When to start applying for jobs?

[Kelber]

OK nurses and student nurses, When did you begin applying for Nursing positions? I will graduate in December and sit for boards in January. Is it too soon to begin applying for jobs?

[CrazierThanYou]

That is going to depend. In my area, hospitals won't even look at your application unless you are fully licensed. But, I have a friend who got a job at Duke University before she even graduated.

[earthcrosser]

Depends on your area. Here, you would be too late...internship slots are filled by October. You just need to ask the places around you - see what they prefer in terms of new grad applications.

[Selene006, BSN, LPN]

I agree with earthcrosser. I started looking for jobs months before I graduated. Some places that I inquired to already had slots in advance prepared to accept new grads from certain schools! As a matter of fact, one of my friends' mother was DON at a local, well-known facility, and she told me not to bother applying to that facility because their "open" positions were already designated for new grads from the local community college. Meanwhile, my friend already had a secured position (courtesy of her mother) without sitting for her Boards yet. I still ended up applying at the facility and followed up with courtesy phone calls. I was told to reapply when I "acquired atleast 6 months of experience."

By the time I graduated, passed the (LPN) Boards, and was ready to work, I couldn't find a job! It took about 3 months until I secured a full-time position, and it was in a facility that I had no desire to work in...

Now that I'll be graduating with my BSN, I feel ok about having to transition again. One of the most important things you can do is plan. Make some phone calls. Ask some of your prior clinical instructors if they know the inside scoop about which facilities are good and actively hiring. Some hospitals I called around to hired new grads once a year, and they only hired a handful of them. I would call around and get some information about the facilities that you are potentially interested in. Have a second list available of the places that you may have to resort to applying to just in case the job search becomes sluggish.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree with those who say you need to check with the facilities that interest you ASAP and find out what THEIR PREFERENCES are. The situation varies from place to place -- and our preferences here don't count. The only ones that count are the preferences of the facilities that interest you.

[Kelber]

Thanks everyone! That helps.

[Rednights]

Either of the following ...

a. New graduate programs ... MONTHS before

b. other openings ... after you pass NCLEX with a license #

[tech1000]

Yeah, residencies need to be applied for about 4-6 months before the start date of the residency. Most of them here start in August and March. The March applications were due 2 weeks ago. For other jobs, you need your license number here to even get looked at.