, but you could start obtaining names/numbers now) Congrats on your BSN and welcome home!

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I went to a satellite campus for my nursing school in Round Rock and I found that it relied heavily on who you knew in the hospitals. I didn't apply to Austin because I was moving back home to DFW, but I had a friend who had a relatively lower GPA and was hired above many others because the nurse manager had met with her during our clinicals and had gotten a feel for her. Many other classmates did not get hired in the cohorts for Seton and St. David's. What I gathered from them is that it was important to get your face out there and go to the open houses and contact people to let them know you are interested because Austin is pretty competitive. Good luck!!

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